Durant: "I'm not on James level"

[narmerguy]

The man said it, not me.


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Last month, Orlando's Dwight Howard said Kobe Bryant was the NBA's best player and then picked Thunder All-Star Kevin Durant ahead of LeBron James.

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Durant relayed a message to Howard. "I appreciate the kind words," Durant said, "but I don't think that I'm on his (James') level yet."

Exactly how far behind James is Durant? A skosh? A teeny weenie bit? A little bit more than that?

James and Durant face each other Friday when the Thunder and Miami Heat meet in a 7:30 p.m. exhibition game at the Sprint Center. The way Durant spoke after Thursday's practice, you'd think he wasn't in the same county at James, let alone the same city.

"To be honest, I don't think I'm (in the) top 15 or top 20 guys in the league. Honestly," said a stone-faced Durant. "There's a lot of great players in this league who can do more than me as far as being game-changers. I have a lot to work on. I'm not saying that just to say that. I'm being real. I can name a lot of guys who I think are more advanced than me in the game."

Like who?

"I'm not going to get into that," Durant said. "It's not about me being better than those guys. It's about my team trying to be better than their team. That's what I'm worried about."

This past summer brought the most high-powered free-agent class in league history, during which James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade decided to join forces in Miami and immediately transformed the Heat into a championship contender.

While James considered staying in Cleveland and flirted with other top bidders such as the Knicks, Nets and Bulls, Durant quietly sent a message via Twitter that he had agreed to a five-year extension with the Thunder.

The sports world became even more enamored with Durant, but venom has since been spewed at James for the manner in which he handled the entire situation, which included an hour-long special on ESPN to announce his decision and the lack of respect he showed the city of Cleveland, its fans and his former teammates.

Durant said he doesn't understand all the hatred toward James, nor why people made such a big deal out of Durant tweeting confirmation of his contract extension.

Keep in mind, there is a world of difference between being an unrestricted free agent (James) and agreeing to a contract extension one year before your current deal expires (Durant).

"I'm not sure I wouldn't have gone about it the same way LeBron went about it," Durant said. "He was a free agent. He could pick whatever team in the league he wanted to pick. I wasn't a free agent. I wasn't a restricted free agent. I was just trying to extend my contract. I couldn't talk to other teams or negotiate my contract with other teams. I was just extending my contract, so my situation was a lot different.

"I've never (understood) why people made a big deal about it. He (James) did it the same way when he signed his contract extension. Dwyane Wade did it the same way. Chris Bosh did it the same way. I'm sure whenever I become a free agent, you know, I'll probably do it the same way they did it."

Fresh off becoming the youngest scoring champ in league history at the age of 21 last season, Durant easily outdistanced James in the league's annual preseason poll of NBA general managers, in which 66.7 percent picked Durant to win this year's MVP and 55.6 percent chose him as the player they would sign first if they were starting a franchise.

[HarlemHeat37]

- Durant isn't on Lebron's level, he's correct about that..

- Durant is clearly trying too hard here..I thought he was just being real at the beginning of this article, but then he says that he doesn't think he's in the top 15 or 20?..clearly trying way too hard to come off as humble and respectful..

- He still desperately needs to get in contact with Puffy and get some Proactiv..

[8FOR!3]

It's just him being humble. That's the way he is. There's not 20 guys in the league better than him lol.

[Ashy Larry]

being humble .......

[narmerguy]

Making excuses for him now? We'll ignore what the man said himself just so we can continue to believe what we want to believe? Come on now.

[Giuseppe]

Durant has the cleanest clock in OKC since McVeigh went thru there & straightened it out.

[Ace]

IMO he's being humble but at the same time seems to lack confidence. He's clearly a top 10 talent and he should know this.

[Giuseppe]

Having Artest work ya like a part time job will do that.

[TheHeatIsOn]

I dont think I've ever seen anyone more humble than KD. Props

[Giuseppe]

Artest taught him well.

[Latarian Milton]

Durant just needs to pick up more muscles and weight then he'll be the greatest of all time tbh. Durant plays primarily as a SF which is lebron's congenial position too, but the former looks like a feather encountering lebron. lebron is the compound of Dirk's technical attributes plus the physical attributes of Ben Wallace in prime.

[Giuseppe]

lebron is the compound of Dirk's technical attributes

Hyperventilating whilst standing on line at the Wells Fargo to cash checks ain't "technical attributes."

[Ace]

I dont think I've ever seen anyone more humble than KD. Props

You could've thrown in "nigga" in that post somewhere.

[Latarian Milton]

Durant is a glorified Arenas.

arenas is a decayed version of durant.

[TDMVPDPOY]

kd is a 6'11 skinny glen robinson, plays on one side of the game only and very effective at scoring, too bad his defense should be elite with that long frame...how hard can it be just to put 2 hands up and attempt to put a hand in a face

[Greg Oden]

look at that class! this kid is a pure spur, through and through!

[Greg Oden]

kd is a 6'11 skinny glen robinson, plays on one side of the game only and very effective at scoring, too bad his defense should be elite with that long frame...how hard can it be just to put 2 hands up and attempt to put a hand in a face

I always think I'm going to enjoy a thread and then I see you post.

[Fpoonsie]

:lmao @ "grey spurfan" quote...

[hitmanyr2k]

Durant is just setting all of the idiotic sycophants straight. People are trying to anoint him overnight because he lead the league in scoring for one freakin season. Right now Durant affects the game in one way and that's scoring. If he's not scoring he's pretty much worthless in every other aspect of the game. He recognizes this and knows he needs to improve his playmaking and defense before he can be put in the upper echelon of players in the league. And he needs to add to his offensive repetoire because when that jumpshot isn't falling he's going to need something else to go to. It's nice to see a player that knows his limitations rather than let all of the unwarranted praise people are trying to heap on him go to his head. He goes a little too far saying he's not Top 15 or 20. He's at least Top 10 or close to it.

[Giuseppe]

Durant is just setting all of the idiotic sycophants straight.

Artest withstanding.

[milkshakeballa]

Durant is just setting all of the idiotic sycophants straight. People are trying to anoint him overnight because he lead the league in scoring for one freakin season. Right now Durant affects the game in one way and that's scoring. If he's not scoring he's pretty much worthless in every other aspect of the game. He recognizes this and knows he needs to improve his playmaking and defense before he can be put in the upper echelon of players in the league. And he needs to add to his offensive repetoire because when that jumpshot isn't falling he's going to need something else to go to. It's nice to see a player that knows his limitations rather than let all of the unwarranted praise people are trying to heap on him go to his head. He goes a little too far saying he's not Top 15 or 20. He's at least Top 10 or close to it.

http://www.gifsoup.com/view2/1159049/its-a-seal-o.gif

[TheHeatIsOn]

Durant is a glorified Arenas.

^^ Here nigga

[Pelicans78]

Durant needs to win a freaking playoff series. He led a team that was completely healthy the entire season while most of the Western contenders had major injury issues throughout the season and the best he could do in his 3rd season was lead them to an 8th seed and one and done in the playoffs. Otherwise his milk and cookies act will become rancid and stale.

[Ace]

Good boy.:lmao

:lol

[SenorSpur]

Durant is correct. He's not on LeQuit's level. He's not a self-aggrandizing, ego-maniacal, self-serving, brat, with hundreds of sychophants constantly hanging around him. Durant is certainly not the guy, who basks in the adulation of the masses, yet quits on his team and blames everyone else when adversity appears.

For his own sake, I hope that Durant NEVER gets to that level of self-importance.

[jestersmash]

Durant's at about 75-80% of the level of Lebron, which is still good enough to be squarely in the top 5.