League hasn't been the same without KD

[HollowEarth]

He's still out there talking smack to 8th graders online; it's like he never left

[Drygon]

He's still out there talking smack to s online; it's like he never left

Most adults are fighting with 8th graders with anonymous accounts on Reddit, RealGM etc. It's not much different.

[YamaChan]

Who said anything about LeBron? I was talking about the failings of Durant which unfortunately can’t be refuted by something LeBron did a decade ago.

You said it was the worst choke in NBA History. By definition "History" would include something LeBron did a decade ago, which was the ACTUAL worst choke in NBA History.

That would be like Durant getting to the Finals with his superteam, playing like ****, making fun of the opposing team's player, showboating with a big lead before the game is over and then choking that lead away along with the series, in a year where he participated in a pep rally, counted off all the rings he was going to win and said it was going to be so easy he could throw lob passes to his 60 year old team president.

Last I checked, KD didn't do that. LeBron did. We know who had the worst choke ever.

It wasn't KD losing to a 73-9 team.

A choke is getting in a winning position and then folding under the pressure. I’ve never seen a worse example of that in my life than KD’s collapse to the 2016 Warriors when he completely stopped making the same winning plays he was making a few days before (at least until Steph and the gang topped it a few weeks later with an embarrassing choke of their own).

Again unsure what a **** 2011 Finals performance by the Heat has to do with that.

Then you started watching basketball in 2012.

I laughed HARD at your trying to write off the worst chokejob by a superstar player in NBA History, LeBron's gad, as a bad performance by the Heat.

No, it was bad by LEBRON.

I've never seen KD get outplayed by a roleplayer. I watched LeBron get balled on by Jason Terry though.

Don't throw stones from a glass house next time.

In no universe is Durant losing to the 73-9 Warriors worse than LeBron's pathetic display in 2011, the actual worst chokejob perhaps ever.

Even LeBron openly admits how bad it was. Stop denying reality.

[Randle McMurphy]

You said it was the worst choke in NBA History. By definition "History" would include something LeBron did a decade ago, which was the ACTUAL worst choke in NBA History.

That would be like Durant getting to the Finals with his superteam, playing like ****, making fun of the opposing team's player, showboating with a big lead before the game is over and then choking that lead away along with the series, in a year where he participated in a pep rally, counted off all the rings he was going to win and said it was going to be so easy he could throw lob passes to his 60 year old team president.

Last I checked, KD didn't do that. LeBron did. We know who had the worst choke ever.

It wasn't KD losing to a 73-9 team.

A choke is getting in a winning position and then folding under the pressure. I’ve never seen a worse example of that in my life than KD’s collapse to the 2016 Warriors when he completely stopped making the same winning plays he was making a few days before (at least until Steph and the gang topped it a few weeks later with an embarrassing choke of their own).

Again unsure what a **** 2011 Finals performance by the Heat has to do with that.

Then you started watching basketball in 2012.

I laughed HARD at your trying to write off the worst chokejob by a superstar player in NBA History, LeBron's gad, as a bad performance by the Heat.

No, it was bad by LEBRON.

I've never seen KD get outplayed by a roleplayer. I watched LeBron get balled on by Jason Terry though.

Don't throw stones from a glass house next time.

In no universe is Durant losing to the 73-9 Warriors worse than LeBron's pathetic display in 2011, the actual worst chokejob perhaps ever.

Even LeBron openly admits how bad it was. Stop denying reality.

I see what you’re doing. You’re conflating a bad performance with “choke,” but there’s a rather enormous difference.

There have been plenty of terrible performances in basketball history (the 2011 Heat being one of them) but few teams in NBA history have collapsed under pressure from a winning position on a stage like the 2016 Thunder (and later, and even worse, the 2016 Warriors did). It was quite the thing to witness and it is a major reason I have little confidence in Durant being able to handle winning without a team of HOFers around him. We’ve seen what the guy does when he’s asked to carry the load under pressure without Steph and Klay beside him and it isn’t pretty.

[NoZoLakers]

they wont implode but there's good chance they'll be injury riddled whole season especially kyrie

[YamaChan]

A choke is getting in a winning position and then folding under the pressure. I’ve never seen a worse example of that in my life than KD’s collapse to the 2016 Warriors when he completely stopped making the same winning plays he was making a few days before (at least until Steph and the gang topped it a few weeks later with an embarrassing choke of their own).

Again unsure what a **** 2011 Finals performance by the Heat has to do with that.

Then you started watching basketball in 2012.

I laughed HARD at your trying to write off the worst chokejob by a superstar player in NBA History, LeBron's gad, as a bad performance by the Heat.

No, it was bad by LEBRON.

I've never seen KD get outplayed by a roleplayer. I watched LeBron get balled on by Jason Terry though.

Don't throw stones from a glass house next time.

In no universe is Durant losing to the 73-9 Warriors worse than LeBron's pathetic display in 2011, the actual worst chokejob perhaps ever.

Even LeBron openly admits how bad it was. Stop denying reality.

I see what you’re doing. You’re conflating a bad performance with “choke,” but there’s a rather enormous difference.

There have been plenty of terrible performances in basketball history (the 2011 Heat being one of them) but few teams in NBA history have collapsed under pressure from a winning position on a stage like the 2016 Thunder (and later, and even worse, the 2016 Warriors did). It was quite the thing to witness and it is a major reason I have little confidence in Durant being able to handle winning without a team of HOFers around him. We’ve seen what the guy does when he’s asked to carry the load under pressure without Steph and Klay beside him and it isn’t pretty.

There is no rational argument for calling what LeBron did in 2011 as anything but a choke.

How do you even "choke" without having a bad performance?

LeBron's 2011 Finals was nothing but bad performances in a series eh was heavily favored to win.

Nobody heavily favored the Thunder to beat the 73-9 Warriors, let alone have them down 3-1 to begin with.

Everyone expected the Heat to steamroll the 2011 Mavs, and they would have if LeBron didn't choke.

This conversation has run its course.

[Randle McMurphy]

Then you started watching basketball in 2012.

I laughed HARD at your trying to write off the worst chokejob by a superstar player in NBA History, LeBron's gad, as a bad performance by the Heat.

No, it was bad by LEBRON.

I've never seen KD get outplayed by a roleplayer. I watched LeBron get balled on by Jason Terry though.

Don't throw stones from a glass house next time.

In no universe is Durant losing to the 73-9 Warriors worse than LeBron's pathetic display in 2011, the actual worst chokejob perhaps ever.

Even LeBron openly admits how bad it was. Stop denying reality.

I see what you’re doing. You’re conflating a bad performance with “choke,” but there’s a rather enormous difference.

There have been plenty of terrible performances in basketball history (the 2011 Heat being one of them) but few teams in NBA history have collapsed under pressure from a winning position on a stage like the 2016 Thunder (and later, and even worse, the 2016 Warriors did). It was quite the thing to witness and it is a major reason I have little confidence in Durant being able to handle winning without a team of HOFers around him. We’ve seen what the guy does when he’s asked to carry the load under pressure without Steph and Klay beside him and it isn’t pretty.

There is no rational argument for calling what LeBron did in 2011 as anything but a choke.

How do you even "choke" without having a bad performance?

LeBron's 2011 Finals was nothing but bad performances in a series eh was heavily favored to win.

Nobody heavily favored the Thunder to beat the 73-9 Warriors, let alone have them down 3-1 to begin with.

Everyone expected the Heat to steamroll the 2011 Mavs, and they would have if LeBron didn't choke.

This conversation has run its course.

Choking is when you are in a winning position and you fold under the pressure of being in that position. LeBron and by extension the 2011 Heat were never in a winning position. They just sucked and lost. They didn’t “choke” that series away like the 2016 Thunder and 2016 Warriors did.

In any case, the point was that Durant hasn’t proven himself since his historic choke (at least not with the help and support of an established 73 win team around him with 3 HOFers). LeBron, on the other hand, has had a decade of dominance in the NBA Finals since 2011 and has more than established he can handle the pressure of that stage. Him sucking 10 years ago has nothing to do with questioning Durant’s ability to carry a team with the Nets on his own now.

[NoZoLakers]

doubt many miss kd, missing steh n klay shooting

[Arman_tanzarian]

The league was fine before he joined the team that beat him for free titles and it'll be fine after.

[YamaChan]

I see what you’re doing. You’re conflating a bad performance with “choke,” but there’s a rather enormous difference.

There have been plenty of terrible performances in basketball history (the 2011 Heat being one of them) but few teams in NBA history have collapsed under pressure from a winning position on a stage like the 2016 Thunder (and later, and even worse, the 2016 Warriors did). It was quite the thing to witness and it is a major reason I have little confidence in Durant being able to handle winning without a team of HOFers around him. We’ve seen what the guy does when he’s asked to carry the load under pressure without Steph and Klay beside him and it isn’t pretty.

There is no rational argument for calling what LeBron did in 2011 as anything but a choke.

How do you even "choke" without having a bad performance?

LeBron's 2011 Finals was nothing but bad performances in a series eh was heavily favored to win.

Nobody heavily favored the Thunder to beat the 73-9 Warriors, let alone have them down 3-1 to begin with.

Everyone expected the Heat to steamroll the 2011 Mavs, and they would have if LeBron didn't choke.

This conversation has run its course.

Choking is when you are in a winning position and you fold under the pressure of being in that position. LeBron and by extension the 2011 Heat were never in a winning position. They just sucked and lost. They didn’t “choke” that series away like the 2016 Thunder and 2016 Warriors did.

In any case, the point was that Durant hasn’t proven himself since his historic choke (at least not with the help and support of an established 73 win team around him with 3 HOFers). LeBron, on the other hand, has had a decade of dominance in the NBA Finals since 2011 and has more than established he can handle the pressure of that stage. Him sucking 10 years ago has nothing to do with questioning Durant’s ability to carry a team with the Nets on his own now.

I don't think you were watching basketball in 2011. That's the only reason this post could exist.

I refuse to argue something as blatantly obvious as LeBron's 2011 NBA Finals being the worst chokejob in modern NBA History.

It was way, way worse than Durant losing to the 73-9 Warriors.

The Heat were literally up 1-0, with a 15-point lead with barely 5 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. Then LeBron imploded for the rest of the series and gagged away the series.

Even if they had won, Wade would've gotten Finals MVP, because LeBron was that bad.

So yes, when you claim Durant had the biggest choke in history, you're just blatantly wrong. LeBron's was way worse in every conceivable way. It's a joke to even attempt to argue it.

[ThumbsUpBaby]

I don't feel any effect or impact of KD's absence.

Nah, the league hasn't been the same since Corona outbreak.

[levon]

I like KD, but it's been better. Particularly when you consider his Warriors stint. The Thunder were really cumbersome to watch too. Durant shoots, then Westbrook shoots.

[dakomish23]

Yeah. Way less drama and more focus on the actual game. It’s been great.

[milkii]

So what you're saying is LeBron's 4th championship is fraud since Steph, Klay and KD are injured.

[Metallikid]

Next season will be one of the more interesting and competitive seasons in memory. Much more so than this one.

[ThreeMileAllan]

I cant wait until both KD and LeBron are no longer competitive. Give me strong willed competitors who don't need public approval and to stack the deck in their favor.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[RamonSessions7]

I’m much more looking forward to the return of Steph and Klay than anything KD

[trickshot]

Maybe if you started watching hardcore in 2017 but he's never really been a presence without GS and he'll be coming off a serious injury so he might never be one

[Homer38]

Durant “ruining the league” is actually code for “denying lebron rings for his GOAT cause”. This is the reason lebron stans hate KD and Kawhi as well. Just so we’re all clear with the jargon here.

Wait why would Lebron stans hate Kawahi?

2014

2014 was a classic team effort by the spurs....It was not a one man team!

[Homer38]

League just became unwatchable since his injury.. KD just simply elevates the league as a whole.. dynamic non flopping elite clutch player who backs up his trash talk.. League misses him greatly. Just sayin.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen that often by KD in the playoffs when he was in OKC .... Only in 2012 actually .... I hope he will come back close to his level for the 2021 season and that KD is going to have the chance to show what he can do in the playoffs with the Nets.