Kenny Smith said what......

[Flash]

Irrelevant? That KD is averaging more points in his third year than LeBron in his 7th year? And don't bring up the whole "he doesn't care about scoring" or "he passes more when he could be scoring more". Durant only averages 0.2 more shots attempted per game than LeBron. And do I need to remind you that Durant is 21 years old and is far from his peak, and is already scoring at the same efficiency as LeBron who is 4 years older?

 

How about I even out the playing field a bit more, since LeBron does have that 4 year advantage, which actually doesn't seem to have given him in any kind of advantage scoring-wise. In LeBron's third year, he averaged 31.4 points per game in 23.1 shots attempted per game, and had a true shooting percentage of 56.8%. Durant, who is in his third year, averages 30.1 points per game in 20.3 shots attempted per game, with a true shooting percentage of 60.7%. Okay fine, LeBron averaged more points per game in his third year, but Durant scored much more efficiently, and averaged only 1.3 less points per game when LeBron is taking almost 3 more shots per game.

 

 

So, again, how is his scoring title so "irrelevant"?

 

/thread.

[His Greatness]

Irrelevant? That KD is averaging more points in his third year than LeBron in his 7th year? And don't bring up the whole "he doesn't care about scoring" or "he passes more when he could be scoring more". Durant only averages 0.2 more shots attempted per game than LeBron. And do I need to remind you that Durant is 21 years old and is far from his peak, and is already scoring at the same efficiency as LeBron who is 4 years older?

 

How about I even out the playing field a bit more, since LeBron does have that 4 year advantage, which actually doesn't seem to have given him in any kind of advantage scoring-wise. In LeBron's third year, he averaged 31.4 points per game in 23.1 shots attempted per game, and had a true shooting percentage of 56.8%. Durant, who is in his third year, averages 30.1 points per game in 20.3 shots attempted per game, with a true shooting percentage of 60.7%. Okay fine, LeBron averaged more points per game in his third year, but Durant scored much more efficiently, and averaged only 1.3 less points per game when LeBron was taking almost 3 more shots per game.

 

 

So, again, how is his scoring title so "irrelevant"?

He said it was irrelevant because LeBron was still the better player.

[Poe]

He said it was irrelevant because LeBron was still the better player.

 

Irrelevant.

 

EDIT: Let me explain why, LBJ averaged more points in his 3rd year, and was also a year younger than Durant is now. Kobe averaged 36 a game that year and should have been MVP, anyways, LBJ was a year younger and averaged more points than Durant. So that point is completely and totally irrelevant. 'League Leader' doesn't mean anything when comparing different stages of careers. LBJ was better his 3rd year than Durant.

 

 

No, he clearly said that it was irrelevant because LeBron was the better scorer, which I just proved false.

[His Greatness]

No, he clearly said that it was irrelevant because LeBron was the better scorer, which I just proved false.

Read the last line again. His entire post was explaining why it was irrelevant that Durant was the youngest scoring champ ever, because that would've been LeBron's title if Kobe didn't average 35 that season.

[Check my Stats]

Read the last line again. His entire post was explaining why it was irrelevant that Durant was the youngest scoring champ ever, because that would've been LeBron's title if Kobe didn't average 35 that season.

 

/thread.

 

Reading comprehension >

[Poe]

Read the last line again. His entire post was explaining why it was irrelevant that Durant was the youngest scoring champ ever, because that would've been LeBron's title if Kobe didn't average 35 that season.

Scoring title or not, Durant is still the more efficient scorer. You and trevesy still have yet to prove that wrong.

[Check my Stats]

That title is irrelevant to Smith's claim, which was Durant would become the best player in 3 years. You disagree? If so you are basically saying scoring is all there to being a basketball player. LeBron is a more complete player on both sides of the ball. Is he a worse shooter? Ya, but that is probably the only thing he is worse at.

 

I am not going to prove something wrong that I don't even really disagree with lol (although it it definitely debatable), 'irrelevant' means irrelevant to the supposed discussion, I guess the discussion to you is who is/will be a better scorer rather than a better basketball player in three years.

Edited April 24, 2010 by travesy3

[Poe]

That title is irrelevant to Smith's claim, which was Durant would become the best player in 3 years. You disagree? If so you are basically saying scoring is all there to being a basketball player. LeBron is a more complete player on both sides of the ball. Is he a worse shooter? Ya, but that is probably the only thing he is worse at.

 

I am not going to prove something wrong that I don't even really disagree with lol (although it it definitely debatable), 'irrelevant' means irrelevant to the supposed discussion, I guess the discussion to you is who is/will be a better scorer rather than a better basketball player in three years.

Scoring is completely relavent to evaluating a player's abilities. I don't know why you are trying to argue against it.

 

I originally mentioned the scoring title to show that it is not a ridiculous statement to say that Durant could very well become the best player in the NBA in a few years. All of the players in NBA history who are recognized as the greatest were big time scorers. Durant already won the scoring title at 21 years old when he averaged 20 points in 43% shooting just a few years ago. If he continues to improve at the rate he's been doing, I think it is fair to say that Durant could pass LeBron in a few more years.

 

And I never once said "scoring is all there is to being a basketball player". Besides, Durant is pretty much even with LeBron in every statistical category except assists. Assisting is there for LeBron because he's the Cavs' primary passer and used as a point-forward, though I won't deny he's an excellent passer. Durant has Russell Westbrook as the main passer who averages 8 assists per game. LeBron never had a teammate average more than 5 assists except for Jeff McInnis who averaged 6 in his rookie year. LeBron is basically a point guard that plays small forward on defense, so his assists will always be higher. To offset LeBron's supreme passing and ball handling, Durant is the supreme three-point shooter, free throw shooter, and arguably a better man defender.

 

Overall, I don't see why it isn't fair to argue that Durant will be the better player in a few years, especially when he's playing for a smarter organization that surrounded him with young talent that will grow as Durant's game grows, instead of the Cavs who constantly give LeBron a different mix of veterans each year in an attempt to match up with other elite teams for the playoffs.

Edited April 24, 2010 by Poe