Why is Kevin Durant almost never in a conversation about LeBron?
Durant has one of the most understated careers in the NBA, mostly drowned out by the never-ending chatter over whether LeBron is better than Michael. Let’s forget that junk from different eras.
His unsung-ness could have started with Durant’s one year at Texas after being this close to joining his buddy Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington and Psycho T and Danny Green at UNC for the 2007 season.
Let’s compare. LeBron was the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NBA draft out of high school. KD was the second pick in 2007 after his one-and-done at Texas, but how many movies and commercials is he in?
Other comparisons between KD and James are pretty interesting, especially when you consider that Durant has played four fewer seasons than LeBron and is four years younger.
So far Durant has two NBA championships and two NBA Finals MVPs, but those were with the Warriors who had won titles behind Steph Curry before KD moved out to the Bay.
James has four NBA rings and four Finals MVPs with three different teams. Both players were Rookies of the Year.
But how many NBA scoring titles does each player have? Durant has four and James only one. Yet LeBron has been the league MVP four times compared to only once for the equally well-traveled KD.
If you caught Durant’s Herculean effort last night in Game 5 of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs between his Nets and Bucks, you can’t ever imagine a more stunning performance. He played all 48 grueling minutes, never coming out of the game, and led Brooklyn back from a double-digit deficit in the third quarter.
Durant tallied 49 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists, an unprecedented triple double in the NBA playoffs. And he was playing sans one and half members of the Nets’ Big 3. Kyrie Irving sat out with a sprained ankle and James Harden’s hamstring held him to five points. Heading into the game, their depleted team looked done.
Durant made the biggest shot of the game when he threw in a long 3-pointer with the shot clock running down in the last two minutes and the Bucks looking poised to pull out the road victory.
Never mind who is better; just admit KD’s in LeBron’s league.
(featured image, AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
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