Better Player Right Now Today: Kevin Durant or Giannis

mdonnelly1989 · Post #1 » by **mdonnelly1989** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 4:46 am

Who is a better player right now? Kevin Durant or Giannis

Dupp · Post #2 » by **Dupp** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 5:08 am

Well it really depends. KD can’t get you though a regular season and playoffs. He hasn’t had an elite regular season in ever. He’s low key kawhi-esk.

Now come playoffs I think he’s better. But start to finish Giannis is clearly better. So it really depends on your situation but without a stacked deck to get you through a season I dunno how you can pick against Giannis.

SUPERVILLAIN · Post #3 » by **SUPERVILLAIN** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 5:23 am

KD.

Winning a title does not make you the “best”. LeBron was the undisputed best player for the last decade. No matter which team won the title.

LAL1947 · Post #4 » by **LAL1947** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 5:51 am

KD... but I can hardly wait for the day when Luka takes over the throne. Halleluka!

Jables · Post #5 » by **Jables** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 6:11 am

I gotta laugh when people say winning a title doesn't make you the best ... when Durant has a superteam and has never achieved anything like Giannis did, and no one even had him CLOSE to LeBron before he joined the Warriors, who are you guys kidding? Yeah who knows if they were healthy, that still wouldn't mean he's ever actually led a team "the right way", seems to me that Giannis doesn't have to prove anything.

Pelly24 · Post #6 » by **Pelly24** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 6:43 am

Jables wrote:I gotta laugh when people say winning a title doesn't make you the best ... when Durant has a superteam and has never achieved anything like Giannis did, and no one even had him CLOSE to LeBron before he joined the Warriors, who are you guys kidding? Yeah who knows if they were healthy, that still wouldn't mean he's ever actually led a team "the right way", seems to me that Giannis doesn't have to prove anything.

Yeah Ill just say both cases were examples of flawed logic.

shza · Post #7 » by **shza** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 8:22 am

I can’t believe even a single person votes Giannis. I don’t think it’s really close. Giannis is a raw athlete. No moves, can’t shoot. Similar in a lot of ways to this board*s current least favorite player, Ben Simmons (with considerably better drive but minus the playmaking and court vision). He’s the best raw athlete in the league, but he doesn’t compare to a guy who’s also 7’, has handles like a guard, has a ton of slick, skilled moves, and is one of the best shooters in the game.

Does anyone truly believe the Bucks win that series if Middleton and Jrue both get injured, like KD’s #2 and #3 did? Of course not.

Giannis is in tight competition with Luka for most overrated player in the NBA.

Da ThRONe · Post #8 » by **Da ThRONe** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 8:35 am

Shooting is king in the league. Durant's one of the best.
'

AussieBuck · Post #9 » by **AussieBuck** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 8:36 am

shza wrote:I can’t believe even a single person votes Giannis. I don’t think it’s really close. Giannis is a raw athlete. No moves, can’t shoot. He’s the best raw athlete in the league, but he doesn’t compare to a guy who’s also 7’, has handles like a guard, has a ton of slick, skilled moves, and is one of the best shooters in the game.

Does anyone truly believe the Bucks win that series if Middleton and Jrue both get injured, like KD’s #2 and #3 did? Of course not.

Giannis is in tight competition with Luka for most overrated player in the NBA.

haha, Durant has won nothing without a 73 win team at his back. Giannis just dropped 50 to win the finals.

This is like saying Yao > Shaq because shooting. Giannis has a significantly better handle which is one reason why he can run a team and Durant can't. You've confusing fancy crossovers for fundamental handles. Giannis has a tighter, lower handle and has significantly better footwork and off hand dribbling.

PicPock · Post #10 » by **PicPock** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 9:38 am

AussieBuck wrote:
shza wrote:I can’t believe even a single person votes Giannis. I don’t think it’s really close. Giannis is a raw athlete. No moves, can’t shoot. He’s the best raw athlete in the league, but he doesn’t compare to a guy who’s also 7’, has handles like a guard, has a ton of slick, skilled moves, and is one of the best shooters in the game.

Does anyone truly believe the Bucks win that series if Middleton and Jrue both get injured, like KD’s #2 and #3 did? Of course not.

Giannis is in tight competition with Luka for most overrated player in the NBA.

haha, Durant has won nothing without a 73 win team at his back. Giannis just dropped 50 to win the finals.

This is like saying Yao > Shaq because shooting. Giannis has a significantly better handle which is one reason why he can run a team and Durant can't. You've confusing fancy crossovers for fundamental handles. Giannis has a tighter, lower handle and has significantly better footwork and off hand dribbling.

Actually there are 5 major skills in basketball. Shooting, dribbling, defense, rebounding and passing and Giannis is already better at 4/5 and also better finisher in >10 feet from the rim.

We could also talk about the minor ones like toughness, awareness, work ethic, attitude, mentality, motor etc.

The gap is huge

CIN-C-STAR · Post #11 » by **CIN-C-STAR** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 10:11 am

Giannis better defender, passer, rebounder... I guess you could say KD is a better scorer, but is he though?
I think KD, while undoubtedly great, gets a little overrated due to the aesthetic appeal of his game. Seeing a big dude hit a step back jumper looks a lot more impressive and skillful, but if the other dude can just body someone and dunk it who really cares at the end of the day?

Lalouie · Post #12 » by **Lalouie** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 10:51 am

it's kd

but kd never lead his team or was the heart and soul of the team like giannis
kd wasn't the alpha @okc and curry was the leader of gsw

art_tatum · Post #13 » by **art_tatum** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 10:54 am

How is KD losing? They literally just went head to head in the playoffs with KD having the lesser team due to injuries. KD easily out played giannis. Even then if brown or harris didnt brick wide open layups and jumpshots the nets wouldve closed it in 5/6.

Yes giannis had a great, even all time finals. But who was he playing against old cp3 and young booker/ayton? KD wouldve done the same. Giannis didnt have that showing when facing another top 3 player in KD.

I would put giannis at #2 or 3 best player though.

You cant say oh giannis led the bucks. to a better record and a chip- thus automatically making him better, no context.

Nets were treating the regular season as injury rehab, and major injuries to the nets and lakers allowed for the bucks and suns path (though iffy on lakers).

Post #14 » by **HMFFL** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 10:55 am

SUPERVILLAIN wrote:KD.

Winning a title does not make you the “best”. LeBron was the undisputed best player for the last decade. No matter which team won the title.

I will gladly take Giannis. He has proven himself and deserves his respect.

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LesGrossman · Post #15 » by **LesGrossman** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 11:27 am

This is a ridiculous thread and i love Giannis, but KD is head and shoulders above everyone. To say he has never achieved anything, or was never considered to be the best is just a display of casualism (and lets ignore he was the league MVP in 2014...). He literally outplayed Giannis in their head to head match. Guys using team results to assess the ranking of individual players? Sigh

GSWFan1994 · Post #16 » by **GSWFan1994** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 11:35 am

More fuel to quench Giannis' thirst.

Packbuckman · Post #17 » by **Packbuckman** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 11:49 am

art_tatum wrote:How is KD losing? They literally just went head to head in the playoffs with KD having the lesser team due to injuries. KD easily out played giannis. Even then if brown or harris didnt brick wide open layups and jumpshots the nets wouldve closed it in 5/6.

Yes giannis had a great, even all time finals. But who was he playing against old cp3 and young booker/ayton? KD wouldve done the same. Giannis didnt have that showing when facing another top 3 player in KD.

I would put giannis at #2 or 3 best player though.

You cant say oh giannis led the bucks. to a better record and a chip- thus automatically making him better, no context.

Nets were treating the regular season as injury rehab, and major injuries to the nets and lakers allowed for the bucks and suns path (though iffy on lakers).

Do you realize that Giannis and the bucks won the title with the lowest 3 pt % ever as a team after shooting the 4th best during the season. Giannis played just as good as KD did in that series if Bud would have stopped jacking up all those 3’s that series wouldn’t have even gone 7.

Karate Diop · Post #18 » by **Karate Diop** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 12:12 pm

If I need a player to win me a game against a finals caliber / upper echelon team I'd take KD pretty easily. But to carry a team for an entire season the answer is Giannis. KD needs more rest at his age / post injury and Giannis' weaknesses aren't as problematic during the part of the season when most teams are just treading water...

cool93 · Post #19 » by **cool93** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 12:17 pm

Durant is the best player in the league right now

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AussieBuck · Post #20 » by **AussieBuck** » Wed Sep 8, 2021 12:41 pm

Karate Diop wrote:If I need a player to win me a game against a finals caliber / upper echelon team I'd take KD pretty easily. But to carry a team for an entire season the answer is Giannis. KD needs more rest at his age / post injury and Giannis' weaknesses aren't as problematic during the part of the season when most teams are just treading water...

Durant's had a decade of MVP calibre lead guards and still only won once he found a 73 win team. Giannis won a title the first year he upgraded from Eric Bledsoe. There are levels to this and Durant isn't on this level.