Who is the better playoff performer? KD, Steph or Kawhi?

[harlem_ball]

Durant has the most consistent PO performance level so I'll say KD.

But what Kawhi has done has a higher peak. All due to that one lucky shot.

[feyki]

Kawhi, then Durant. Curry is a better playoff performer to nobody .

[Tacoma]

In a universe of only these 3 superstar players, both Kawhi and Curry have won a ring without either of the other 2 superstars. KD is the only one that needed another superstar, Curry, to get both his rings, so KD ranks 3rd.

Between Kawhi and Curry, Curry has 3 rings but only 1 without KD, while Kawhi has won 2 rings without Curry or KD. Kawhi also has 2 more Finals MVP and plays both ends of the floor. Thus my ranking for playoff performance is #1 Kawhi, #2 Curry and #3 Durant.

[trickshot]

Cut Curry some slack, some of these guys operate on a different plane of expectations. What does it say that the first time Kawhi was on a team favoured to win it all he blew a 3-1 lead. It's easy to be cool under pressure when there's none.

[Young gun 6]

Curry makes no sense in this poll.

He played worse in playoffs than the regular season. The other 2 play better, especially Kawhi.

[Rodwilliams]

KD
Steph
Then
Kawhi

Kawhi had only 1 amazing run with a deep raptors team who outplayed the other teams roleplayers.
2014 he was a role player. Total team effort.
Choked a 3-1 lead in in the semifinals in 2020 when he had the better team. At least curry choked in the finals in 2016. Which certain people say is better to lose in the finals than earlier rounds right?

KD and curry have more sustained excellence over Kawhi.

lmao at mentioning the Raps cast. KD was the definition of hit and miss in his OKC career until he went over to the extremely stacked GSW squad. Are those 2 GSW runs more impressive in totality than Kawhi's Raps run? Dont think you'd find much agreement there

Kawhi joined a team that had the best record in the East nearly every year, was always a top 3 seed in the playoffs but would lose to the Cavs. Once Kawhi joined the Raptors they added Gasol and a few other pieces and they were just as good if not better than the 73 win Warriors. Durant nearly averaged 50/40/90 during those Warriors runs.

[mademan]

KD
Steph
Then
Kawhi

Kawhi had only 1 amazing run with a deep raptors team who outplayed the other teams roleplayers.
2014 he was a role player. Total team effort.
Choked a 3-1 lead in in the semifinals in 2020 when he had the better team. At least curry choked in the finals in 2016. Which certain people say is better to lose in the finals than earlier rounds right?

KD and curry have more sustained excellence over Kawhi.

lmao at mentioning the Raps cast. KD was the definition of hit and miss in his OKC career until he went over to the extremely stacked GSW squad. Are those 2 GSW runs more impressive in totality than Kawhi's Raps run? Dont think you'd find much agreement there

Kawhi joined a team that had the best record in the East nearly every year, was always a top 3 seed in the playoffs but would lose to the Cavs. Once Kawhi joined the Raptors they added Gasol and a few other pieces and they were just as good if not better than the 73 win Warriors. Durant nearly averaged 50/40/90 during those Warriors runs.

Kawhi on the Raps was the clear cut best player. KD wasnt even the primary concern of the Cavs defense. Kind of a big difference

[bluemj32]

Kawhi had a great Raptor run but as basketball fanatic I appreciate consistency and longevity.

As historic as Kawhi's run was I don't think it's fair to reward lighting in a bottle when you have sustained greatness. That's hard to do, I'd go with KD or Curry.

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[Dutchball97]

The only reason Kawhi is even in the conversation with the best players of his generation is because of his play-off resume as he is ways behind in terms of the regular season. Curry isn't a bad play-off performer but similarly to Harden he does seem to generally perform better in the regular season. KD isn't far off Kawhi but he is less consistent year to year.

[DroseReturnChi]

kawhi. curry is tier below.

[Teko]

Kawhi actually had even better playoff run in 2017 before Zaza took him down. He was shooting 52.5% and 45.5% from 3 and played DPOY level defense on Harden.

[Harry Garris]

Strictly relative to normal performance, its probably Kawhi.

It's Durant. KD has a much larger sample size of being great in the playoffs, especially during later rounds. Kawhi's best two playoffs series have been the past couple of years in the first round against the Mavs.

[Harry Garris]

Kawhi was otherworldly and all-time good in that Raptors run.

Durant is a close second and Curry just doesn't have the same scoring excellence in the postseason. Both of them have always played with #2 scoring options that gave them less defensive attention.

Kawhi did have an overworldly and all time good narrative supporting his Raptors run. His actual play on the court however was comparable to any of KD or Lebron's recent playoff seasons. That's not to say he wasn't great, it's just that the media was whipping itself into a frenzy in the 2019 playoffs about how Kawhi was taking the crown from Lebron and KD and becoming the best player in the league... and that did not end up being the case.

The best Kawhi has actually played in the playoffs was last year's first round against the Mavs by far. If he had stayed healthy we could very well have seen one of the all time great playoff runs.

[Mamba Mentality]

While that playoff series (particularly games 2 and 7) against the Nuggets in the bubble still leaves a sour taste in mouth, I'm still taking Kawhi. That championship run with the Raptors was legendary.

[knuckles862]

It's funny how the media has really brain washed people. Curry is disrespected in this poll despite having more playoff success than the other two. If we remove the kd warriors Steph has had less talented teammates than kawhi and I'd yet still has more success please make it make sense

[JN61]

Kawhi has some really good playoff performances but I still want to lean towards:

Durant > Leonard > Curry

[Lunartic]

Kawhi was otherworldly and all-time good in that Raptors run.

Durant is a close second and Curry just doesn't have the same scoring excellence in the postseason. Both of them have always played with #2 scoring options that gave them less defensive attention.

Kawhi did have an overworldly and all time good narrative supporting his Raptors run. His actual play on the court however was comparable to any of KD or Lebron's recent playoff seasons. That's not to say he wasn't great, it's just that the media was whipping itself into a frenzy in the 2019 playoffs about how Kawhi was taking the crown from Lebron and KD and becoming the best player in the league... and that did not end up being the case.

The best Kawhi has actually played in the playoffs was last year's first round against the Mavs by far. If he had stayed healthy we could very well have seen one of the all time great playoff runs.

You're agreeing that Kawhi had a playoff run comparable to 2 other top-15 players of all time?

He was the sole elite offensive player on the team and carried the offense while guarding the opposing teams best players at times. He also hit incredibly clutch shots.

LeBron has spent the vast majority of his career surrounded by stars as has Durant. They're both ATG and have ATG playoff runs.

[Edrees]

Not sure how anyone can say Curry's not in the running with straight face. He's scored and assisted more than Kawhi. Less rebounds and lower efficiency. Kawhi has 9 more playoff wins, but 14 more losses.

Not sure you can say Curry isn't in the running when his playoff career average is 5 more points than Kawhi Leonard. If anything, Kawhi's far behind anyone else. You guys are letting 1 or 2 great playoff series cloud your judgement of evaluating their entire body of work.

Kawhi 135 Starts, 86 Wins, 49 Losses, 37 Double-Doubles
21.2 pts, 7.9 reb, 2.8 assists, 0.511 fg%

Curry 110 Starts, 77 Wins, 35 Losses, 17 Double-Doubles, 2 Triple-Doubles
26.5 pts, 5.4 reb, 6.3 assists, 0.450 fg%

Durant 151 Starts, 95 Wins, 56 Losses, 44 Double-Doubles, 2 Triple-Doubles
29.5 pts, 7.8 reb, 4.0 assists, 0.478 fg%

Durant is my pick. If you look at the numbers between him and Kawhi over their entire playoff careers, Durant's numbers are eclipsed Kawhi with the exception of 2pt fg%, and Kawhi has been a better defender.

My order

1. Durant
2. Curry
3. Kawhi

What you guys are actually answering is "Who had the best single playoff series" when you say Kawhi and throwing out like 60% of his body of work.

[jokeboy86]

Kawhi. I still say that when he's healthy he's arguably the best player in the game.

[alienpick]

Kawhi. I still say that when he's healthy he's arguably the best player in the game.

WHEN he's healthy.. but he rarely ever is, and never is consistently. So, that's a dream.

A healthy Greg Oden was a Top 5 center... but he wasn't healthy... so that's as pointless an argument as yours was.