Poll: Durant Or Lebron

[mmmmm]

Can I hold my vote out until Kawhi Leonard is fully 100% back?

Because I thought that the way he was playing in last-year's playoffs, right up to before he got hurt, that _he_ was emerging as the next great "best player in the game"!

[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.

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).

It is weird to me you are using those rankings as any sort of serious argument. They are comically bad and the fact that Green was ranked 10th in anything should prove that to you.

Durant
Harden
Westbrook
Lebron
Curry
Leonard
Davis
Greek Freak
Cousins
George
Butler

Green isn't really even close to any of those guys.... I think green is the most overrated player in the NBA if anyone has him as 10th. You put him on the Magic and they still win 30 games.

[Phantom255x]

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

Oh in that case I'd put a "both" option in the poll   

[Roy H.]

Lebron, and it’s really not that close.

[CelticSooner]

It's still LeBron. His mental abilities have now caught up with his physical talent. He's next to impossible to stop now. Him settling for a three is your best defense.

[Phantom255x]

Can I hold my vote out until Kawhi Leonard is fully 100% back?

Because I thought that the way he was playing in last-year's playoffs, right up to before he got hurt, that _he_ was emerging as the next great "best player in the game"!

I love Kawhi and think he's underrated, and I could make the argument as well. But I'm just referring more to what the media is saying now, and that's the narrative that Durant has apparently "eclipsed" Lebron as the best player in the league today.

[gouki88]

Can I hold my vote out until Kawhi Leonard is fully 100% back?

Because I thought that the way he was playing in last-year's playoffs, right up to before he got hurt, that _he_ was emerging as the next great "best player in the game"!

Yeah, I'd choose Kawhi.

But I voted KD

[Phantom255x]

It's still LeBron. His mental abilities have now caught up with his physical talent. He's next to impossible to stop now. Him settling for a three is your best defense.

Yeah, plus, there's a reason Lebron is up there right now in discussions of possibly surpassing the GOAT (Michael Jordan) when it's all said and done.

Durant isn't even close in that regard. Not close at all.

[Phantom255x]

We recruited Durant so I trust Danny’s instincts

I mean if Lebron was also available in FA that year it could be different 

[ETNCeltics]

I thought KD was the better player last year. Frankly, I would've put Kawhi Leonard ahead of both of them. But this year, LBJ - offensively - is playing out of his mind. He's clearly been better than KD, and since Leonard can't stay healthy, he really isn't in the discussion.

Given the totality of the season thusfar, it's not hard to argue we should be discussing Harden vs. LBJ.

One thing that KD improved dramatically is his shot blocking. Haven't checked it in the last game or two, but a couple days ago he was leading the league in blocks.  But Lebron's efg is 61%. He's been lights out.

If you're not an irrational IT fan, you'd also have to admit a certain Uncle isn't far out of the conversation either.

[Roy H.]

If you're not an irrational IT fan, you'd also have to admit a certain Uncle isn't far out of the conversation either.

Realistically, he’s pretty far out, isn’t he?  Would anybody hesitate when choosing between Kyrie and Lebron / Durant / Harden, etc.?  The same was true of IT last season, when he was second team All-NBA.  Great season, but not in the discussion for best overall.

[Big333223]

I voted Lebron but I think it's incredibly close.

KD is going to wind up the most underrated player in NBA history. 4 scoring titles and 5 straight seasons leading the league in total points scored he's about 4 games away from hitting 20,000 points and he isn't 30 yet. He's the best scorer of his generation and he's turned himself into one of the best defenders in the league.

Complain all you want about him joining a 73 win team but he jumped onto that team and became its best player. As far as I can see, the only reason he didn't win multiple titles in OKC was due to injuries and the Westbrook's ability to compromise.

But he'll be forever underrated because those OKC titles didn't come and because, no matter how many Finals MVP's he wins, he'll be seen as the guy who jumped onto an existing champion.

But yeah, I voted Lebron.