Who is a better player, Kevin Durant or LeBron James?
I was on ESPN looking at their writers opinions of the best small forward in the league. Their outcome LeBron:5 Rest of League:0, I couldn’t disagree more.
Brendan Jackson from “Celtics hub” (http://celticshub.com/) said “Anyone who picks against LeBron James has to be a hater, right?” So before I continue my article, let me just say, I am not a hater of LeBron James, nor am I bias on this topic.
LeBron James v. Kevin Durant. Four years into the league and Durant led his team to the Western Conference Finals, but not just any team.
In the 2007-08 NBA season the Seattle Supersonics (led by rookie Kevin Durant) went 20-62, finishing with a record only better than the Miami Heat (15-67). A year later, playing their first year in Oklahoma City, they improved their record to 23-59. Only three teams had more losses than them.
In the 2009-10 season the Oklahoma City Thunder ended with a 50-32 record grabbing the eighth seed in the playoffs. They took the soon to be champion Lakers to six games in the first round.
Last season Durant led the NBA in scoring (27.7 PPG) and took the Thunder to the Western Conference Finals. Sure, OKC blew a few games and ended up losing to Dallas in five games, but the Heat couldn’t beat them either.
LeBron James is a great player, don’t get me wrong. two MVP awards, two finals appearances and seven all-star appearances is enough to show that, but he has a lot of flaws in his game that could keep him from being better than Durant.
In Cleveland the Cavs always choked, so King James fled to Miami. That doesn’t show that he’s worse than Durant because Durant doesn’t have a ring either, but when LeBron got to Miami, he still couldn’t win.
The Thunder had Durant and Westbrook. The Heat had Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh and they can’t even force the Mavericks to seven games?! LeBron couldn’t play good, quality basketball in the finals and even though they had two more superstars, they couldn’t beat Dallas? I don’t get it.
LeBron played great against Chicago but he was guarding Derrick Rose. Great, Derrick Rose is a VERY talented NBA player and was the MVP. LeBron has five inches on him!
On the court LeBron passes up a lot of wide open shots, from the games I’ve seen him play, he will get an open opportunity for a three, he might pump fake, and drive to the basket.
Durant is not scared to take threes, in fact, he is one of the NBA’s best three point shooters. If he gets a look at an easy basket, he’ll take his chances. I don’t usually see him drive to the basket like LeBron when he gets an open shot.
Both players are pretty talented rebounders, and I will say LeBron is more of a team player than Durant, and their shooting is pretty close. LeBron is a better defender than Durant, but Durant is a better offensive player. And I see more maturity from Durant than I do from LeBron.
LeBron plays around on and off the court too much. He has fun, which is good, but he doesn’t get serious when he needs to be. He plays around, cracks jokes and dances during games. He mocked Dirk Nowitzki in the NBA finals. C’mon, LeBron, you don’t do that, especially when most NBA fans already hate you.
Durant is a younger player than LeBron and he’s more humble and more serious about winning and playing his best basketball than LeBron is. Durant works on his game because he wants to play well and be a better player.
Overall I found out that LeBron has a better defensive game and team game than Durant, but Durant is a better shooter, leader, and winner than LeBron. Plus Durant is more humble.
LeBron is a great player, but he struggles to win. Durant is younger and I believe both players will get their rings and this argument might never end. But I have got to give it to Durant.
