Is it fair to say Giannis eclipsed Durant as a player?

Oscar9992 · Post #1 » by **Oscar9992** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 9:41 am

Watch on YouTube

pacers33 · Post #2 » by **pacers33** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 9:44 am

Spoiler:

Thanks for reminding me Chris Smoove exists.

Post #3 » by **boomershadow** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 10:01 am

I believe this poll is missing the option "Giannis is better now due to age and injury and such, but when both careers are over, KD will likely have accomplished more."

theoilslick · Post #4 » by **theoilslick** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 10:03 am

Giannis is at his peak age of 27 with MVPs 2018 & 2019. Durant is 33 with MVP in 2014. Nuff said.

GiannisAnte34 · Post #5 » by **GiannisAnte34** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 10:46 am

boomershadow wrote:I believe this poll is missing the option "Giannis is better now due to age and injury and such, but when both careers are over, KD will likely have accomplished more."

Explain how KD will "likely have accomplished more"?

He has +1 FMVP, +1 ring while being 6 years further into his career. You also understand he has had 5 running mates in their primes better than any running mate Giannis has had? Just to do the math for you: prime Harden, prime Westbrook, prime Curry, prime Klay, and prime Kyrie

He has -1 MVP, -1 DPOY, and +4 scoring titles. You must be putting a lot of weight into those scoring titles or you're putting a lot of weight into an extra ring he team hopped to win.

AussieCeltic · Post #6 » by **AussieCeltic** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 10:50 am

boomershadow wrote:I believe this poll is missing the option "Giannis is better now due to age and injury and such, but when both careers are over, KD will likely have accomplished more."

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

dribble1614 · Post #7 » by **dribble1614** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 11:34 am

yes, absolutely. it doesn't matter what loud media talking heads say. giannis has been the best player in the game for the last 2 seasons. objectively there is nothing in favor of durant. he is a more skilled player and much better shooter, but the same can be said of random players like kyrie irving, seth curry and yet no one would dare put them in the same breath as giannis.

giannis = more points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks (all in way less minutes/game), better fg%, much better defensive player, way better finisher around the rim and finishing in the point, better playmaker, way better advanced stats and per, etc etc. not to mention owned him in last year's head to head playoffs matchup as well as head to head matchup yesterday on national tv.

giannis is the best player in basketball the same way shaq was in the early 00's. certainly not the most skilled, but the most physically and statistically dominant 2-way player in the world.

Post #8 » by **boomershadow** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 11:45 am

GiannisAnte34 wrote:
boomershadow wrote:I believe this poll is missing the option "Giannis is better now due to age and injury and such, but when both careers are over, KD will likely have accomplished more."

Explain how KD will "likely have accomplished more"?

He has +1 FMVP, +1 ring while being 6 years further into his career. You also understand he has had 5 running mates in their primes better than any running mate Giannis has had? Just to do the math for you: prime Harden, prime Westbrook, prime Curry, prime Klay, and prime Kyrie

He has -1 MVP, -1 DPOY, and +4 scoring titles. You must be putting a lot of weight into those scoring titles or you're putting a lot of weight into an extra ring he team hopped to win.

I didn't say that was the option I would vote for. I said the poll is missing that option.

B_Creamy · Post #9 » by **B_Creamy** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 11:53 am

Poll needs an even further option. "Not sure. Wait until after Playoffs."

KD last postseason was like jawdropping unbelievable. It's hard for me to say Giannis was better last year after seeing that Nets vs Bucks series. So I'd personally wait until KD shows us everything he's got in the playoffs before I make a call.

r0drig0lac · Post #10 » by **r0drig0lac** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 12:15 pm

lol....since 2019 son

JayMKE · Post #11 » by **JayMKE** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 12:17 pm

KD is great but Giannis the best in the world and still improving, he already has accomplished more on his own than Durant has who has played with other MVP caliber teammates most of career.

lars_rosenberg · Post #12 » by **lars_rosenberg** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 12:18 pm

When it's all said and done, Giannis could come down as the best regular season player ever. He's just incredibly dominant and consistent in his dominance.

So far he hasn't had the same type of success in the playoffs, even last year when he won the championship, KD almost won the series by himself against the Bucks and he was the best player on the court.

If Giannis manages to elevate his game in the playoffs, which is not impossible, he could become an all time great and much more accomplished than Durant.

JayMKE · Post #13 » by **JayMKE** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 12:20 pm

lars_rosenberg wrote:When it's all said and done, Giannis could come down as the best regular season player ever. He's just incredibly dominant and consistent in his dominance.

So far he hasn't had the same type of success in the playoffs, even last year when he won the championship, KD almost won the series by himself against the Bucks and he was the best player on the court.

If Giannis manages to elevate his game in the playoffs, which is not impossible, he could become an all time great and much more accomplished than Durant.

Did you watch the rest of the playoffs after that?

shotsquatch · Post #14 » by **shotsquatch** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 12:32 pm

Giannis has more total hardware. He dominates both ends (although there are holes in his offensive package). It's hard to argue that KD has had a more impressive career than Giannis, and I think it's fair to say Giannis impacts winning more than KD -- though the margin is slim.

However, I think there were times with the Warriors when KD may have been the best player to ever touch a basketball. Nobody else has that skill-set in that frame. I remember there were stretches where he was locking down the paint like a center against small lineups.

Lockdown504090 · Post #15 » by **Lockdown504090** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 12:38 pm

Idk. That’s the honest truth. Kd can play so many different ways, taking harden off Houston totally changed his effectiveness for example. But damn Giannis look like bron out there sometimes

1bigfan13 · Post #16 » by **1bigfan13** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 12:41 pm

He's been better than KD since last year, IMO.

Kevin Durant is the better shooter but other than that Giannis gets him in pretty much all the other basketball skill categories.

skones · Post #17 » by **skones** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 12:43 pm

lars_rosenberg wrote:When it's all said and done, Giannis could come down as the best regular season player ever. He's just incredibly dominant and consistent in his dominance.

So far he hasn't had the same type of success in the playoffs, even last year when he won the championship, KD almost won the series by himself against the Bucks and he was the best player on the court.

If Giannis manages to elevate his game in the playoffs, which is not impossible, he could become an all time great and much more accomplished than Durant.

He literally had a finals showing that's GOAT tier on a bum knee.

twozeroMM · Post #18 » by **twozeroMM** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 12:49 pm

As great as he is, I still feel more comfortable taking KD over Giannis.

TheLand13 · Post #19 » by **TheLand13** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 12:52 pm

boomershadow wrote:I believe this poll is missing the option "Giannis is better now due to age and injury and such, but when both careers are over, KD will likely have accomplished more."

I don't know if I necessarily agree with that. Giannis winning another title isn't out of the question by any means (but then again neither is Durant winning one). But the biggest thing that separates Giannis apart from Durant is his defensive accolades. DPOY, multiple all defense team selections (and many more to come). Durant will without question be the greater scorer and have more points at the end of his career, but the defensive accolades put Giannis ahead in my opinion.

skones wrote:He literally had a finals showing that's GOAT tier on a bum knee.

Sure, but let's be honest about this for a second. Who on that Suns team had any realistic chance of consistently slowing down Giannis? The Suns were the perfect team for Giannis to go off against. That doesn't discredit what Giannis did, but what I will say is that I'm far more impressed by overall finals performances from players who weren't in positions to go off. For example, Manu's performance in the 2005 Finals (even though he didn't win FMVP and to this day I consider that a crime) is incredible when you consider the fact that he did it against a defensive juggernaut in the Detroit Pistons. Even Tim Duncan struggled mightily against that team (then again when you have Rasheed and Ben Wallace guarding you, what do you expect?).

VicG · Post #20 » by **VicG** » Fri Apr 1, 2022 12:53 pm

Shocked today to see analysts debating if Giannis is currently the best player in the league.

Dude literally scored 50 in a close out Finals game 6. Like last season. Two-time MVP in the last 3 seasons.

This is not a debate.

MVP is indeed a discussion based on this season and how the award is historically decided.

I almost feel it’s like a Karl Malone/MJ thing tho. Can’t give it to Giannis every year.

He is the best player in the world and continues to prove it in every big matchup.

Giannis eclipsed KD as a player?