Suprise: Durant the next Michael Jordan

[ScoobyDoo]

Fair enough, I probably am romanticising it. Most of the great ones have some arrogance, it's part of what makes them great, a tool they use to motivate themselves onn a nightly basis.

I don't know if I'd call KG dirty though. I think he's physical and "nasty" but I'm not sure I'd call him dirty.

Dirty to me is:

Kobe throwing elbows into guy's faces after his jump shot.
Rodman making dangerous plays on guys.
Dwight Howard's elbows finding almost every Celtic's player's head during last year's playoffs.
Some of Artest's shots against us in the finals.

That's dirty to me, when you do something you know is probably going to injure the other player or have a good chance of injuring them. Everything else is just good tough basketball which is what I think KG plays. And Jordan's offesnive foul on Russell was smart but it wasn't dirty. You make that play all night if you can get away with it. You're not making a play that's likely to injure your opponent.

I'll put it this way, if I had to put the great ones in two groupls based on how they approached the game and carried themselves, on the court, for me it would be:

Russell, Havlicek, West, Bird, Magic, Jordan, Duncan, KG, Stockton, Nash, Pippen, Durant ( Dwade is about an inch away, something about his preening after plays that makes me feel it's more about "him" than "the game" for him...

Guys like Chamberlain, Isaiah Thomas, Kobe, Howard, LeBron, and other I can't remember for both groups.

I just see Dirant form more of the mold of the group with the true torch bearers of the game through the years. It's an intangible quality combined with that transcendent talent that I probalby haven't described very well in this post.

It's just a sense of the player and the way they make you feel when their practicing their craft by the way they go about it.

  

[zerophase]

My opinion is that ability and talent wise, these players: Kobe, Lebron, Durant are all on Jordan's level or in Durant's case, will be. The only thing that is stopping them from becoming the next Michael is the rings. Kobe has only been the main man for 2 of his 5 championships... Lebron and Durant have none. If Durant were to win several rings and be the MVP, then yes he will be the next Michael. No amount of accolades or playoff performances can compare to rings.

[guava_wrench]

I don't see the point in comparing Durant to Jordan. Durant will be a better shooter than Jordan, but will he ever be the defensive player Jordan was? Durant's game is too different. He should be compared to someone else.

[Donoghus]

I don't see the point in comparing Durant to Jordan. Durant will be a better shooter than Jordan, but will he ever be the defensive player Jordan was? Durant's game is too different. He should be compared to someone else.

I mentioned it earlier but I think its near impossible to compare him to someone else. 

If you had to, maybe Gervin?  But even so, there are still some differences there.

[Fafnir]

I don't see the point in comparing Durant to Jordan. Durant will be a better shooter than Jordan, but will he ever be the defensive player Jordan was? Durant's game is too different. He should be compared to someone else.

Durant has as much defensive potential as Jordan in my mind. If he bulks out and can play 3/4 his rebounding, shot blocking, and team defensive potential go up a lot.

[shuttles20]

Obviously Jordan is the best of all time, but to say he has class?? He gambles all the time and even when he was an active player; rumors that he was suspended for two years because of it although the evidence was never found. I won't even get into the rumors about what happened to his father and why,and had one of the worst HOF speeches ever by blasting everyone that ever crossed him. Makes no sense.

[cornbreadsmart]

     I don't think Wade is a bad guy but the dude wore his name on his face. Like we don't know who you are? Stuff like that baffles me.

[indeedproceed]

Durant isn't going to be Michael Jordan...he'll be Kevin Durant. Jordan was 1000X the jerk Durant is..was he more driven, more talented? I have honestly no idea.

But Jordan was a different kind of leader. I do think though that Durant is the better player at age 22.

That's right, he just turned 22.

[guava_wrench]

I don't see the point in comparing Durant to Jordan. Durant will be a better shooter than Jordan, but will he ever be the defensive player Jordan was? Durant's game is too different. He should be compared to someone else.

Durant has as much defensive potential as Jordan in my mind. If he bulks out and can play 3/4 his rebounding, shot blocking, and team defensive potential go up a lot.

While I agree that he could improve as you say, I think 'potential' is fool's gold in conversations like this.

[Fafnir]

I don't see the point in comparing Durant to Jordan. Durant will be a better shooter than Jordan, but will he ever be the defensive player Jordan was? Durant's game is too different. He should be compared to someone else.

Durant has as much defensive potential as Jordan in my mind. If he bulks out and can play 3/4 his rebounding, shot blocking, and team defensive potential go up a lot.

While I agree that he could improve as you say, I think 'potential' is fool's gold in conversations like this.

I don't think so, Jordan wasn't a lock down defender in his first years in the league from the accounts I've heard. Considering Durant is still growing into his frame and for a while was utterly misplayed at the 2 I think its fair to talk about his defensive potential.

KG wasn't the same defensive force his first couple years in the league either.

[ManUp]

I agree with both Fafnir and Screwedupmaniac.

I believe Kobe is the closest thing to Jordan position, and playstyle wise. However, I don't think he's anywhere near the impact player Jordan was. When I watch Kobe I sometimes(a lot of the times) feel like him going for 40+ is detrimental to his team, I don't think I could ever say that about Jordan. I think Kobe is a poor man's 93-94 Jordan (Wade is like rookie Jordan).

[BballTim]

Obviously Jordan is the best of all time, but to say he has class??

  Jordan is arguably the best ever, along with a handful of other players.

[ScoobyDoo]

Again, good point Shuttles20 re class and Jordan. I do remember his HOF speeach, which was very classless, and if his gambling lead to other significant problems we are unaware of, that's another mark against him.  

There are some real holes in my original post that don't hold water. I'll just leave it on the court and base it on the players games, that's probably a better way to go.

So I'll just re-state it as:

By the way Durant carries himself on the court as a no-nonsense, all business and uber talented player who seems to have only winning on his mind when the ball goes up, he reminds me more of Jordan, Bird and Magic far more than Kobe, LeBron and Wade do.

I love it and for those reasons I would pick him over Kobe, LeBron and Wade without hesitation.

He's unique as Kevin Durant, but after Bird, Magic and Jordan, I think he is becoming and will be the most transcendent player we've seen.

And alot of that for me has to do with the fact that he doesn't preen, prance and pose on the court, it's about the game and only the game with him, and that separates him to me. He's a real pro.

I also have to say I agree with ManUp, I don't think Kobe can hold Jordan's jock. I really don't, and it's not because he's a Laker. I think Wade or LeBron, in Kobe's shoes, would have just as many and probably more rings.

There is just something missing with Kobe, like I alwasy felt something was missing with Isaiah Thomas. Uber talent, but just a difficult player to embrace. I think it comes down to the sense of character you feel from the player when they're on the court.

Isaiah walked off the court without shaking hands with Chicago, Kobe walked off the court while his team was still playing a game, in the playoffs...LeBron walked off the court without shaking hands after he loss. To me that says it's more about them than the game.

Durant is 22 and scoring what, 30 a game.
He's proven he can have huge rebounding games
He pretty much locked down Kobe in a game or two so his defense is coming.
I'm not sure he's ever be a "great" playmaker" but how many near seven footers are?

Whether he becomes the next "great one" when it's all said or done is uncertain.

But I'm rooting for him along the way because he signed a contract in his living room in about 5 minutes with his parents, without a camera in sight.

It's not about him, it's about the game. I love that.


  

[ScoobyDoo]

I agree, I think it's hard to say Jordan is "the best ever", he's without question on the short list of the top five but I think it's hard to say he's "the best ever". My short list would be, in no specific order:

Russell
Bird
Magic
Jordan
Oscar
West
Chamberlain

I'm sure there are a handful of other guys you'd put on the list.

I think it's safe to say top five or top three for Jordan, but I don't know about best ever, end of discussion...

And I am a huge Jordan fan as a player.

[guava_wrench]

I don't see the point in comparing Durant to Jordan. Durant will be a better shooter than Jordan, but will he ever be the defensive player Jordan was? Durant's game is too different. He should be compared to someone else.

Durant has as much defensive potential as Jordan in my mind. If he bulks out and can play 3/4 his rebounding, shot blocking, and team defensive potential go up a lot.

While I agree that he could improve as you say, I think 'potential' is fool's gold in conversations like this.

I don't think so, Jordan wasn't a lock down defender in his first years in the league from the accounts I've heard. Considering Durant is still growing into his frame and for a while was utterly misplayed at the 2 I think its fair to talk about his defensive potential.

KG wasn't the same defensive force his first couple years in the league either.

My point is that guys with potential are a dime a dozen. If we are going to talk about greatness, I don't see the point in speculating about how good someone can be. Stick with what they have shown instead of the repeated crowning of 'the next big thing'.

I feel like people prefer to speculate because they can be unrealistic with impunity since events haven't happened yet. Sometimes we even have people who can think of a laundry list of reasons why Kobe isn't in Jordan's league while expecting world domination by KD despite his lack of a track record.