Durant vs LeBron

Discuss your favorite athlete, talk about current sporting news, physical fitness, martial arts, and anything else related to athletics here.

Who would you rather have on your team..?

LeBron James
2
50%
Kevin Durant
2
50%
 
Total votes: 4

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AYHJA
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Durant vs LeBron

#1

Post by AYHJA »

Seeing this on 1st on 10 this morning, and it immediately seems like a great topic for those of us that like basketball...

I am not a fan of LeBron, as its been notated throughout this forum...And, equally so, I'm a huge Durant fan...If you're building a team, who are you taking and why..?
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Drew
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Re: Durant vs LeBron

#2

Post by Drew »

Durant. He's younger, has a better offensive game, scores easier points, and will go for 30 a night. He doesn't miss outside shots or free throws like LBJ does, and he's a big time clutch performer, unlike LBJ. Once he learns how to grab some more rebounds and defend a bit better, he'll be the best player in the NBA...(after Kobe of course :) )

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Re: Durant vs LeBron

#3

Post by Habib »

Great discussion topic AYHJA, especially in an area that interests me so much, thanks for bringing it up. :)

I, too, am not a LeBron James fan by any means. I actually am a Durant fan. However, being the person that I am, I like to say the truth so it is hard for me to be objective.

If I am building a team, I am taking LeBron James and here are my reasons why:

While Durant is approximately 4 years younger than James (the former having just turned 22 and the latter almost turning 26), I think the differential in their potential (or basketball ability or how good they currently are right now) is more than 4 years, in favor of James. While Durant indeed does have a better offensive game -- and by this I mean the variety of ways in which he scores -- he is not a better scorer than James. It should be noted that while Durant is the youngest scoring champ in NBA history, which is a great feat he accomplished, LeBron did average more points per game at the same age (if not younger, this was during the '05 - '06 season when he averaged 31 points per game). So yes, Durant has a more versatile offensive game -- he can shoot the 3 ball better, he is a 90% free throw shooter (fucking wow that is actually amazing!), etc -- but LeBron gets his points too in other ways.

To me, in my opinion, I believe that the game of basketball is (and has always been) 50% offense and 50% defense. Again, while Durant has a very versatile offensive game, he is not close to being the defender that James is. It should be noted that James has the third highest career scoring average in NBA history behind Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain I think. Durant's offense is equal (in my opinion) to James' offense, based on sheer statistics by the numbers. However James' defense is far superior to Durant's defense. James' is a multiple All NBA-First Team Defense player and actually finished 2nd in voting last season behind Dwight Howard for the defensive player of the year. Average that out and LeBron wins here in this category too, quite handily.

Thirdly, I am very critical of rebounding in the game of basketball. It is one of the skills that I cherish a lot if a player can pull it off. At 6'8", James is a superior rebounder than Durant (listed at 6'9" but in reality is closer to 6'11" according to league sources) despite Durant being significantly taller. Furthermore, James' is also a lot stronger than Durant, infinitely more athletic too, arguably the greatest athlete in the history of the game. James' ability to finish at the rim with hard contact is just unbelievable and ridiculous. You pretty much have to foul him in the open court when he is coming full head of steam. Rebounding and ability to finish at the rim is also an area that I would pick LeBron over Durant.

James also has the ability to play like a point guard. His career assist average (7) speaks for itself. Let me remind that James is a small forward. It is such a big luxury to start a team with a small forward that can run the offense just as good as point guard. James passes the ball a lot better and therefore wins extremely handily in the passing category too.

LeBron is also better in the clutch based on what I have seen from both players so far. However, it is okay to disregard this opinion because Durant has not been in the league for a long time. This means that the sample size for the amount of games he has played to judge him on this category is not large enough. He also has not been in as many big games. But yeah, I have not really seen Durant's ability to perform or perform at a high level in big games. Let me remind you guys that LeBron took a much less talented Cavs roster (at Durants current age) to an NBA Finals in 2007. Single handedly that is, because quite honestly, I could not even name you the starting 5 on that Cavs roster if you asked me. He did that at 22 years old, again with an inferior team. So wow. And he did it through defeating good, well experienced teams like the Detroit Pistons. Durant cannot (in my opinion) take that significantly more talented and better Thunder team to the NBA Finals as it is right now. I am just putting things in perspective.

Based on these opinions I pointed out above, there is nothing more I could ask for from a player that I want to build a team around. I understand that you can never build around a perfect player. However, to me, LeBron's shortcomings are relatively negligible compared to Durant's for now at least. It just feels to me like even the sky is not the limit to LeBron's NBA career. The names of legends that LeBron keeps with and is capable of keeping with, is unbelievable. Only one player has ever averaged a triple double in a season in the history of the NBA, and he said that if anybody can ever do that again, LeBron James is the best candidate. There is just too much potential for LeBron to be very good in every sector of the game.

And has any one watched James and Durants head-to-head games? I have actually watched some of them, and LeBron has always outplayed Durant in those games. LeBron actually guarded him and it is safe to say he put the cuffs on him. Vice versa was not true though, because LeBron played well in those games.

As a fan of the game and as an entertainer though, I prefer watching Durant more because of his versatile scoring. He shoots the 3, he is very tall and long and it is just fun seeing how good he can shoot.
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darklighter1
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Re: Durant vs LeBron

#4

Post by darklighter1 »

That is a rough one dude. As I may be the only person still his fan outside of Dade County I still gotta go with my boy but Durant is a hell of a player....that's really not a fair question.

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Re: Durant vs LeBron

#5

Post by jdog »

I don't watch basketball. I stopped when Scottie Pippen retired.
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Re: Durant vs LeBron

#6

Post by darklighter1 »

Well thanks for chiming in anyway. :?:

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Re: Durant vs LeBron

#7

Post by Habib »

jdog what a comment. Pick a damn player lol.
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Re: Durant vs LeBron

#8

Post by jdog »

Habib wrote:jdog what a comment. Pick a damn player lol.
I wouldn't know. I have never watched either play and since Pippen retired I haven't had the want to even watch basketball, NBA or NCAA. In case you aren't aware of who I am talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottie_Pippen
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Re: Durant vs LeBron

#9

Post by Habib »

I know who Pippen is; I would be crazy not to. However, you should at least have voted for one of those 2 players in the poll.
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Re: Durant vs LeBron

#10

Post by jdog »

Haven't seen either play.

Wait, I did watch some of the Miami Heat games in 2006 when they were in the NBA Finals. I was impressed by that Wade guy. Is he any good now?
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