Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA

[RamonSessions7]

This is why superstars will keep teaming up and forming super teams instead of going at each other. Guy walks to a pre-built top 2 team in the league who had just won a title and then set the wins record and was tailor made to make life easier for a player like Durant, so of course he’s going to look better. Now he’s shockingly on another loaded team and people still look to prop this guy up. He’s lame

[sashaturiaf]

You can't be the best player in the NBA when you are not the clear cut best player of your own team....

Injury is the only factor making Harden the best player in Brooklyn.
People factor in injury, so KD is not considered the best player for that reason alone.
I don't factor in injury, so I put KD ahead of Harden, and I think everybody would say healthy KD is better than Harden.

Did LeBron die or something? The thing I love most about this board is how quickly everyone's opinion changes and how all of you guys are prisoners of the moment

LeBron winning the championship with AD is proof LeBron is the best?
I don't think so.
AD is the perfect #2, probably the greatest #2 ever.
Is there any superstar who can't win a championship with AD?
So disregarding LeBron's championship, I don't see any reason to rank him ahead of KD.

You know you have a weak argument when you have to completely dismiss championships.

Do we disregard KD's titles with the most stacked roster ever? Just asking. What does KD do better than Lebron? He's a better scorer but Lebron does everything else better. KD has a good night against the worst defensive team in the league and he's better than Lebron now?

KD is flat out better than Lebron.

KD's teams have been top 2 in the NBA in offensive rating every season since 2011 (barring the seasons he was injured). That is 3 completely different systems in OKC, GSW and Brooklyn yet every single one of them have been elite offensively because of KD can fit in anywhere.

Lebron's impact on an offense is purely dependent on how good the shooters around him are. The Cavs were an elite offense, so were the Heat after they got Ray Allen and played Bosh at 5. However his teams have been middle of the pack offensively in the early Miami years and in the Laker years when that shooting isn't there. Bron's teams can only play 1 way - and that is Bron's way.

KD generated an elite offense surrounded by Westbrook, Perkins, Andre Roberson and Thabolosha with no spacing and coached by Scott Brooks. Can Lebron do that? hell no. He had one season with the young Lakers and they ranked 24th in the league in offense. Below Average!

And oh yeah, KD smokes Lebron head to head in the finals too. Bron wanted NO part of guarding him.

[Homer38]

No Harden is not better than KD. Stop the nonsense.

I love Harden but we all know when happens to him at the end of big playoff games.

KD was not much better in the playoffs in OKC outside of his great 2012 playoffs run.

[xAIRNESSx]

Another ring or two with a finals MVP will have him above Bird no doubt. Best player taller than 6'6 of all time

Maybe he's the best scorer over 6'6" but not the best player. I can think of at least four better options.

LeBron for one....

[guille_4]

Lol, some people reaaalllyyy hate KD.

I've only been watching the NBA for the past 12-15 years, so I can't compare him with players from before 2005, but he's undoubtedly one of the top-5 players I've ever seen. I already have him in the same tier as KG and Dirk, and if he stays healthy I'm pretty sure he'll comfortably be a top-20 player when it's all said and done.

He's the most unguardable player I've ever seen. Even more than Kobe, LeBron or Curry, and I know this may be controversial...

However, he definitely lacks the leadership and gravitas of Kobe, LeBron or Curry, so it's hard to gauge him against them.

[Homer38]

Injury is the only factor making Harden the best player in Brooklyn.
People factor in injury, so KD is not considered the best player for that reason alone.
I don't factor in injury, so I put KD ahead of Harden, and I think everybody would say healthy KD is better than Harden.


LeBron winning the championship with AD is proof LeBron is the best?
I don't think so.
AD is the perfect #2, probably the greatest #2 ever.
Is there any superstar who can't win a championship with AD?
So disregarding LeBron's championship, I don't see any reason to rank him ahead of KD.

You know you have a weak argument when you have to completely dismiss championships.

Do we disregard KD's titles with the most stacked roster ever? Just asking. What does KD do better than Lebron? He's a better scorer but Lebron does everything else better. KD has a good night against the worst defensive team in the league and he's better than Lebron now?

KD is flat out better than Lebron.

KD's teams have been top 2 in the NBA in offensive rating every season since 2011 (barring the seasons he was injured). That is 3 completely different systems in OKC, GSW and Brooklyn yet every single one of them have been elite offensively because of KD can fit in anywhere.

Lebron's impact on an offense is purely dependent on how good the shooters around him are. The Cavs were an elite offense, so were the Heat after they got Ray Allen and played Bosh at 5. However his teams have been middle of the pack offensively in the early Miami years and in the Laker years when that shooting isn't there. Bron's teams can only play 1 way - and that is Bron's way.

KD generated an elite offense surrounded by Westbrook, Perkins and Thabolosha with no spacing. Can Lebron do that? hell no. He had one season with the young Lakers and they ranked 24th in the league in offense. Below Average!

And oh yeah, KD smokes Lebron head to head in the finals too. Bron wanted NO part of guarding him.

You are wrong in so many point

The offenses of LBJ in the playoffs have always been much better than the offenses of KD in OKC .... The offense of the warriors was in the top 2 in 2015 and 2016 without KD and the Nets are once again elite in offense even if KD missed 30 games ... So his offenses were rarely a one man show

For the spacing, outside of 2016 and 2017 and the 2013 regular season with the heat, LBJ rarely had great spacing ... It's a myth that he cannot adopt without great spacing .... The lakers were great in offense last year in the playoffs and they were 4th in offensive rating before the bubble but they went down to 11th place, since the 8 games of the lakers meant nothing

For the KD vs LBJ matchup, did you know that before KD played in a team that couldn't beat in 2016 that KD was 4-17 against LBJ, despite having a comparable supporting cast for most of the time?

Don't blame that on the age please, since LBJ had a winning record against the great Kobe Bryant between 2004 to 2010

[krii]

I believe he has been the objectively best player in the league for a long time now; best player meaning having all the skills and traits. He is absolutely unstoppable on offense - not a single other player can say theres no defense available to stop them - including setting up his team mates, and - onlike Harden, Bron and Steph - is a huge positive on D, not on Kawhi level but enough to lift him on top as a two way player. Criteria like availability longevity rings are random and arbitrary, just used to push the case of one's favorite whenever it suits. "Best player" would not include health in any other debate other than NBA. ANd i say that as impartial fan of the game, i dont consder myself a KD or Nets fan.

Whats really remarkable is that he not only managed to gather the usual hate group of LeBron fans (who hate on everyone who could possibly threaten LeBron's status, including KD, Kawhi, Steph, Giannis) but also upset so many fan groups that a thread like this one can go overboard from emotionality. Its a bit sad that guys cannot differenciate between whom they like and what those guys bring. As in appreciate a guy because he is simply good regardless of wether you're a fan or not. Guys are so into their fandom that they forget to be fans of the game in first place. How people cannot appreciate the absolute power and talent KD brings, just to talk about his career decisions is beyond me.

The current world runs on emotions. Politics, social issues, cultural views - all those planes used to be considered areas for wide discussion, on which some people took guarded stances, some others were flexibly moving around. At this point everything is too emotional, people are attached to their own views; to the point, they genuinely think that disagreeing with them might be (or even is) hurtingto them. The beautiful freedom of access, that the Internet brought, led to this divisive reality of now. Hence, there is no room for admiring someone's skillset, game, moves, intellect, if you stand with another team/player. Just as if you would discuss politics, and ended up being called names for having a different view. You are either with us or against us. I knew that the future will be binary, but I thought it was meant to be because of the programming languages behind it, not because of the 01 culture.

The volume of intellectual gymnastics that some people are doing in order to build logics behind their emotions is pretty disturbing. Like, for instance, trying to prove that one of the – arguably – 20 best players in the history of this sport, yet – indisputably – one of the most efficient and prolific scorers and offensive players in the last (x) decade, wasn't better than Ibaka in OKC or Green in GSW.

But yeah. Go on, build another wall of comments on how KD ruined the game, how he's a traitor, coward, softie, et cetera, et cetera.

[sashaturiaf]

You know you have a weak argument when you have to completely dismiss championships.

Do we disregard KD's titles with the most stacked roster ever? Just asking. What does KD do better than Lebron? He's a better scorer but Lebron does everything else better. KD has a good night against the worst defensive team in the league and he's better than Lebron now?

KD is flat out better than Lebron.

KD's teams have been top 2 in the NBA in offensive rating every season since 2011 (barring the seasons he was injured). That is 3 completely different systems in OKC, GSW and Brooklyn yet every single one of them have been elite offensively because of KD can fit in anywhere.

Lebron's impact on an offense is purely dependent on how good the shooters around him are. The Cavs were an elite offense, so were the Heat after they got Ray Allen and played Bosh at 5. However his teams have been middle of the pack offensively in the early Miami years and in the Laker years when that shooting isn't there. Bron's teams can only play 1 way - and that is Bron's way.

KD generated an elite offense surrounded by Westbrook, Perkins and Thabolosha with no spacing. Can Lebron do that? hell no. He had one season with the young Lakers and they ranked 24th in the league in offense. Below Average!

And oh yeah, KD smokes Lebron head to head in the finals too. Bron wanted NO part of guarding him.

You are wrong in so many point

The offenses of LBJ in the playoffs have always been much better than the offenses of KD in OKC .... The offense of the warriors was in the top 2 in 2015 and 2016 without KD and the Nets are once again elite in offense even if KD missed 30 games ... So his offenses were rarely a one man show

For the spacing, outside of 2016 and 2017 and the 2013 regular season with the heat, LBJ rarely had great spacing ... It's a myth that he cannot adopt without great spacing .... The lakers were great in offense last year in the playoffs and they were 4th in offensive rating before the bubble but they went down to 11th place, since the 8 games of the lakers meant nothing

For the KD vs LBJ matchup, did you know that before KD played in a team that couldn't beat in 2016 that KD was 4-17 against LBJ, despite having a comparable supporting cast for most of the time?

Don't blame that on the age please, since LBJ had a winning record against the great Kobe Bryant between 2004 to 2010

The Lakers win with their defense not offense, their offense is just good to get to get by. In getting that bubble ring AD was the leader of the defense which won them the title but then of course the stans make him into some role player when he had the higher PER and led the team in scoring.

A myth he can't adapt without great spacing? Better in the playoffs? Well prove it, Lebron couldn't even get to the playoffs without a stacked roster around him in 2018. 24th in the league in offense, there is no conceivable way a KD team is finishing that low.

[LakersNavy]

Lol, some people reaaalllyyy hate KD.

I've only been watching the NBA for the past 12-15 years, so I can't compare him with players from before 2005, but he's undoubtedly one of the top-5 players I've ever seen. I already have him in the same tier as KG and Dirk, and if he stays healthy I'm pretty sure he'll comfortably be a top-20 player when it's all said and done.

He's the most unguardable player I've ever seen. Even more than Kobe, LeBron or Curry, and I know this may be controversial...

However, he definitely lacks the leadership and gravitas of Kobe, LeBron or Curry, so it's hard to gauge him against them.

I don't hate KD. He's just not better than Lebron. Saying he's the best player in the means you think he's better than LBJ which isn't true. KD is certainly a top 5 player though

[Galloisdaman]

KD and Lebron should shoot 20 free throws each to decide. Of course KD will have to shoot his in the dark to keep things fair.

[Statlanta]

Ironically I think he has regressed. He has been fumbling the ball all season. I don't think this is prime Kevin Durant like 2015, another injury prone season was

[sashaturiaf]

I believe he has been the objectively best player in the league for a long time now; best player meaning having all the skills and traits. He is absolutely unstoppable on offense - not a single other player can say theres no defense available to stop them - including setting up his team mates, and - onlike Harden, Bron and Steph - is a huge positive on D, not on Kawhi level but enough to lift him on top as a two way player. Criteria like availability longevity rings are random and arbitrary, just used to push the case of one's favorite whenever it suits. "Best player" would not include health in any other debate other than NBA. ANd i say that as impartial fan of the game, i dont consder myself a KD or Nets fan.

Whats really remarkable is that he not only managed to gather the usual hate group of LeBron fans (who hate on everyone who could possibly threaten LeBron's status, including KD, Kawhi, Steph, Giannis) but also upset so many fan groups that a thread like this one can go overboard from emotionality. Its a bit sad that guys cannot differenciate between whom they like and what those guys bring. As in appreciate a guy because he is simply good regardless of wether you're a fan or not. Guys are so into their fandom that they forget to be fans of the game in first place. How people cannot appreciate the absolute power and talent KD brings, just to talk about his career decisions is beyond me.

The current world runs on emotions. Politics, social issues, cultural views - all those planes used to be considered areas for wide discussion, on which some people took guarded stances, some others were flexibly moving around. At this point everything is too emotional, people are attached to their own views; to the point, they genuinely think that disagreeing with them might be (or even is) hurtingto them. The beautiful freedom of access, that the Internet brought, led to this divisive reality of now. Hence, there is no room for admiring someone's skillset, game, moves, intellect, if you stand with another team/player. Just as if you would discuss politics, and ended up being called names for having a different view. You are either with us or against us. I knew that the future will be binary, but I thought it was meant to be because of the programming languages behind it, not because of the 01 culture.

The volume of intellectual gymnastics that some people are doing in order to build logics behind their emotions is pretty disturbing. Like, for instance, trying to prove that one of the – arguably – 20 best players in the history of this sport, yet – indisputably – one of the most efficient and prolific scorers and offensive players in the last (x) decade, wasn't better than Ibaka in OKC or Green in GSW.

But yeah. Go on, build another wall of comments on how KD ruined the game, how he's a traitor, coward, softie, et cetera, et cetera.

Good post and I agree. The media and powers in charge has manipulated people's tribal nature to make anything and everything into an exercise in "us vs them". People are practically helpless when the media is screaming GOAT TOP 10 discussion into their faces like it means anything, the general board is nothing more than a bunch of poor man's Skip Baylesses shouting online at a bunch of poor man's Stephen A. Smith's - except we aren't getting paid millions of dollars to do so.

There is very little appreciation for the beauty and history of the game on the biggest NBA forum on the internet and that is a sad thing.

[Statlanta]

No Harden is not better than KD. Stop the nonsense.

I love Harden but we all know when happens to him at the end of big playoff games.

People make a bigger deal of Hardens chokes because he was by himself a bit before he got help but not when KD coughs the ball to the other team possession after possession when he isos. One underrated thing about the Thunder's legacy is that Westbrook, Sam Presti and Scott Brooks got heat for most of the Thunder's failures. KD always needed a All-Star level ball-handler because if he faces credible defense he chokes by settling and being passive

[KyRo23]

KD would be the best player if not for all the injuries.

When he was on the verge of getting his 3 peat with GS he would have been universally recognized as the best player.

He outplayed LeBron is two straight Finals.

I would still take him over anyone if he can just stay healthy.

Except for the small little detail that he didn't really outplay LeBron.

But me and you have had this discussion in the past.

[Homer38]

KD is flat out better than Lebron.

KD's teams have been top 2 in the NBA in offensive rating every season since 2011 (barring the seasons he was injured). That is 3 completely different systems in OKC, GSW and Brooklyn yet every single one of them have been elite offensively because of KD can fit in anywhere.

Lebron's impact on an offense is purely dependent on how good the shooters around him are. The Cavs were an elite offense, so were the Heat after they got Ray Allen and played Bosh at 5. However his teams have been middle of the pack offensively in the early Miami years and in the Laker years when that shooting isn't there. Bron's teams can only play 1 way - and that is Bron's way.

KD generated an elite offense surrounded by Westbrook, Perkins and Thabolosha with no spacing. Can Lebron do that? hell no. He had one season with the young Lakers and they ranked 24th in the league in offense. Below Average!

And oh yeah, KD smokes Lebron head to head in the finals too. Bron wanted NO part of guarding him.

You are wrong in so many point

The offenses of LBJ in the playoffs have always been much better than the offenses of KD in OKC .... The offense of the warriors was in the top 2 in 2015 and 2016 without KD and the Nets are once again elite in offense even if KD missed 30 games ... So his offenses were rarely a one man show

For the spacing, outside of 2016 and 2017 and the 2013 regular season with the heat, LBJ rarely had great spacing ... It's a myth that he cannot adopt without great spacing .... The lakers were great in offense last year in the playoffs and they were 4th in offensive rating before the bubble but they went down to 11th place, since the 8 games of the lakers meant nothing

For the KD vs LBJ matchup, did you know that before KD played in a team that couldn't beat in 2016 that KD was 4-17 against LBJ, despite having a comparable supporting cast for most of the time?

Don't blame that on the age please, since LBJ had a winning record against the great Kobe Bryant between 2004 to 2010

The Lakers win with their defense not offense, their offense is just good to get to get by. In getting that bubble ring AD was the leader of the defense which won them the title but then of course the stans make him into some role player when he had the higher PER and led the team in scoring.

A myth he can't adapt without great spacing? Better in the playoffs? Well prove it, Lebron couldn't even get to the playoffs without a stacked roster around him in 2018. 24th in the league in offense, there is no conceivable way a KD team is finishing that low.

The lakers were great in the playoffs on offense too even if the spacing were below average.Better that almost every team of KD in OKC even when you adjust the era.LBJ was also a big factor why the lakers defense were great.And who said Davis was not great last year? ..... don't put words in other people's mouths please.LBJ was still their best player,I mean,he was second in the MVP voting last year.Davis had also a amazing year.Both can be true!

The 2018 Cavs were awful but still make the finals because of LBJ...I don't know why you said 2018...In 2019,LBJ missed too much time, which is the big reason why they were 24th on offense.And for KD, when you have peak Westbrook, Curry and now Harden, it's hard to be garbage in offense, even when you miss so many times

[Homer38]

KD and Lebron should shoot 20 free throws each to decide. Of course KD will have to shoot his in the dark to keep things fair.

Free throws is the only thing that matters....In this case Marc Gasol was a better center that peak Shaquille O'Neal.

[Sharcm1]

Toni Kukoc who knows a thing or two about basketball was actually right.
This guy is simply the most unguardable player in NBA and has been since he entered in NBA.

let’s see him win a chip with 4 other stiffs

Name a player that did that

[YamaChan]

KD would be the best player if not for all the injuries.

When he was on the verge of getting his 3 peat with GS he would have been universally recognized as the best player.

He outplayed LeBron is two straight Finals.

I would still take him over anyone if he can just stay healthy.

Except for the small little detail that he didn't really outplay LeBron.

But me and you have had this discussion in the past.

He thoroughly outplayed LeBron.

2018 isn't remotely debatable.

Other than Game 1, KD was clearly the highest impact player on the court throughout the rest of the series.

Game 4 he literally deferred to try to help Curry win his first Finals MVP.

2017 is no contest if you look at the numbers.

Read on Twitter

[Galloisdaman]

KD and Lebron should shoot 20 free throws each to decide. Of course KD will have to shoot his in the dark to keep things fair.

Free throws is the only thing that matters....In this case Marc Gasol was a better center that peak Shaquille O'Neal.

I did not mean to upset you by bringing up free throws. Would you prefer them shoot from 3 but AD gets to defend KD?

[Homer38]

KD would be the best player if not for all the injuries.

When he was on the verge of getting his 3 peat with GS he would have been universally recognized as the best player.

He outplayed LeBron is two straight Finals.

I would still take him over anyone if he can just stay healthy.

Except for the small little detail that he didn't really outplay LeBron.

But me and you have had this discussion in the past.

He thoroughly outplayed LeBron.

2018 isn't remotely debatable.

Other than Game 1, KD was clearly the highest impact player on the court throughout the rest of the series.

Game 4 he literally deferred to try to help Curry win his first Finals MVP.

2017 is no contest if you look at the numbers.

Read on Twitter

against 2 bottom 10 defenses(bottom 2 in 2018)