IS Durant being petty?

[Who]

To be clear - I think Durant is still the superior basketball talent vs Westbrook but Westbrook outplayed him this year. Pure and simple.

Westbrook has become the de facto leader of OKC. It's no longer Durant.

[tankcity!]

Westbrook is the engine that drives the team. He is the player that makes them tick.

Durant isn't.

NM, I edited because I read your post above. I see what you're saying now.

[byennie]

Not even the best player on his own team. Why would he be an MVP candidate?

Step it up on the court to get back in MVP talks. Not in the media room.

Bah. It's all the rage to marvel at Westbrook right now, but Durant is still an MVP caliber player and it's debatable who's playing better this season, even with Durant coming off a major injury.

28 points on 19 shots with 3.5 turnovers (51/39/90), 8.2 rebounds, 5 assists, 1+ blocks, 1+ steals
OR
23 points on 18 shots with 4.3 turnovers (45/30/81), 7.8 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 2 steals

On the same team, Durant has an ORtg of 122 (career: 116). Westbrook has a high of 115 this year (career: 106). Defensive is 104 to 103. Win shares is 14.5 to 14.0 in favor of Durant. Durant shoots significantly better from everywhere on the floor.

Westbrook is amazing, and may have reached Durant's "level" as a MVP candidate, but this whole narrative about surpassing him is overrated. Triple doubles aren't everything, as we learned with Rondo.

[tankcity!]

Not even the best player on his own team. Why would he be an MVP candidate?

Step it up on the court to get back in MVP talks. Not in the media room.

Bah. It's all the rage to marvel at Westbrook right now, but Durant is still an MVP caliber player and it's debatable who's playing better this season, even with Durant coming off a major injury.

28 points on 19 shots with 3.5 turnovers (51/39/90), 8.2 rebounds, 5 assists, 1+ blocks, 1+ steals
OR
23 points on 18 shots with 4.3 turnovers (45/30/81), 7.8 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 2 steals

On the same team, Durant has an ORtg of 122 (career: 116). Westbrook has a high of 115 this year (career: 106). Defensive is 104 to 103. Win shares is 14.5 to 14.0 in favor of Durant. Durant shoots significantly better from everywhere on the floor.

Westbrook is amazing, and may have reached Durant's "level" as a MVP candidate, but this whole narrative about surpassing him is overrated. Triple doubles aren't everything, as we learned with Rondo.

TP, thank you for putting in the research.

[byennie]

To be clear - I think Durant is still the superior basketball talent vs Westbrook but Westbrook outplayed him this year. Pure and simple.

Westbrook has become the de facto leader of OKC. It's no longer Durant.

Leadership-wise, maybe there's been a shift. But this isn't just about talent/ potential. Performance-wise, the argument for Westbrook is as simple as you are making it out to be. Triple doubles are great, but 23-11-8 with so-so efficiency and higher turnovers is not clearly better than 28-8-5 with outstanding efficiency.

I think people are being swayed a bit too much by the explosiveness of Westbrook, as exciting as it is. The difference in scoring efficiency is huge. IT is a more efficient scorer than Westbrook; while Durant is right up there with Stephen Curry. That's a lot of ground to make up in other areas, where Durant is no slouch either.