Kevin Durant is unbelievable!

[Hello Brooklyn]

Joker continues to get disrespected and most of it falls on the media. Easy to hype up KD and Curry for the media. Joker is right there. KD is definitely not the best player in the league “clearly”.

Jokic is not even in the conversation for the best player in the league until he does something in the playoffs.

Getting swept by the Suns doesn't qualify.

That's the casual view.

The correct view is that Denver without Jokic is equal to the Rockets or Pistons. Give him an All star or 2 instead and he will zero problems winning in the postseason.

Being a floor raiser doesn't make you the best player in the world. Jokic has not proven he can play at the highest level on the Championship stage.

Why should we just grant him that when we have players in the league who have done it. Based on what? 1 great regular season?

He doesn't even win that MVP if Embiid and LeBron dont get injured.

[BelgradeNugget]

Jokic has both overachieved and elevated his play every year he's made the playoffs. This man's starting guards in the playoffs last year were Austin Rivers and Facundo Campazzo. He took out a team with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. What more do you want from him?

He wants us to ignore reality and just say the Nets player is the best. We know what he wants.

Jokic is the best player in the league. Giannis and KD are right there, but its Jokic for sure.

Jokic was ok in the Suns series. Nothing close to what would make me think he was at the level that we have seen from LeBron/Giannis/KD/Steph/Kawhi.

Jokic is not even close to the best player in the league. In fact hes not even in the top 5.

You just want to pretend like its him because I'm a Nets fan so therefore my opinion is invalid

In order for someone to become the "best player in the league" they have to prove they can do it at the highest level.

I would easily take KD, Giannis, LeBron, Steph, Kawhi over Jokic. Guys who have proven they can elevate a team to a Championship level in the playoffs.

Not having a nice regular season or two.

Of the 5 players from your list 4 of them won a ring without help from another player from the same group. One didn't. Who is the one?

[Texas Chuck]

Jokic has both overachieved and elevated his play every year he's made the playoffs. This man's starting guards in the playoffs last year were Austin Rivers and Facundo Campazzo. He took out a team with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. What more do you want from him?

He wants us to ignore reality and just say the Nets player is the best. We know what he wants.

Jokic is the best player in the league. Giannis and KD are right there, but its Jokic for sure.

I guess NBA players and GMs are ignoring the reality too because the consensus opinion among them right now is that KD is the best in the league. I'm not a fan of my fellow Nets fan here (Hello Brooklyn) by any means and I respect & rate Jokic a lot. But KD is a hyper efficient high volume scoring machine who is also a very good defender. There are less weaknesses to exploit in KD's game than Jokic's.

I have zero issues with people who truly think KD is the best player in the league. I disagree, but its not unreasonable. But when you go to the efforts he does to discredit other players every time there is a comparison with a Net, we know his fandom is more important to him than his analysis. Which let me be clear, is a perfectly fine approach. Some people just want to be fans and love their guys and on the General Board I would never try and dissuade them. But we also need to understand that's where he comes from when he denigrates Jokic who has been terrific in the playoffs even in series his team loses. Kinda like Durant was last year in the series his team lost to the Bucks. You can be a great player, who plays great and your team still loses.

Go look at Tim Duncan in 2006 against the Mavs. This is one of the great playoff performances of a HoF career. Saying well Duncan wasn't as good as Dirk or Wade that year because their teams advanced further would be silly. Now that's not to say Wade and Dirk weren't great that year too and have an argument over Duncan as well. But team success can only be a part of that evaluation particularly when the superstar played fantastic.

[Wolfgang630]

KD had the luxury of superstar players his whole career lmao (had to go running to one in particular). Pretty easy to make it through the playoffs. Even though Harden hasn’t been as great as the past he’s averaging near a triple double. He’s never clearly been the best player in the NBA and never will. Giannis is better than KD.

[Hello Brooklyn]

He wants us to ignore reality and just say the Nets player is the best. We know what he wants.

Jokic is the best player in the league. Giannis and KD are right there, but its Jokic for sure.

Jokic was ok in the Suns series. Nothing close to what would make me think he was at the level that we have seen from LeBron/Giannis/KD/Steph/Kawhi.

Jokic is not even close to the best player in the league. In fact hes not even in the top 5.

You just want to pretend like its him because I'm a Nets fan so therefore my opinion is invalid

In order for someone to become the "best player in the league" they have to prove they can do it at the highest level.

I would easily take KD, Giannis, LeBron, Steph, Kawhi over Jokic. Guys who have proven they can elevate a team to a Championship level in the playoffs.

Not having a nice regular season or two.

Of the 5 players from your list 4 of them won a ring without help from another player from the same group. One didn't. Who is the one?

Speaking of help. The only reason Jokic even made it out of the first round in the Bubble is because of Jamal Murray.

Let's not act like hes doing it alone. I know he didn't have Murray last year also.

I think Jokic is a great player. Maybe one day he will be the best player in the world.

But he doesn't just get to skip the line over guys who have won Championships and played at an elite level consistently.

To me hes closer to Harden, Paul George, Embiid, Davis then he is to KD/Steph/LeBron/Giannis/Kawhi.

[ItsDanger]

Jokic is criminally underrated.

[BelgradeNugget]

Jokic has both overachieved and elevated his play every year he's made the playoffs. This man's starting guards in the playoffs last year were Austin Rivers and Facundo Campazzo. He took out a team with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. What more do you want from him?

He wants us to ignore reality and just say the Nets player is the best. We know what he wants.

Jokic is the best player in the league. Giannis and KD are right there, but its Jokic for sure.

I guess NBA players and GMs are ignoring the reality too because the consensus opinion among them right now is that KD is the best in the league. I'm not a fan of my fellow Nets fan here (Hello Brooklyn) by any means and I respect & rate Jokic a lot. But KD is a hyper efficient high volume scoring machine who is also a very good defender. There are less weaknesses to exploit in KD's game than Jokic's.

Read on Twitter

[DarkXaero]

He wants us to ignore reality and just say the Nets player is the best. We know what he wants.

Jokic is the best player in the league. Giannis and KD are right there, but its Jokic for sure.

I guess NBA players and GMs are ignoring the reality too because the consensus opinion among them right now is that KD is the best in the league. I'm not a fan of my fellow Nets fan here (Hello Brooklyn) by any means and I respect & rate Jokic a lot. But KD is a hyper efficient high volume scoring machine who is also a very good defender. There are less weaknesses to exploit in KD's game than Jokic's.

Read on Twitter

I guess Demar is suddenly an elite defender too? Along with Steph?

[CreekShow]

KD is easily the best player in the league for me. Year in and year out he does things like this. To name anyone else is disrespectful to how long he has been dominant. Love Joker but Im not willing to give that up to him yet after 1 mvp caliber season.

[Wolfgang630]

KD is easily the best player in the league for me. Year in and year out he does things like this. To name anyone else is disrespectful to how long he has been dominant. Love Joker but Im not willing to give that up to him yet after 1 mvp caliber season.

Giannis hasn’t been dominant for a while now? To say Giannis is better than him isn’t disrespectful.

[BelgradeNugget]

I guess NBA players and GMs are ignoring the reality too because the consensus opinion among them right now is that KD is the best in the league. I'm not a fan of my fellow Nets fan here (Hello Brooklyn) by any means and I respect & rate Jokic a lot. But KD is a hyper efficient high volume scoring machine who is also a very good defender. There are less weaknesses to exploit in KD's game than Jokic's.

Read on Twitter

I guess Demar is suddenly an elite defender too? Along with Steph?

I don't know. Is KD elite defender? I mean the Nuggets are 2nd best defensive team in the league. Every offensive and defensive advanced stat puts Jokic at the top (and some of them as the best in history). KD is historically great shooter this year. Jokic as good or a little bit better. KD defender - Jokic better. KD playmaker - Jokic better, rebounder, the same. Did you know that before last nights game Jokic led Nuggets in pts, rbs, ast, stl, blk, fg%, 3%. Never achieved in history. KD is great guys, but you are not following Nuggets.

[Zeno]

Obviously this is probably a horrible idea because I would suck as a coach but I'd put my worst defender on him. Why bother wasting your best when the guy guarding him is irrelevant anyway.

[CreekShow]

KD is easily the best player in the league for me. Year in and year out he does things like this. To name anyone else is disrespectful to how long he has been dominant. Love Joker but Im not willing to give that up to him yet after 1 mvp caliber season.

Giannis hasn’t been dominant for a while now? To say Giannis is better than him isn’t disrespectful.

I just dont think I could choose anyone over Durant if you asked me to pick a player to build a team for 21-22. The scoring ability comes in too clutch for me to choose otherwise I think.

[DarkXaero]

Read on Twitter

I guess Demar is suddenly an elite defender too? Along with Steph?

I don't know. Is KD elite defender? I mean the Nuggets are 2nd best defensive team in the league. Every offensive and defensive advanced stat puts Jokic at the top (and some of them as the best in history). KD is historically great shooter this year. Jokic as good or a little bit better. KD defender - Jokic better. KD playmaker - Jokic better, rebounder, the same. Did you know that before last nights game Jokic led Nuggets in pts, rbs, ast, stl, blk, fg%, 3%. Never achieved in history. KD is great guys, but you are not following Nuggets.

I never called KD an elite defender. He's capable of elite defense but will only show it in specific stretches/games. Individual defensive rating though is and always has been a terrible stat to gauge an individual's defensive prowess. I'm well aware of Jokic's accomplishments and how good he is, I love his game. But I also know what his weaknesses are and its natural limitations, there's not much he can do about it.

[TheDiesel36]

Joker continues to get disrespected and most of it falls on the media. Easy to hype up KD and Curry for the media. Joker is right there. KD is definitely not the best player in the league “clearly”.

Jokic is not even in the conversation for the best player in the league until he does something in the playoffs.

Getting swept by the Suns doesn't qualify.

That's the casual view.

The correct view is that Denver without Jokic is equal to the Rockets or Pistons. Give him an All star or 2 instead and he will zero problems winning in the postseason.

Hahaha, immediately thought of Jokic when I typed it , so let me rephrase.. Jokic and Durant are pretty clearly the top 2 players in the NBA right now and since Im a huge fan of both, Im just fine with that.

[BelgradeNugget]

I guess Demar is suddenly an elite defender too? Along with Steph?

I don't know. Is KD elite defender? I mean the Nuggets are 2nd best defensive team in the league. Every offensive and defensive advanced stat puts Jokic at the top (and some of them as the best in history). KD is historically great shooter this year. Jokic as good or a little bit better. KD defender - Jokic better. KD playmaker - Jokic better, rebounder, the same. Did you know that before last nights game Jokic led Nuggets in pts, rbs, ast, stl, blk, fg%, 3%. Never achieved in history. KD is great guys, but you are not following Nuggets.

I never called KD an elite defender. He's capable of elite defense but will only show it in specific stretches/games. Individual defensive rating though is and always has been a terrible stat to gauge an individual's defensive prowess. I'm well aware of Jokic's accomplishments and how good he is, I love his game. But I also know what his weaknesses are and its natural limitations, there's not much he can do about it.

Just one thing, you didn't watch Jokic play this year. He has same natural limitations as Marc Gasol, jet Gasol was DPOY. KD has natural limitations, not strong enough, and people thought he will never be good defender before he came to GS, but he transformed his game become a very good one. Defensive stats are not great, we know, but you started by posting that Nets have 4th best defensive rating. Nuggets have 2nd, and Jokic has the best def, rating on the Nuggets. All other defensive advanced stats are pointing in the same direction. How? Simple, with more physical game Jokic can use his big body to bump players to degree which is allowed now and not worry about fouls. Than add the fact that he has great hands for steals and deflections, and is using verticality much better this year, plus the fact that he is boxing out all the time and challenging shots you get very good defender.

[Cavsfansince84]

This is why I laugh when people bring up lack of defense against him in those finals. There's nothing 99% of defenders can do against him if he is being aggressive and hitting his shots. More so when he is playing next to Steph. The only guy in the league who can probably bother his shot and keep him out of the paint is Mobley.

[DCasey91]

KD 1
Jokic 2
Curry 3

That’s my MVP count as it stands right now.

Durant/Jokic been more consistent than Curry. I mean even bias GSW fans would tell you Curry has had quiet games this year. His max games have been great, but to me an MVP is holistic not one game.

KD I think has only played one below average game by his standards yet lol. Dude has been cheating the last 2 he can’t seem to miss.

How tf do you score 30 from 12 shots and he didn’t even go to the line ten times (7). KD makes no sense lol

Fwiw HelloBrooklyn has zero clue how great Jokic is. He was the runaway MVP and it wasn’t even a close race. I though he should have been unanimous. Nugs roster is god awful right now.

If someone has Jokic number one this year for MVP I can’t argue with that. If someone says Curry at 1, well sorry to tell you, you are wrong (KD/Jokic right now at this very moment).

Lol at Lebron/Kawhi it’s 2021 times are changing!

[DarkXaero]

I don't know. Is KD elite defender? I mean the Nuggets are 2nd best defensive team in the league. Every offensive and defensive advanced stat puts Jokic at the top (and some of them as the best in history). KD is historically great shooter this year. Jokic as good or a little bit better. KD defender - Jokic better. KD playmaker - Jokic better, rebounder, the same. Did you know that before last nights game Jokic led Nuggets in pts, rbs, ast, stl, blk, fg%, 3%. Never achieved in history. KD is great guys, but you are not following Nuggets.

I never called KD an elite defender. He's capable of elite defense but will only show it in specific stretches/games. Individual defensive rating though is and always has been a terrible stat to gauge an individual's defensive prowess. I'm well aware of Jokic's accomplishments and how good he is, I love his game. But I also know what his weaknesses are and its natural limitations, there's not much he can do about it.

Just one thing, you didn't watch Jokic play this year. He has same natural limitations as Marc Gasol, jet Gasol was DPOY. KD has natural limitations, not strong enough, and people thought he will never be good defender before he came to GS, but he transformed his game become a very good one. Defensive stats are not great, we know, but you started by posting that Nets have 4th best defensive rating. Nuggets have 2nd, and Jokic has the best def, rating on the Nuggets. All other defensive advanced stats are pointing in the same direction. How? Simple, with more physical game Jokic can use his big body to bump players to degree which is allowed now and not worry about fouls. Than add the fact that he has great hands for steals and deflections, and is using verticality much better this year, plus the fact that he is boxing out all the time and challenging shots you get very good defender.

Marc Gasol was fundamentally a much better defensive player than Jokic is and he won his DPOY years ago, which is context that matters. KD started being a good defender in OKC btw, he didn't get recognition for being one until his GSW time. And the reason why I brought up Nets defense is because KD is arguably the best defender on the Nets. Also the point isn't about regular season ultimately, it's about postseason where we know what will happen with Jokic defensively. Jokic is an amazing player but come post season time, if I have to pick KD or Jokic for my team, I know who I'm picking and the majority of NBA GMs would make the same choice.

[Swish1906]

And it isn't like last year or with GSW where you could try knocking him for having an advantage of playing with other studs. Harden has been meh and Irving has been disQ'ed. He is just that good

20/8/9 meh

Context. Harden has been feasting on the bottom feeders of the league while playing like **** against good teams. The only "good" team Harden played well against was the Raptors. His other good games? Pacers, Pistons, Magic, and Pelicans.

Context. Harden still gets muuuch more defensive attention than a "meh" Player, making it easier for Durant