Durant better than Curry?!?! Make me understand?

[Triples333]

They are different players.

Curry is the greatest shooter ever. He is also a very able and hard worker off the ball, in constant motion, setting screens and seeking gaps. Because GS has an offense that passes the ball around, his constant motion puts a tension on the defense that creates open shots for teammates. In GS’ offense, he is “Unanimous”. In an offense that doesn’t pass so much, he is Damion Lillard. (Note- Lillard is an all star and future HoFer)Curry is also charismatic and a natural leader.

KD is the game’s best scorer. Only Harden is as efficient as him in the regular season and nobody is as efficient in the playoffs. He provides a guaranteed level of offense- when his shot isn’t falling, he goes to the rim and either scores or gets fouled. As a player, he is a Swiss Army knife in that he can play any position in any lineup, on offense or defense. He is not the leader Curry is, but that also means he can seamlessly fit any locker room.

Curry can have more impact, but you have to construct your offense to match his skills. Durant fits any offense, and turbocharges it.

They are both top 15 all time.

Curry is actually the more efficient scorer in the regular season and the playoffs. Of 20+ ppg scorers he's the most efficient all time in both. Only in playing alongside Curry has KD been slightly more efficient in the post season than Steph (64% to 63% TS), and that falls back off any time Curry is missing the game or subbed. Not so drastic for Curry if KD is out (as we are seeing again now).

Ha-ha! I’d like to see Curry’s efficiency on a team where Russ Westbrook is the pg! I bet you anything his efficiency drops below KD’s in that situation!

Not sure why this is laughable to you? You posted a false comment and I gave you the facts that Curry has been more efficient than everyone during both regular and post season. As for Westbrook, his weaknesses have never been rooted in making his teammates worse. He goes hero mode too often, but he has (especially had) terrific gravity in his own right with how much attention his attacks to the rim can require. He was a very legitimate top 10 player, and that team as a whole throughout KD's prime was fantastic. Don't forget, PG had arguably his best season there this past season in Durant's role. And again, KD's on/off splits without Curry drop him right back down to his standard (still elite) levels. Curry's maintain far better.

[TaylorTRoom]

In 2016, Cleveland gave us the blueprint for Curry- double him, switch into him, and wear him down. His 2016 TS% in the regular season was .669. In the playoffs it was .603. In the 2017 and 2018 playoffs, playing with Durant (meaning teams couldn’t focus on Curry to the same extent), Curry’s TS was .659, .590 and .626. Playoffs Life is easier for Curry when playing with Durant.

[ILOVEIT]

Durant is a better isolation player....against any size. Durant is a better defender.
Curry is a much better team player and leader in the context of team.

Both are offensive freaks of nature....both come around every 10 years.

[XxIronChainzxX]

He isn't. Curry effectively gave up chance to be top 10 (maybe even top 5) all time by having Durant come to his team.

With his one title and 2 MVPS?

He might have gotten one more title and one MVP before retiring without KD. I think top 10 is a stretch but honestly Kobe is a bubble guy for #10 and Currie has a higher peak.

[Edrees]

... knowledge of the Warriors going 10-3 with a +8 MOV without Curry in the post-season?

Pretty sure they are like 34-4 without durant in the post season, so I'm not sure what your point is.

[so_bored]

This is really a hot take. Blazers just gave up open looks all game long with their most idiotic defensive game plan ever against a star. If KD had those open looks all game long, he would have scored 50 as well. Curry struggles when defenses gets physical, trapped, an forced to drive to the hoop. Kind of like what Dame is going through the last two series. Defenses are taking away Dames' three, and forcing him to drive. Yet, for some dumb reason, Blazers don't apply the same plan, and decided to give Curry clear shots at the basket. Doesn't make any sense.

KD has advantage over Curry because KD can get off a shot over just about anybody in the game. When the game is on the line, you would rather give the ball to KD and let him create and get off a good shot no matter who is guarding him.

[TaylorTRoom]

Curry is actually the more efficient scorer in the regular season and the playoffs. Of 20+ ppg scorers he's the most efficient all time in both. Only in playing alongside Curry has KD been slightly more efficient in the post season than Steph (64% to 63% TS), and that falls back off any time Curry is missing the game or subbed. Not so drastic for Curry if KD is out (as we are seeing again now).

You say Russ has great gravity? This guy says Westbrook has awful gravity effect-

http://www.thereckoner.ca/the-gravity-score/

Playoffs Westbrook is a stat compiler that makes teammates worse. That’s why I argue against using OKC stats to draw conclusions about KD’s playoffs efficiency.

It’s all cool. Next year, he’ll be elsewhere, and we’ll have new data.

Ha-ha! I’d like to see Curry’s efficiency on a team where Russ Westbrook is the pg! I bet you anything his efficiency drops below KD’s in that situation!

Not sure why this is laughable to you? You posted a false comment and I gave you the facts that Curry has been more efficient than everyone during both regular and post season. As for Westbrook, his weaknesses have never been rooted in making his teammates worse. He goes hero mode too often, but he has (especially had) terrific gravity in his own right with how much attention his attacks to the rim can require. He was a very legitimate top 10 player, and that team as a whole throughout KD's prime was fantastic. Don't forget, PG had arguably his best season there this past season in Durant's role. And again, KD's on/off splits without Curry drop him right back down to his standard (still elite) levels. Curry's maintain far better.

[NO-KG-AI]

Curry has a higher ceiling but his game is more hot and cold. Durant has a higher floor, and can create more consistent results through pure physical gifts and stuff. It’s honestly a perfect combo to have if you can’t have a Michael Jordan.


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[NO-KG-AI]

I just can’t undertand the comparisons between he and Durant. One guy has better than a 2:1 assist to turnover and a career .436 three point shooter. The other has a 4:3 assist to turn and shoots .381 from three. One is blitzed even without the ball, the other is allowed to iso at will.

The records of one without the other is overwhelmingly in favor of Steph. Steph has led the league in steals twice, KD has barely sniffed All Defense. What am I missing? If it’s Finals MVPs then inject Iggy into the comparison as well.

Not disagreeing with your premise, but I *hate* when people use steals to argue who is good at defense. It is probably the worst stat to use. Plenty of high steal players get their steals by gambling and being out of position. 1.x steals per game isn't worth it if tons of easy baskets were allowed on all the failed attempts at creating them.

While I don’t disagree with you totally, and I’m not arguing for Steph, this argument does work, but I always found it funny that despite all that, the list of top 10 steals and blocks guys of all time are basically all outstanding defenders... guys that can produce that level consistently for a career are basically all impact defenders. That’s why you see a lot of the guys that gamble fade in and out of the top 10.


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[Triples333]

In 2016, Cleveland gave us the blueprint for Curry- double him, switch into him, and wear him down. His 2016 TS% in the regular season was .669. In the playoffs it was .603. In the 2017 and 2018 playoffs, playing with Durant (meaning teams couldn’t focus on Curry to the same extent), Curry’s TS was .659, .590 and .626. Playoffs Life is easier for Curry when playing with Durant.

Again, the efficiency discrepancy is far more stark for KD with/without Curry, so I'm not sure what your point is? Curry has had more playoff success than KD as well, going through and outplayimg KD in that very same 2016 playoffs. Anyway I don't have any more time to go over this, I just figured I'd do you a solid to let you know that Curry is in fact the more efficient regular and post season scorer throughout their careers (or anyone's career relative to Curry).

[clyde21]

In 2016, Cleveland gave us the blueprint for Curry- double him, switch into him, and wear him down. His 2016 TS% in the regular season was .669. In the playoffs it was .603. In the 2017 and 2018 playoffs, playing with Durant (meaning teams couldn’t focus on Curry to the same extent), Curry’s TS was .659, .590 and .626. Playoffs Life is easier for Curry when playing with Durant.

to be fair, this also happened in those 2016 playoffs (MCL):

[OdomFan]

I'd rather have the guy who plays good defense. Hint: not Curry.

[Vladimir777]

Steph has a higher ceiling but a lower floor

Durant has a lower ceiling but a higher floor

whoever is better apparently hinges on whoever had the last best game per RealGM.

I would say this is the most accurate post.

For me, I value consistency, so I take Durant, but I understand that others take Curry. My problem is when people act like one or the other aren’t in the same league. They’re very similar in terms of how great both are. And they’re both **** great!

[Vladimir777]

Have people not realized yet that they're very different players? LOL

There are certainly things Curry is better at. From an 82 game perspective, he'll be able to get other guys on his team involved night in and night out. Durant's not that kind of guy. He's not and never will be a guy who "makes guys around him better" in way that Magic, Lebron or even Curry does. He's an ISO scorer, but fact is he's one of great scorers the game has ever seen.

In many situations Durant is going to be better. In a slow it down, grind it out game, he'll be better. He can get to the line way better than Curry can. It's harder to play him physically because he can always just shoot over the top of you or blow by you with that giant 1st step of his if you crowd him. He also has a bigger impact, defensively, simply due to being 6'11" with long arms.

Curry might make a team around him better over an 82 game season, but there's a reason Durant is the guy with 2 Finals MVPs when they had to play against a Top 2 player of all time in the Finals.

Another very accurate post.

They’re both better at very different things, so it’s tough comparing them. I can see arguments for both. It’s actually amazing that one team was able to get two players this goddamn close to each other in quality that we’ve spent 3 years debating who’s better and haven’t come to a definitive answer. I will say it’s a bit **** for the rest of the league when one team has both of them (in addition to a Finals MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and a perennial All-Star 3-point champion, all in their primes), but we already knew that. Plus they added Boogie! Lord, just thinking about that boggles my mind. You GS fans who want Durant gone are crazy!

For all those saying that RealGM prefers Durant to Steph, just look at this thread! I’d say easily 75+% of the posters think Steph is better. I’ve always maintained that Steph is one of the most well-liked players on this board (along with KG, who gets touted often as an all-time great on here, but rarely in the outside world).

[TaylorTRoom]

I stole this from another message board-

If you took four NBA players at random, and a random NBA Coach, that team would be better with Durant as the 5th, rather than Curry. However, if three of those four players are Klay, Iggy, and Green, with Kerr as the coach, that team would be better with Curry. They know how to play together and maximize Curry’s talents.

[Vladimir777]

Curry has a higher ceiling but his game is more hot and cold. Durant has a higher floor, and can create more consistent results through pure physical gifts and stuff. It’s honestly a perfect combo to have if you can’t have a Michael Jordan.


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I think I’d rather have both Steph and KD on my team than Michael Jordan honestly. GS fans are so lucky. And so many dislike Durant for some reason, which is mindblowing to me. Dude is better than anyone we’ve ever had on my Wizards.

[Vladimir777]

I stole this from another message board-

If you took four NBA players at random, and a random NBA Coach, that team would be better with Durant as the 5th, rather than Curry. However, if three of those four players are Klay, Iggy, and Green, with Kerr as the coach, that team would be better with Curry. They know how to play together and maximize Curry’s talents.

How I feel exactly.

[G35]

In 2016, Cleveland gave us the blueprint for Curry- double him, switch into him, and wear him down. His 2016 TS% in the regular season was .669. In the playoffs it was .603. In the 2017 and 2018 playoffs, playing with Durant (meaning teams couldn’t focus on Curry to the same extent), Curry’s TS was .659, .590 and .626. Playoffs Life is easier for Curry when playing with Durant.

I don't think Curry is better than Durant. I think Durant is better in a wider variety of circumstances, while Steph is better in the Warriors scenario.

Its obvious that winning G6 vs the Rockets and G1 vs the Blazers is boosting Curry right now. But if you had asked what the perception of Steph was at halftime of that G6 vs the Rockets, it would be a lot fewer people on that bandwagon.

Now Steph did step up and carry the Warriors to the win and he did in dominating fashion so you have to give him that credit. But the G1 of the Blazers was not a very challenging game imo. The Blazers did not play with the intensity you have to play with if you want to beat the champs. The one thing we have all been saying about Curry in the playoffs is that he does not play well through contact and physicality. I don't think the Blazers were physical with him at all. I don't think they have anyone on the Blazers that is that type of defender.

A Bruce Bowen, Tony Allen, Patrick Beverly, PJ Tucker type that is going to drag you into the dirt. The Blazers are similar to the Warriors in that they are led by their guards but the difference is Draymond. Dray is the most physical player on the floor and the Blazers are going to have to push back if they want to make it a competitive series.

Honestly, what they need is for McCollum to morph into Joe Dumars and put the Curry rules on him. Otherwise, if the Blazers try and just play straight up, they are going to lose easily. The Warriors two best players are better than the Blazers two best players. If Kanter can somehow become a dominating force maybe they can force some mismatches but I don't see that happening. The Warriors are going to push the Blazers around imo.

If this is going to be a battle of who can shoot the 3ball better, we might as well move the Warriors on to the next round because Blazers do not have the firepower to keep up.

TL;DR Curry is not going to be challenged by the Blazers and it will create a perception. The Bucks provide a much stiffer test to Curry's dominance

[PistolPeteJR]

Loled at “Steph has led the league in steals twice, KD has barely sniffed All Defense”.

[ken6199]

Steph has a higher ceiling but a lower floor

Durant has a lower ceiling but a higher floor

whoever is better apparently hinges on whoever had the last best game per RealGM.

I would say this is the most accurate post.

For me, I value consistency, so I take Durant, but I understand that others take Curry. My problem is when people act like one or the other aren’t in the same league. They’re very similar in terms of how great both are. And they’re both **** great!

This is universally recognized as the most powerful way to convey a point these days. "Blah blah blah and it's not even close".