Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb are the reason why taking his team to the #1 seed is worse than taking the Lakers to the #7 seed?
hmm... <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>The great ones Michael, Larry, Kareem, LeBron and now Kevin Durant can put their teams on their back and win!</p>— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/MagicJohnson/statuses/428313925671993344">January 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Surprised this is so close. Kobe has never played nearly as well as Durant played last year, much less this year. One of the best of his generation vs one of the best of any generation.
The team around Durant right now is so much better than the post Shaq Lakers that Kobe had. I'm not sure Kobe could do what Durant is doing right now but the margin of talent between the two teams they had is pretty wide. Prime Kobe was either on a team with Shaq or a complete trash team.
I really feel people are overrating okc talent. Sure they have guys stepping up but that's also do to Kd helping and allowing his teammates to step up by drawing the attention of the defense. Take Kd off that team , even with a healthy Westbrook I still don't think they make the playoffs in the west never the less be contenders. Now I don't think durant would had made the trash teams that kobe was on that much better however I do think you replace durant with kobe on the teams he got a championship then that team would still get a championship. Also I'm sure the a team with Peyton, durant, Malone, and shaq would had won one as well as durant, gasol and d12. People want to say that Peyton and Malone were old that year, but common they still made it to the finals and those dudes were still playing well individually. They just didn't have any team chemistry. I really feel kobe should had have more rings with the teams he had but he really doesn't make teammates better and he's also bad at building chemistry with teammates, which caused him to miss out on some rings. That being said kobe was still a beast and a hell of a player. It's still to early to say if durant is better mainly because he hasn't one a championship yet but he also didn't have as good of a team as kobe.
KD and not even a contest. Kobe is and always been a great shooter /slasher. the NBA is full of great shooters/slasher. McGrady /IA /Carter..... i really dont c any reason to place Kobe above them. Kobe is simply a lucky version of IA -> getting to play under GREAT FO and with true legends, i easy to shine offencivly when u have Shaq being double /triple every game. KD on the other hand is something speicail a rare combination of skill and phisical gift. and i dont even getting into the character diffrence /the chucking diffrence / the making those around u better.... KD only prob is that he play at the same time as Lebron (current 6-8 in my all time list , and will probably get into 1st place if he wont decline fast) and bird managed Indiana (bird: top 10 player / top 5 coach /top 5 GM)
Kobe is top 10 player ever because of longevity and sustained greatness, not because of his peak. Durant's last season was better than any Kobe season and this year he is arguably having better season than Jordan and Lebron ever had.
Whatever current Durant is, it's better than Kobe. KD is closer to MJ's level than Kobe. Kobe is great, but he was the closest to MJ because he played SG, scored a lot, and copied his game/style. Fortunately for Kobe, he played for the Lakers which allowed him to get rings.
Right on. KD not only scores, but also rebounds, assists, and plays well above average defense. I should add the word "willingly" because you had to force Kobe to do anything besides try to score within the team concept.
This. Although I vehemently disagree that Kobe's a top 10 player of all time. He's one of the most overrated athletes in history. Let's do the guess the player game (using the statistically best three season stretch of their careers): Player A: 26.1 PER, 57.1 TS%, 0.21 WS/48 Player B: 28.3 PER, 63.3 TS%, 0.28 WS/48 Player C: 28.1 PER, 57.2 TS%, 0.22 WS/48
Exactly. That used to be the standard for a superstar. I'm not sure why Kobe fanboys make it seem like Kobe is the only one to drag garbage to the postseason, especially not ones who watched Hakeem's career in Houston.
Durant, but not as emphatically as some others. He's been ridiculous this season, outplaying a guy who may end up a top 5 all time player.
I honestly did not think Durant would be this good coming out of UT, but I have too many burnt in memories of Kobe torching us in the playoffs and regular season in the early 2000s. I would pick Kobe and it isn't even close.
Kobe's longevity and sustained greatness is overblown. He's had around 14 great seasons, which is right in line with what other top 10-20 guys had if their careers weren't cut short by something that they could have still played with today, like a bad back (Bird) or HIV (Magic). It's not even rare for his own generation: Shaq's first 14 seasons were great. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/onealsh01.html Duncan's first 13 seasons were great, and he was great last year. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/duncati01.html You will see the same trend for the greats in the prior generations. Kobe has not had a better career than Kareem, Russell, Wilt, Hakeem, Duncan, Shaq, Jordan, Magic, Bird or LeBron!!
I voted for Kobe because I think Kobe in his prime was an elite defender. But I think it is a toss up and I agree that Durnat is just entering his Prime. I think LBJ and Melo are at their peaks. In about 4 years Durant will OWN this league. He will be the face of the league, reigning scoring champ for two, three, or four years in a row, and he will win 2 or 3 MVP's in a row. I think he will go down in history as the best ever at his position. Well, the best offensive player ever at his position.
Stick Durant with a Prime Shaq or Gasol/Bynum combo, and he wins every time including the series they lost to the Pistons and Celtics. Durant is better than Kobe because he is more efficient and is not a ball stopper. Durant is carrying a team right now. Kobe has shown, he can do that. He missed the playoffs and barely had a winning record without being paired with the best big men in the game.
