seriously without durant, where would they be? prolly where the rockets are, out of the playoffs...whereas with the cavs, they could easily make it to the playoffs in the east without him. lebron may be a candidate for the better overall player, but durant IS the most IMPORTANT player on his team, durant has more to do with the thunder's success than the lebron with the cavs, not to say that lebron isn't a phenomenal player or that his team would go very far without him, the point is they have more talent in west, williams, ilgauskas, etc that help lebron, whereas durant has a bunch of young inexperienced players who are all playing well, for now...
have people even seen the thunder this year (besides just rockets games)? westbrook is damn good (16/7/5?), and jeff green has been playing good as well with harden giving solid contributions of the bench. people act like durant is out there with a bunch of scrubs. the thunder are a talented team. lebron is putting up 29.8 ppg/8.5 apg/7.2 rpg while shooting 50% from the field on a team with the best record in the leauge on it's way to 60+ wins. you can can say without lebron the cavs would be in the playoffs but they sure wouldn't be title contenders without him.
Lebron is the obivous choice HOWEVER I voted for Durant because this is about the most VALUABLE player not the best. I truly believe you take Durant off the Thunder and they become a fringe .500 team NOT because Westbrook, Green and Harden aren't good players but they are not deep at all and lack a true big man, Durant makes them a good team even with their limitations. If you take Lebron off the Cavs and they still make the playoffs in the East, I mean they still have an all-star PG, borderline all-star in Jamison and a TWO true big men in Shaq/Big Z besides having a great bench. Lebron is the BEST but this maybe the Jordan factor where you really can give it to him every year but Durants impact is unquestionable so he gets my vote. I will say this will change soon because the Thunder will be dynamic as soon as next year when they add a true bench and legit big man along with Westbrook, Green and Harden developing into stars.
I get the Durant discussion. But it's exponentially harder to make a good team a legitimate (if not favorite) championship contender rather than making a lousy team a good team.
lebron james is both the best player in this league + the most valuable player to his team in this league. lebron does more for his team than any other single player in this league.
The Cavs are a fringe .500 team at best without Lebron and everyone knows it. Mo Williams and Jamison are not All-Stars (Mo getting in was a travesty as he is not remotely a top 10 PG in my book), Shaq and Z are ridiculously old, and their bench is nice but they'd be a weaker version of our team (well, maybe they would be better as half their team isn't injured, but whatever.) Seriously, look at Lebron's stats, look at his impact, so on and so on. Durant is a very good 2nd, but he's not close, and picking him would be similar to picking Malone back in 97 (aka. we can't just give the trophy to the same game every damn year syndrome.)
Uhhhh...I said that in the post, its the Jordan effect. The Cavs ARE NOT a fringe .500 team without the James, they would challenge to win 50 games and would be in the hunt for home court advantage with the Bucks in the East. Shaq and Z are both Old as dirt but they still produce just look at their stats and never said Williams was a top 10 pg but he does put up very nice numbers with a legend on his team. I see the stats and to be honest the only one James has an obvious advantage is assists but I AM NOT ARGUING WHO IS BETTER OR JAMES' VALUE I know its James by a mile. Cavs and Lakers would both still be good without their legends but the Thunder wouldn't even be .500 SO what I am saying is for this season Durant's value to the Thunder is a potential playoff birth while James' is a 60 win team to a 50 win team.
You have no earthly idea what you are talking about if you honestly believe the Cavs would only drop 10 games without LeBron.
If they were in the West I'd say they would be in trouble but in the East they would challenge for 50 wins maybe not WIN 50 but challenge, yes. The deers are 39-31 and will challenge for 50 wins...your telling me the Bucks would be better then the Cavs without James? Sorry but as annoying as the Cavs act is, they still have a great bench, legit scorers and size to be effective in a weak Eastern Conference. Shaq/Big Z/Powe Jamison/Varejao/Hickson Parker/Moon West/Moon Williams/Gibson
Durant would be better than Kobe on the Lakers, yes, because Durant is a better player than Kobe at this point in their respective careers.
I think that Wade does a lil more for Miami. The fact that they are even winning is b/c of Wade....but the Golden boy will get it.
You act like Wade never gets superstar calls either. Do you know anything about the Heat? At all? Wade's not been himself this year, probably because he's sick to death at this point of playing with those losers around him and his stats and leadership abilities are nowhere near James. Seriously, picking Wade is not as r****ded as picking Kobe, but it's up there.
So true. No denying Wade's talent. He is a top five player, but definitely not an MVP candidate this year. And lol at calling Lebron the "golden child". NBA spoon fed Wade that championship against the Mavs.
