Poll: Durant Or Lebron

[Phantom255x]

So ever since last year's Finals, it seems a lot of people are considering Durant the "new best player" in the NBA today, but am I the only one who thinks that's ridiculous? 

As much as I hate Lebron (the rival and basketball player), this dude is and has literally been an MVP candidate almost every single year because of the impact he has on his team every year. He does so much more on the court besides scoring. You can put him on a bad team like the Suns, or Hawks, or (gulp) the Lakers, and they'd become a playoff contender immediately.

Meanwhile, Durant joined a 73-win team to win a ring, and we've seen Golden State last year still do well without Durant for a stretch due to injuries. And in last year's Finals, Durant did well no doubt, but Lebron still averaged a triple-double the entire series, so it's not like Durant outplayed Lebron IMHO.

The way I see it, put Lebron on Golden State and Durant on Cleveland, and I kind of doubt Cleveland even makes the Finals to be honest, or even if they did, Golden State would sweep them and win every game by 20+.

Idk... what do you guys think? I truthfully think it's absurd, and frankly, I'm also finding KD's "tough-talk attitude" pretty annoying these days.

KD is still the 2nd best player in the league in my mind and probably is the better overall scorer of the two, but Lebron to me is the better all-around guy and still the best in the league today. Just my additional $0.02.

[Moranis]

James is still the best player in the world.  All of the preseason player rankings (espn, SI, NBA Radio, etc.) had James as the best player in the world also. 

[celticsclay]

Lebron could still be the best but it is definitely closing. Their supporting casts on Christmas were pretty similar with curry out. Warriors a tiny more star power, cavs better depth. The problem with Durants decision is it killed all reasonable debate on this topic.

[PhoSita]

Durant has a greater two-way impact during the regular season.

In the playoffs, Bron plays hard on both ends so it's much harder to say.

[Eja117]

Neither of these guys. They're Pippens

[coco]

LeBron.

heck, I am not even sure Durant is the best player on his team.....

[bknova]

Right this second, I'd have to say Durant, cause he's younger and his game will age better.

That said, Lebron's dominance over this league for the past 10 seasons has been legendary.  Maybe Russell and Wilt, and a strong argument for Jordan, and Shaq to a lesser degree, have possessed a longer arc of sustained dominance over the league.  Seriously, a couple more seasons playing at this level, it really will be just Wilt, Russel, and Lebron who've commanded the league for such a prolonged period of time.

[GreenShooter]

Right this second, I'd have to say Durant, cause he's younger and his game will age better.

That said, Lebron's dominance over this league for the past 10 seasons has been legendary.  Maybe Russell and Wilt, and a strong argument for Jordan, and Shaq to a lesser degree, have possessed a longer arc of sustained dominance over the league.  Seriously, a couple more seasons playing at this level, it really will be just Wilt, Russel, and Lebron who've commanded the league for such a prolonged period of time.

Let's not forget Kareem. He was averaging over 30 ppg & 15 rpg before he went to LA and sacrificed much of his offensive game for the good of the team. He lasted till he was 41. Who knows how many more points he would've scored had he stayed the focal point of an offense. Don't get me wrong, he still got his in LA but it would've been more if he stayed in Milwaukee or went to some other team where he'd been the no.1, 2 & 3 option.

[Moranis]

Lebron could still be the best but it is definitely closing. Their supporting casts on Christmas were pretty similar with curry out. Warriors a tiny more star power, cavs better depth. The problem with Durants decision is it killed all reasonable debate on this topic.

Cavs are definitely deeper, but Thompson and Green are widely regarded as superior players to Love (who is clearly the Cavs second best player w/o Thomas and maybe even with Thomas).  Put it this way, take Durant and James out of that game, and I think the Warriors are heavy favorites.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I was hoping the poll question would be: "Which player is more annoying?"

[Donoghus]

I'm still taking Lebron.

[CelticsElite]

We recruited Durant so I trust Danny’s instincts

[Celtics4ever]

I don't care for either of them though they both are great players who had to go somewhere to when a ring.

[celticsclay]

Lebron could still be the best but it is definitely closing. Their supporting casts on Christmas were pretty similar with curry out. Warriors a tiny more star power, cavs better depth. The problem with Durants decision is it killed all reasonable debate on this topic.

Cavs are definitely deeper, but Thompson and Green are widely regarded as superior players to Love (who is clearly the Cavs second best player w/o Thomas and maybe even with Thomas).  Put it this way, take Durant and James out of that game, and I think the Warriors are heavy favorites.

Love has been playing a lot better than both those guys this year in my opinion. He is a averaging 20 and 10.5 rebounds on 47% shooting and he seems to have elevated his defensive game a little bit compared to years past. I don't think Draymond should make the all-star game this year. I would have Aldridge, Towns, Cousins, Davis, Drummond, Embiid, Love, Greek Freak, Dwight Howard as all having superior seasons than him. Believe it or not Clint Capela is actually outplaying Draymond right now.

[Moranis]

Lebron could still be the best but it is definitely closing. Their supporting casts on Christmas were pretty similar with curry out. Warriors a tiny more star power, cavs better depth. The problem with Durants decision is it killed all reasonable debate on this topic.

Cavs are definitely deeper, but Thompson and Green are widely regarded as superior players to Love (who is clearly the Cavs second best player w/o Thomas and maybe even with Thomas).  Put it this way, take Durant and James out of that game, and I think the Warriors are heavy favorites.

Love has been playing a lot better than both those guys this year in my opinion. He is a averaging 20 and 10.5 rebounds on 47% shooting and he seems to have elevated his defensive game a little bit compared to years past. I don't think Draymond should make the all-star game this year. I would have Aldridge, Towns, Cousins, Davis, Drummond, Embiid, Love, Greek Freak, Dwight Howard as all having superior seasons than him. Believe it or not Clint Capela is actually outplaying Draymond right now.

Love is shooting better this year, but he is actually rebounding worse than last year and he is actually taking less shots (though has about a point better scoring because of the better shooting).  In other words, he isn't much different than the player he was last year, people just notice him more because Irving isn't there and he has been the clear #2 guy.

Thompson is also shooting better than last year (though is taking less shots so his total ppg is down a bit), is rebounding more, passing more, etc.  In other words, Thompson is probably better than he was last year.  Like Thompson, Green is shooting better with less shots, and statistically is pretty similar (some slightly up, some slightly down). 

So it is hard to say that any of the 3 players is really much different than last year, and entering the season every major publication had Thompson and Green well ahead of Love in overall player rankings.  Love may have closed the gap some, but not nearly enough to make up the difference (especially on Green who was ranked 10th by both ESPN and SI).