Kevin Durant just finished his 7th season...

[spurraider21]

LeBron spent 7 years in Cleveland on a largely talent barren roster, and after 7 years had 1 finals appearance (and smothering loss) to show for it. He was called a choker. He shrunk in big moments. He was mentally weak. He would never be able to win one, especially as a #1 option (right hater?). He never played for a good coach or had a roster resembling a contender but was one of the most hated on athletes I could remember, especially since I'm in LA and it was all Kobe fans laughing at him.

Well now Kevin Durant is 7 years into his NBA career, with nothing to show for it outside of 1 finals appearance (and smothering loss). Outside a handful of this forum, he's rarely called a choker. He doesn't get criticized for coming up small in big moments. Imagine if LeBron had that slip/turnover in an OT of a playoff game... the reception that would get. Unlike LeBron, KD has actually played with elite NBA talent. Harden and Westbrook are both undoubtedly top 15 players (if not top 10). OKC has arguably the best HCA in the league. Brooks is a bad coach, but he's no worse than Potato Head...

People on this board know i'm not a LeBron fanboy at all, but I'm just curious as to why KD seems to avoid so much of the mainstream criticism that LeBron got after 7 years, despite having more or less the same resume, but with superior help. It it because expectations for him were lower? LeBron was touted as the next legend since before he was drafted, had the King James title (king without a ring, back then), wore 23, etc. But that can't be the whole reason, can it?

[Clipper Nation]

It's mainly because he's not LeBron, so all the LeBron haters will make every excuse possible for why the bitchmade loser they've pinned their hopes on is really just an overglorified Kevin Martin....

[spurraider21]

KD is better than that, this isn't really a thread made to rag on KD per se, just about the reactions towards them seen in the mainstream nba fans/media

[ElNono]

I think it's because Lebron was always a genetic monster. He was largely expected to come in and dominate after a couple of seasons. You look at Durant, and while talented, he's a skinny ass tall dude.

Kevin's game is also largely dependent on getting freebies (something his coach admitted multiple times during the last series), and he just doesn't have the tools to be the kind of defender Lebron is.

Also Lebron jumped into the spotlight with a huge endorsement deal from Nike before he entered the league, and the expectations were sky high.

KD wasn't even expected to be the top pick in his class (Oden). He eventually turned into a solid player.

[cheguevara]

Kd would have already rang in the Weak East and teamed up with superfriends

/thread

[Mugen]

KD's been crafting his good guy image since he got in the league tbh. Covering up his tats, hugging his fat mom, saying all the right things about his city/teammamtes/coach, etc.

His game is also much harder for the average fan to criticize as he's arguably the best scorer since Jordan. People weren't used to a great player making the right basketball play like LeBron does since most of the fans in the 2000s grew up watching Kirby.

[Jacob1983]

The NBA is selective on labeling players chokers. Dirk was labeled a choked 24/7 after 2006. He had to ring in 2011 to shut his haters up. Chris Paul has never been to a conference final yet he's the best point guard in the NBA. Ray Allen couldn't get to the Finals as the main man and he was never called a choker. Grant hill too. Lots of players had failures in the playoffs yet the choker label was never put on them.

[Clipper Nation]

Tough to call Grant Hill a "choker" when his career was destroyed by injuries before it ever really got started, tbh....

[spurraider21]

i'm an LA guy, so a lot of the anti-lebron stuff i heard imo was defensive reactions from kobe fans when people started discussing lebron being the best player in the league. all the jokes were "kobe called lebron, but there was no ring" and stuff like that. KD was always good, but his rise to true superstardom has coincided with Kobe's decline since 2010... i feel like a lot of the LeBron bashing earlier was a defense mechanism to protect Kobe's image at the time. now that everybody knows kobe has declined/retired, they don't feel threatened enough to bash on the next rising star. at least thats the perception I have from the Los Angeles point of view.

[Clipper Nation]

KD was always good, but his rise to true superstardom has coincided with Kobe's decline since 2010... i feel like a lot of the LeBron bashing earlier was a defense mechanism to protect Kobe's image at the time. now that everybody knows kobe has declined/retired, they don't feel threatened enough to bash on the next rising star.

Kirby stans have all adopted Durbeta as their substitute favorite player now that Kirby is done, tbh....

[baseline bum]

I think it's because Lebron was always a genetic monster. He was largely expected to come in and dominate after a couple of seasons. You look at Durant, and while talented, he's a skinny ass tall dude.

Kevin's game is also largely dependent on getting freebies (something his coach admitted multiple times during the last series), and he just doesn't have the tools to be the kind of defender Lebron is.

Also Lebron jumped into the spotlight with a huge endorsement deal from Nike before he entered the league, and the expectations were sky high.

KD wasn't even expected to be the top pick in his class (Oden). He eventually turned into a solid player.

Durant was expected to be a franchise player from the very beginning. Still, people hated on LeBron for the tattoos, the dancing on the sidelines, and for being the greatest high school prospect since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. People hated him for being on ESPN in prime time while in high school even though that first game they broadcast proved he was way better than the (enormous) hype at the time. People have such ridiculous double standards with James too. Everyone bitches about ballhogs like Westbrook, Iverson, and Bryant, but the internet practically exploded when he set up wide-open shots for the game for Donyell Marshall two games in a row in Detroit. They hate him for going to Miami to win a title as if O'Neal, Duncan, Bryant, Jordan, Bird, Magic, etc never had stacked teams around them.

[DMC]

Greg Oden was picked ahead of KD. KD wasn't the 2nd coming of the Christ child. He was a UT player who had a sweet shooting stroke and the length to get if off over taller defenders. Lebron was a manchild dominating HS games, being visited by superstars and coddled by everyone. He was the 1st overall without a blink of an eye. KD has outperformed his expectations. Lebron is just starting to catch up to his, and it required 3 more superstars to do so.

Is it fair? Probably not, but then no one calls KD the best player on the planet, just one of the best shooters. He's a great player, no doubt, but he's competing against his own PG for touches. Lebron didn't have to worry about that, but he and KD have completely different roles.

[spurraider21]

In my experience though. people were hating LeBron when he was still on Cleveland. But yeah, KD was fully expected to be a franchise guy. I remember they were calling him a fusion of T-Mac and KG :lol

[DMC]

In my experience though. people were hating LeBron when he was still on Cleveland. But yeah, KD was fully expected to be a franchise guy. I remember they were calling him a fusion of T-Mac and KG :lol

KD is a franchise guy. If the draft happened again today KD would be picked 100 times out of 100 over anyone who's recently drafted anyone other than Lebron since they both entered the league. KD would be chosen over Anthony Davis, over Lillard, over Kyrie, over John Wall, over Beal, over Bennett (maybe), over anyone at all other than James. He wasn't expected to be that good, else he would have been the 1st overall pick.

[Venti Quattro]

Probably because LeBron's entry to the Association was much more hyped up and anticipated as compared to Durant's. LeBron was being touted as the next face of the league and the next Jordan. I'm not saying that he has had a failed career (lol duh), but much more was expected from flamboyant and showy LeBron as compared to Durant, who was and is still viewed as a humble kid

[Clipper Nation]

Is it fair? Probably not, but then no one calls KD the best player on the planet, just one of the best shooters.
That's funny, because all the hype this year about Durbeta's MVP was that he was surpassing LeBron or was at least on LeBron's level now.... then when he chokes, he suddenly doesn't deserve criticism because he's not as good as LeBron? That's a cop-out, tbh.... Choke Paul, Melo, and Dwight aren't as good as LeBron either and they all take more criticism for losing than Durbeta does....

[Clipper Nation]

Why should pre-career hype have any bearing on who gets criticism now? Media not turning people against Durbeta from the start like they did with LeBron doesn't change the fact that Durbeta was hyped up to be "coming for LeBron's throne" NOW and not only failed but did so as the third-best player on his team in the playoffs....

[Venti Quattro]

Choke Paul takes more criticism for losing than Durbeta does....
Not really. No one from the mainstream media has called out Jannero Paulgo for his choking ways.


Why should pre-career hype have any bearing on who gets criticism now? Media not turning people against Durbeta from the start like they did with LeBron doesn't change the fact that Durbeta was hyped up to be "coming for LeBron's throne" NOW and not only failed but did so as the third-best player on his team in the playoffs....
Good point, he should be called out for letting Westbrook take over in Game 6. But this league is so much a league of reputation, whether it's good or bad reputation. KD's reputation as an underdog playing for a small market team is a sob story that's hard to pass up.

[Clipper Nation]

Not really. No one from the mainstream media has called out Jannero Paulgo for his choking ways.
I'm not just talking about Media, though.... NBA fans criticize Choke (despite his lack of criticism from Media), but both fans and Media give Durbeta a huge pass....

[baseline bum]

KD is a franchise guy. If the draft happened again today KD would be picked 100 times out of 100 over anyone who's recently drafted anyone other than Lebron since they both entered the league. KD would be chosen over Anthony Davis, over Lillard, over Kyrie, over John Wall, over Beal, over Bennett (maybe), over anyone at all other than James. He wasn't expected to be that good, else he would have been the 1st overall pick.

I disagree; I think a lot of people expected Durant to be this good. I did after watching his year at Texas. It's just people expected Oden to be a fusion of Shaq and David Robinson.

[DMC]

I disagree; I think a lot of people expected Durant to be this good. I did after watching his year at Texas. It's just people expected Oden to be a fusion of Shaq and David Robinson.

I did, but obviously the teams who drafted didn't. I expected Oden to be injured as well. While I expected Durant to be good, I did not expect him to win an MVP playing along side RW. It took an injury to RW to make that happen.

[TDMVPDPOY]

kd didnt come into the league saying his the chosen one or king...

ppl didnt give him high expectations to challenge to be on goat lists

he will never be top10 player ever on the list, he be lucky to push into the top25

[Malik Hairston]

Durant's supporting casts have been much, much better than Lebron's Heat supporting casts, tbh..anybody that looks at the actual facts can see that..

The reason he won't get criticized is because it doesn't fit the media narrative, and most NBA fans are blind sheep that bite on the media narratives..

The Thunder storyline is that Westbrook is the cancer that takes bad shots and doesn't pass Durant the ball..so we'll ignore Westbrook outplaying Durant throughout the playoffs, and only focus on Westbrook's shot selection at certain points of the game, and over-analyze Durant's reactions to Westbrook's shots..

So, at the end of game 6, rather than discussing Durant not coming up big and even slipping in clutch time, everybody talked about Durant being relegated to a spot-up shooter, along with discussing Westbrook's shot selection(ignoring that he was the only aggressive Thunder player in OT)..

However, unlike Lebron, Durant's coach actually receives blame from the national media, and rightfully so..most people recognize Brooks as a terrible coach and use him as a scapegoat, which is find..

In contrast, look back at SpursTalk or any forum back in 2010, along with any media outlet at the time of Lebron's Free Agency..Mike Brown was being defended by most people and he was even being heralded as a good coach, look it up:lmao..it wasn't until he went to the Lakers that people realized how shitty of a coach he is..

Furthermore, look at how Ibaka was perceived by the media prior to the Spurs series..he rarely got any recognition for being OKC's version of Bosh until everybody saw how terrible they looked without him in the first 2 games of the Spurs series..then all of a sudden, the media wouldn't shut up about him, once Durant was about to fail again, they had to create an excuse:lol..

[Joseph Kony]

Durbeta has been engineered by the media to be this humble superstar and the hero to Lebron's villain. He is coddled by the league/media and is given a pass while Westbrook takes the blame for the losses despite playing like the MVP of the Thunder in the playoffs.

Durant is a great player but he is nowhere close to being on LeBron's level yet. If you can't carry a gallon of milk to your car without your little niglet arms snapping in half, you ain't ever gonna be among the true greatest players ever imo

[baseline bum]

Could you imagine this league if Durant and James swapped levels of ref protection?

[midnightpulp]

Durant's supporting casts have been much, much better than Lebron's Heat supporting casts, tbh..anybody that looks at the actual facts can see that..

The reason he won't get criticized is because it doesn't fit the media narrative, and most NBA fans are blind sheep that bite on the media narratives..

The Thunder storyline is that Westbrook is the cancer that takes bad shots and doesn't pass Durant the ball..so we'll ignore Westbrook outplaying Durant throughout the playoffs, and only focus on Westbrook's shot selection at certain points of the game, and over-analyze Durant's reactions to Westbrook's shots..

So, at the end of game 6, rather than discussing Durant not coming up big and even slipping in clutch time, everybody talked about Durant being relegated to a spot-up shooter, along with discussing Westbrook's shot selection(ignoring that he was the only aggressive Thunder player in OT)..

However, unlike Lebron, Durant's coach actually receives blame from the national media, and rightfully so..most people recognize Brooks as a terrible coach and use him as a scapegoat, which is find..

In contrast, look back at SpursTalk or any forum back in 2010, along with any media outlet at the time of Lebron's Free Agency..Mike Brown was being defended by most people and he was even being heralded as a good coach, look it up:lmao..it wasn't until he went to the Lakers that people realized how shitty of a coach he is..

Furthermore, look at how Ibaka was perceived by the media prior to the Spurs series..he rarely got any recognition for being OKC's version of Bosh until everybody saw how terrible they looked without him in the first 2 games of the Spurs series..then all of a sudden, the media wouldn't shut up about him, once Durant was about to fail again, they had to create an excuse:lol..

And Mo Williams was heralded as Lebron's "Pippen."

It's funny how people still think Lebron choked in '09, where Lebron put up one of the greatest individual playoff campaigns in NBA history. But he didn't ring, so it doesn't "count."

[Venti Quattro]

Could you imagine this league if Durant and James swapped levels of ref protection?

One would average 40 per game and the other would be Kevin Durant.

[dg7md]

LeBron sucked in the east on Cleveland while Durant has basically been in the tougher western conference his whole career, so I don't think you can really compare their first seven years, despite their similarities in some ways. A lot of people here insult Durant which is completely asinine as he is an unbelievable player all around, calling Durant anything other than a superstar player in the league is completely clueless and basically going on arrogant mode.

LeBron gets way more criticism because he was being hyped as the next Jordan a year before he stepped into the league, and thus the magnifying glass on him is much bigger. Not to mention "The Decision" TV special which made him look like an arrogant guy, Durant has never even received half of the notoriety that LeBron did going into the league and even within the league, so he gets much less attention focused on him and his faults.

It has nothing to do with his supporting casts determining their perspectives on their careers, LeBron was being manufactured as the new Michael Jordan by the NBA before he even graduated high school. I don't think I've ever seen anybody receive that sort of attention on anybody who has ever walked into the league.

Nobody is going to call out Durant (aside from local OKC media...) from not ringing quite yet. The Western Conference has 5 or so teams that could be a legitimate title holder while the east really only has one or two, so naturally LeBron has to live up to more expectations because there is zero room for error.

In fact, LeBron avoided additional media criticism by not winning by heading over to the Superfriends when things were getting bad for him in Cleveland. I think Durant could possibly do the same thing when he's up for free agency, but it depends on how the Thunder shape their team in the years to come.

[spurraider21]

lebron sucked on cleveland? that's news to me

[dg7md]

lebron sucked on cleveland? that's news to me

Not stat wise, but in terms of winning a championship. Not to mention LeBron was still developing his game at that point and easily became a better player when he went to the Heat.

[Malik Hairston]

The East from 2008 to 2010 was better than the West, it's amazing to me that people don't remember that..again, look it up:lol..

It was consensus that the Cavs, Celtics and Magic were contenders that were battling each other, while the Lakers had no challengers in the West..the Lakers' biggest challenge in those years was a Rockets team that had Aaron Brooks as it's best player:lol..

[Venti Quattro]

LeBron sucked in the east on Cleveland

http://i.imgur.com/h5vju.gif

[Malik Hairston]

The 2008 Spurs couldn't even beat a Lakers team without Ariza and Bynum, with Vujacic and Radmanovic playing significant roles for the Lakers:lol..

[Venti Quattro]

The 2008 Spurs couldn't even beat a Lakers team without Ariza and Bynum, with Vujacic and Radmanovic playing significant roles for the Lakers:lol..

:lol Radmanovic was the starting small forward
:lol Chris Mihm was the back-up center

[midnightpulp]

Not stat wise, but in terms of winning a championship. Not to mention LeBron was still developing his game at that point and easily became a better player when he went to the Heat.

What the hell is he supposed to do with Mo Williams as his second best player?

Eastern Conference or not, Lebron dragging that '07 Cavs team to the Finals (second best player on that roster, Boobie Gibson) really is a feather in his cap, despite his poor Finals performance.

[midnightpulp]

.

[baseline bum]

What the hell is supposed to do with Mo Williams as his second best player?

Eastern Conference or not, Lebron dragging that '07 Cavs team to the Finals (second best player on that roster, Boobie Gibson) really is a feather in his cap, despite his poor Finals performance.

How the fuck did one man ever win 66 games in 2009? Prime Jordan would never be able to do that on such a shit team. That is by far the most impressive thing LeBron James has ever done.

[midnightpulp]

How the fuck did one man ever win 66 games in 2009? Prime Jordan would never be able to do that on such a shit team. That is by far the most impressive thing LeBron James has ever done.

Indeed. And his playoff performance was extraordinary. 37 PER.

38.5pgg, 8, and 8 on 49% in the ECF. Mo Williams shot 37% for the series.

[Venti Quattro]

The East from 2008 to 2010 was better than the West, it's amazing to me that people don't remember that..again, look it up:lol..

It was consensus that the Cavs, Celtics and Magic were contenders that were battling each other, while the Lakers had no challengers in the West..the Lakers' biggest challenge in those years was a Rockets team that had Aaron Brooks as it's best player:lol..

I think the West was still better than the East competition-wise, because the East was top-heavy and the bottom was ugly. Two proofs of this were the 38-44 Hawks taking the 2008 champs Celtics to 7 games and the West churning out multiple 50-win teams during that era. The 48-34 Warriors even missed the playoffs in 2008. The Lakers may have been 11 games over the next team (Nuggets) in 2009, but the intra-conference games in the West were more quality than the East. The West was just more predictable during this period, but competition-wise it was still better than the East.

[TDMVPDPOY]

this comparison is like the melo vs lebron shit how melo failed in t he west cause he got beat by teams that went onto rep in the finals...

[sexinthatsx]

It's because of the all around game tbh. Lebron is touted as one of the most complete players of the game while Durant is just a scoring machine, but he will never get to Lebron's level in terms of importance to a team.

[Ghazi]

Lebron deserved some criticism for the way they bowed out in 2010 IMO. Also, he absolutely choked in the 2011 playoffs.

But he was definitely handicapped in retrospect. He had teams with mediocre talent but good enough chemistry to dominate the regular season... but the talent became exposed in the playoffs.

It's amazing they took a historically great Celtics team to 7 in 2008.

I think it's hard to criticize Durant when he's only 25 years old...he has like a 10 year window to win a championship.

[spurraider21]

Lebron deserved some criticism for the way they bowed out in 2010 IMO. Also, he absolutely choked in the 2011 playoffs.

But he was definitely handicapped in retrospect. He had teams with mediocre talent but good enough chemistry to dominate the regular season... but the talent became exposed in the playoffs.

It's amazing they took a historically great Celtics team to 7 in 2008.

I think it's hard to criticize Durant when he's only 25 years old...he has like a 10 year window to win a championship.
i feel you, but i'm comparing Durant after year 7 to LeBron after year 7... he was also 25. LeBron was criticized for not winning before the 2011 finals too

[Kidd K]

And Durant shouldn't have even made the Finals that once. Terrible, lopsided officiating in games 4, 5, and 6 against SA in 2012 assisted him to the Finals.

OKC is going to be a huge bust in general. When they signed Westbrook to that huge deal, I knew they were done. There's no way they were going to keep the superior Harden after that. Westbrook drags them down. He's a great player but doesn't work well with Durant or anyone else tbh. Way too fuckin selfish.

[said7]

7 turnovers

[The Batman]

To be fair, LeBron was touted as the next Jordan coming out of high school. No one received more hype, and held to a higher standard. That's why he was labeled a choker in Cleveland, not only because he didn't win, but because he didn't have that same killer instinct at the time.

[Clipper Nation]

To be fair, LeBron was touted as the next Jordan coming out of high school. No one received more hype, and held to a higher standard. That's why he was labeled a choker in Cleveland, not only because he didn't win, but because he didn't have that same killer instinct at the time.
And Durbeta recieved hype this year that he was "coming for LeBron's throne," but failed to even make the Finals....

[Venti Quattro]

And Durbeta recieved hype this year that he was "coming for LeBron's throne," but failed to even make the Finals....

I can see the media totally running out of excuses for him next year.

[LkrFan]

How the fuck did one man ever win 66 games in 2009? Prime Jordan would never be able to do that on such a shit team. That is by far the most impressive thing LeBron James has ever done.
He did it in the EC. That shit wouldn't happen in the WC.

[LkrFan]

And Durbeta recieved hype this year that he was "coming for LeBron's throne," but failed to even make the Finals....
Replace LeBron with KD. Do the cHeat rang?

[Jodelo]

Replace LeBron with KD. Do the cHeat rang?

No. LeBron does more than "just" scoring. Assists, Steals, Rebounds, lockdown defense if needed.

[Ricky Davis]

LeBron spent 7 years in Cleveland on a largely talent barren roster, and after 7 years had 1 finals appearance (and smothering loss) to show for it. He was called a choker. He shrunk in big moments. He was mentally weak. He would never be able to win one, especially as a #1 option (right hater (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=7609)?). He never played for a good coach or had a roster resembling a contender but was one of the most hated on athletes I could remember, especially since I'm in LA and it was all Kobe fans laughing at him.

Well now Kevin Durant is 7 years into his NBA career, with nothing to show for it outside of 1 finals appearance (and smothering loss). Outside a handful of this forum, he's rarely called a choker. He doesn't get criticized for coming up small in big moments. Imagine if LeBron had that slip/turnover in an OT of a playoff game... the reception that would get. Unlike LeBron, KD has actually played with elite NBA talent. Harden and Westbrook are both undoubtedly top 15 players (if not top 10). OKC has arguably the best HCA in the league. Brooks is a bad coach, but he's no worse than Potato Head...

People on this board know i'm not a LeBron fanboy at all, but I'm just curious as to why KD seems to avoid so much of the mainstream criticism that LeBron got after 7 years, despite having more or less the same resume, but with superior help. It it because expectations for him were lower? LeBron was touted as the next legend since before he was drafted, had the King James title (king without a ring, back then), wore 23, etc. But that can't be the whole reason, can it?

easy. It's all about how they market themselves. James was called the 'King' while Durant likes to give :cry sob story :cry it's all about my teammates and God :cry I had know idea what I wanted to do with my life even though I was 6'11 :cry sob speeches.

Who's easier for the mass population to hate?

[JoeTait75]

LeBron only started getting a backlash after he left Cleveland, IMO. When he was here he didn't get any of the blame for the Cavaliers not winning a title- that all went to his supporting cast, Mike Brown, the front office, etc. (to a certain extent rightfully so.)

I actually think the backlash has made him a better, tougher player because it forced him to be more accountable than he was in Cleveland.

[Findog]

They need a better coach to win a title. Brooks isn't horrible, but you give Rick Carlisle that roster and they're beating the Spurs.

[Clipper Nation]

Replace LeBron with KD. Do the cHeat rang?
Not a chance, tbh.... IF Durbeta doesn't choke against Indy, he definitely gets owned by the Spurs....

[KobeOwnsDuncan]

^Yet Paul choked to Durbeta. So does that make Paul, Paulgamma?

[313]

They need a better coach to win a title. Brooks isn't horrible, but you give Rick Carlisle that roster and they're beating the Spurs.

Hmm not sure they beat them, but it's definitely more competitive.

[Mori Chu]

If Durant took Lebron's HGH/roids and had a good Robin instead of Westbrick stealing half of his shots, he would have gotten a ring by now, PERIOD.

[Clipper Nation]

If Durant took Lebron's HGH/roids and had a good Robin instead of Westbrick stealing half of his shots, he would have gotten a ring by now, PERIOD.
Maybe someone should have given the Suns some steroids so they could have made the playoffs instead of the Mavs :lol

[Halberto]

i'm an LA guy, so a lot of the anti-lebron stuff i heard imo was defensive reactions from kobe fans when people started discussing lebron being the best player in the league. all the jokes were "kobe called lebron, but there was no ring" and stuff like that. KD was always good, but his rise to true superstardom has coincided with Kobe's decline since 2010... i feel like a lot of the LeBron bashing earlier was a defense mechanism to protect Kobe's image at the time. now that everybody knows kobe has declined/retired, they don't feel threatened enough to bash on the next rising star. at least thats the perception I have from the Los Angeles point of view.

/thread

[Fpoonsie]

Durant's supporting casts have been much, much better than Lebron's Heat supporting casts, tbh


...lolwut?

[KobeOwnsDuncan]

Durant's supporting casts have been much, much better than Lebron's Heat supporting casts, tbh..anybody that looks at the actual facts can see that..



That is completely false and your cocksucking knows no bounds.

[LkrFan]

Not a chance, tbh.... IF Durbeta doesn't choke against Indy, he definitely gets owned by the Spurs....
See, now I know you are trolling. :lol SMH

[Findog]

There's nothing wrong with OKC other than their shitty coach and where they play now compared to their old home. It's just not their turn yet. Isiah and the Bad Boys had to overcome Bird's Celtics, Jordan and Pippen had to get through Detroit, etc...

[Malik Hairston]

That is completely false and your cocksucking knows no bounds.

It's pretty easy to prove it, do you want me to post quantifiable comparisons, tbh?..

Especially this year, where Westbrook was the 2nd best player in the playoffs behind Lebron:lol..

[KobeOwnsDuncan]

It's pretty easy to prove it, do you want me to post quantifiable comparisons, tbh?..

Especially this year, where Westbrook was the 2nd best player in the playoffs behind Lebron:lol..

Go for it.

[endrity]

LeBron's choker image was mainly driven by the 2009-11 playoff failures. Before that people weren't really labelling him as a choker. In 07 pretty much everyone thought he was ahead of the curve by beating the Pistons and the 08 defeat against the Celtics was still mostly praised by the media. But the 09-11 failures were seen as losing to underdog teams, because by and large people expected LeBron's team to win those series. And while it's true that it really wasn't his failure in 09 because he played great in that Orlando series, in 2010 and 2011 he sucked big time in the crunch. He really was awful in the deciding moments in both years against the Celtics and Mavs.

(Small detour here: Dirk also played arguably his greatest personal series in 09 against Denver yet lost due to the weakest supporting cast the Mavs had around him until that point. Few people took notice, and most still considered him a choker).

Durant on the other side has never had one of these defeats against underdog teams. He plays in a much tougher West than LeBron ever did in the East, he's had to deal with Duncan and Dirk, and the one time he got past them he had an incredibly hungry Heat to deal with. It's hard to be a choker if you're not in a position to choke. And unfortunately for him, he's gonna have to deal with LeBron for a few more years anyway and I don't think he's ever going to be the better player, so unless OKC puts a better team around him (doubtful, given the Harden trade), Durant will probably never be considered favourite to win a ring in his prime.

[Findog]

Durant's only 25. Dirk rang when he was 32. LeBron won his first at 27. Dude has plenty of time.

[baseline bum]

LeBron's choker image was mainly driven by the 2009-11 playoff failures. Before that people weren't really labelling him as a choker. In 07 pretty much everyone thought he was ahead of the curve by beating the Pistons and the 08 defeat against the Celtics was still mostly praised by the media. But the 09-11 failures were seen as losing to underdog teams, because by and large people expected LeBron's team to win those series. And while it's true that it really wasn't his failure in 09 because he played great in that Orlando series, in 2010 and 2011 he sucked big time in the crunch. He really was awful in the deciding moments in both years against the Celtics and Mavs.

(Small detour here: Dirk also played arguably his greatest personal series in 09 against Denver yet lost due to the weakest supporting cast the Mavs had around him until that point. Few people took notice, and most still considered him a choker).

Durant on the other side has never had one of these defeats against underdog teams. He plays in a much tougher West than LeBron ever did in the East, he's had to deal with Duncan and Dirk, and the one time he got past them he had an incredibly hungry Heat to deal with. It's hard to be a choker if you're not in a position to choke. And unfortunately for him, he's gonna have to deal with LeBron for a few more years anyway and I don't think he's ever going to be the better player, so unless OKC puts a better team around him (doubtful, given the Harden trade), Durant will probably never be considered favourite to win a ring in his prime.

Durant was the favorite in the 2012 Finals and went out in 5.

http://i.imgur.com/FB0NdeS.png

http://i.imgur.com/vUhuOCB.png

[Clipper Nation]

Not only that, but he also won Game 1, Media started jizzing themselves about Durbeta surpassing "LeChoke," and then he got backdoor swept in embarrassing fashion :lol

[spurraider21]

bump

[HarlemHeat37]

I have a feeling this may be the first off-season where he actually receives blame, tbh..