Does Durant ever get back on top?

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by Qwasian

for what reason though? you like to lose? what would be your goal with AD? you just like him?

Put Curry on New Orleans and put Davis on Golden State...

Clearly the person is saying, and I agree, that if you were starting a team from scratch and didn't have a supporting cast yet that you'd take Davis over Curry

Some might want Curry but I'd wager most people would take Davis in that scenario.

[XARZY]

If Durant doesnt win this year I doubt He will be back on top, EVER. The time for DEEP PLAYOFF RUNS have finished. Its time to win or be forgotten. When Lebron won with Miami and decided to move back, it killed all the hype behind OKC and their underdog status. Durant needs to with the scoring title AND win a championship otherwise he will be considered on the decline.

[elee712]

Originally Posted by asujbl

Put Curry on New Orleans and put Davis on Golden State...

Clearly the person is saying, and I agree, that if you were starting a team from scratch and didn't have a supporting cast yet that you'd take Davis over Curry

Some might want Curry but I'd wager most people would take Davis in that scenario.

I'd say it's closer 50/50.
People say that the Warriors's roster is stacked but it's Curry that makes it all go. He takes all the pressure away from his teammates and for the most part they are getting wide open shots. I don't think the roster without Curry wins 50 games or gets far in the playoffs. Other than Draymond, the other parts in my opinion are replaceable.
With the Pelicans, perhaps they don't have a great mix of players but they certainly have talent... Great shooters, a decent Center...I can't see why they are not better than they are. Sure, they had injuries...but they have a top 5 player in the league...they should not be one of the worst teams in the NBA.

[pingbling23]

Originally Posted by elee712

I'd say it's closer 50/50.
People say that the Warriors's roster is stacked but it's Curry that makes it all go. He takes all the pressure away from his teammates and for the most part they are getting wide open shots. I don't think the roster without Curry wins 50 games or gets far in the playoffs. Other than Draymond, the other parts in my opinion are replaceable.
With the Pelicans, perhaps they don't have a great mix of players but they certainly have talent... Great shooters, a decent Center...I can't see why they are not better than they are. Sure, they had injuries...but they have a top 5 player in the league...they should not be one of the worst teams in the NBA.

As crazy as it sounds, I think you're undervaluing your team. There are few players in the history of the game that can go on a scoring run like klay can and how many players can come off the bench and earn finals mvp? The Warriors are much more then a brilliant steph curry.

[Qwasian]

Originally Posted by asujbl

Put Curry on New Orleans and put Davis on Golden State...

Clearly the person is saying, and I agree, that if you were starting a team from scratch and didn't have a supporting cast yet that you'd take Davis over Curry

Some might want Curry but I'd wager most people would take Davis in that scenario.

for what reason though? davis isn't going to run your team and get you the win, he's just a beast at his position. just like lebron is a beast but he's not making the team win, it's like taking patrick ewing over jordan, sure ewing is a beast, but jordan is clearly the better pick. curry is way more valuable to a team than AD is, and AD is one of my favorite players. basketball is bigger than just being nice, you have to have the experience and know how to get everything done, steph even most likely pulls from his dads years of knowledge and experience as well, you can't buy that experience and ability to use it, why do you think teams always want these vet guys. Right now with steph's play he's more valuable than lebron even though lebron is a beast as well, but it's about attitude, knowledge, and keeping everybody in check on a team, that's more valuable than being the best player in the world and steph just happens to have both talents. people keep discarding that "WIN FACTOR"....... he has what it takes to pull a team together and make them win. instead of making 1000 excuses as to why things don't go right like lebron and needing all this help, they put the team together and create his own help, those guys weren't nice like that, now they are looking like allstars, buddy turned draymond green and klay thompson into world beaters.

[pingbling23]

Originally Posted by Qwasian

for what reason though? davis isn't going to run your team and get you the win, he's just a beast at his position. just like lebron is a beast but he's not making the team win, it's like taking patrick ewing over jordan, sure ewing is a beast, but jordan is clearly the better pick. curry is way more valuable to a team than AD is, and AD is one of my favorite players. basketball is bigger than just being nice, you have to have the experience and know how to get everything done, steph even most likely pulls from his dads years of knowledge and experience as well, you can't buy that experience and ability to use it, why do you think teams always want these vet guys. Right now with steph's play he's more valuable than lebron even though lebron is a beast as well, but it's about attitude, knowledge, and keeping everybody in check on a team, that's more valuable than being the best player in the world and steph just happens to have both talents. people keep discarding that "WIN FACTOR"....... he has what it takes to pull a team together and make them win. instead of making 1000 excuses as to why things don't go right like lebron and needing all this help, they put the team together and create his own help, those guys weren't nice like that, now they are looking like allstars, buddy turned draymond green and klay thompson into world beaters.

Wow, so much fail in one post. Curry wasn't even the main reason the Warriors won last year. Need I remind you that lebron wasn't ever blessed with a championship caliber team in Cleveland. Yes Riley put a great team together but lebron also got better and earned 2 finals mvps. You would be crazy to think lebron isn't a good leader, makes others better, and has gotten wins in less then stellar conditions. I'm curious, how do you think curry has made those players better? We have seen what happens to teams before and after lebron plays for them. We have seen those awful teams make it to the finals and fall short, but it takes an extraordinary talent and leader just to get to that position. Lebron earned more respect from me in last years loss then when he won in Miami. His series was incredible and lead a depleted roster to six games against a team that is possibly going to break the season win loss record this year. I honestly think lebron got robbed of finals mvp last year and if he would have won it, who could argue against it?

[Qwasian]

it's crazy to me that just because lebron is big & physical people want to give him props like all his teams suck, but people want to denounce curry like his teams are greatness just because he's not this big physical guy. lebron has pull from the best talent pool in the nba with free agents basically willing to play with him for pennies just because he's lebron, to think he doesn't have a good team situation is crazy, he always has top talent level, with love & kyrie the guy is playing on an allstar squad....... the warriors are good as well, but lebron is not playing on trash teams, that's a large myth. teams collapse after he leaves because of the entire energy & situation he brings and takes with him when he moves around the NBA, a teams entire business has to shift when dealing with lebron, he basically runs the team he plays for at all times and can get anything he wants done. people got hurt and tainted his chances last year, but he's definately not playing with a bum team, look at the rest of the NBA, they would be lucky to have just a lebron and nobody else, this guy has allstar caliber supporting cast, i'm hardly going to cry for him.

[MFaulkCollector]

Originally Posted by XARZY

If Durant doesnt win this year I doubt He will be back on top, EVER. The time for DEEP PLAYOFF RUNS have finished. Its time to win or be forgotten. When Lebron won with Miami and decided to move back, it killed all the hype behind OKC and their underdog status. Durant needs to with the scoring title AND win a championship otherwise he will be considered on the decline.

Forgotten? The guy is younger than Curry and has at least 5-6 more years at peak performance. Durant will likely end up in the top 5 all time scoring. He can't win the chip with Westbrook around; but he certainly will not be forgotten. If he were to get in a situation where the entire team was not selfish; no sweat he could average 30-35 efficiently

[MFaulkCollector]

Originally Posted by Qwasian

it's crazy to me that just because lebron is big & physical people want to give him props like all his teams suck, but people want to denounce curry like his teams are greatness just because he's not this big physical guy. lebron has pull from the best talent pool in the nba with free agents basically willing to play with him for pennies just because he's lebron, to think he doesn't have a good team situation is crazy, he always has top talent level, with love & kyrie the guy is playing on an allstar squad....... the warriors are good as well, but lebron is not playing on trash teams, that's a large myth. teams collapse after he leaves because of the entire energy & situation he brings and takes with him when he moves around the NBA, a teams entire business has to shift when dealing with lebron, he basically runs the team he plays for at all times and can get anything he wants done. people got hurt and tainted his chances last year, but he's definately not playing with a bum team, look at the rest of the NBA, they would be lucky to have just a lebron and nobody else, this guy has allstar caliber supporting cast, i'm hardly going to cry for him.

Lebron played with trash in Cleveland the first time around.... since then he has basically picked his team and situation twice. To choose your destination like he has; and not win more than 2 would almost make you question his overall IQ of what makes a winner.

Basically; the best player in the world has chosen to play with two other all stars in each of his two "decisions"..... I know he made the finals 5 times but still just won the two (and really he was the biggest reason they lost to Dallas)

Warriors were not constructed like this; and because of that they are better. More cohesion and identity

[pingbling23]

Originally Posted by Qwasian

it's crazy to me that just because lebron is big & physical people want to give him props like all his teams suck, but people want to denounce curry like his teams are greatness just because he's not this big physical guy. lebron has pull from the best talent pool in the nba with free agents basically willing to play with him for pennies just because he's lebron, to think he doesn't have a good team situation is crazy, he always has top talent level, with love & kyrie the guy is playing on an allstar squad....... the warriors are good as well, but lebron is not playing on trash teams, that's a large myth. teams collapse after he leaves because of the entire energy & situation he brings and takes with him when he moves around the NBA, a teams entire business has to shift when dealing with lebron, he basically runs the team he plays for at all times and can get anything he wants done. people got hurt and tainted his chances last year, but he's definately not playing with a bum team, look at the rest of the NBA, they would be lucky to have just a lebron and nobody else, this guy has allstar caliber supporting cast, i'm hardly going to cry for him.

i was referencing the first part of his career. and yes they were trash teams. we see what happens when lebron gets a good team around him. 5 straight finals appearances and 2 rings. the west is so stacked with talent and the teams are loaded, what else can east teams do but put together strong teams? so you think the depleted roster last year in the finals was an allstar caliber supporting cast lmao. j.r., shump, delly, and mozgov are solid role players but most of them are inconsistent. surely youre not talking about an old mike miller, shawn marion, or james jones? must be talking about that stud kendrick perkins lol.

[pingbling23]

Originally Posted by MFaulkCollector

Lebron played with trash in Cleveland the first time around.... since then he has basically picked his team and situation twice. To choose your destination like he has; and not win more than 2 would almost make you question his overall IQ of what makes a winner.

Basically; the best player in the world has chosen to play with two other all stars in each of his two "decisions"..... I know he made the finals 5 times but still just won the two (and really he was the biggest reason they lost to Dallas)

Warriors were not constructed like this; and because of that they are better. More cohesion and identity

you act like its a given that his teams should easily win. how many players make it to 5 straight finals and earn back to back titles/finals mvps? we always talk on here how the west is so dominate, if you want to beat loaded teams, youre going to need a loaded team. some players are drafted or traded into good situations (kobe is the biggest example) and some are not as fortunate. lebron did what he needed to do to win titles, cavs management wasnt getting the job done. lebron did stink it up in the dallas series!!!!

[Kobe101]

I am a lebron hater but he only has one championship without Ray Allens lucky shot!

Lebron sucks! Joking he's awesome.

The fact that we can argue about so many great players lets you know how great the game is now.

Lebron and Durant are ALL TIME GREATS.

If curry can have a few more seasons like this he is an all time great!

Anthony Davis has the potential to be an all time great! M

It's hard and speculative who is the best/most important player in the league today. But if we were doing a redraft I would be very happy with any of the top 3 picks - Lebron Durant and curry... (No order there)

And ending up with Davis or Leaneord or Paul George wouldn't be the worst thing.

There are so many great players today it's great being a fan!

[Qwasian]

Originally Posted by pingbling23

i was referencing the first part of his career. and yes they were trash teams. we see what happens when lebron gets a good team around him. 5 straight finals appearances and 2 rings. the west is so stacked with talent and the teams are loaded, what else can east teams do but put together strong teams? so you think the depleted roster last year in the finals was an allstar caliber supporting cast lmao. j.r., shump, delly, and mozgov are solid role players but most of them are inconsistent. surely youre not talking about an old mike miller, shawn marion, or james jones? must be talking about that stud kendrick perkins lol.

we aren't talking about "GOOD TEAMS", we are talking allstar caliber players. like the top level talent of the NBA as a supporting cast, there is a big difference, what other player has that on a regular basis and can't win? mozgov and delly performed like top level talent last year in the playoffs for many games, the only reason people view lebrons supporting cast as garbage players is because they have this skewed idea that lebron is so great so by default everybody else must suck, but that's not reality, people want to taint curry for whatever reason just like they used to try to do lebron but he's great and it's obvious, whats the point in trying to discredit him? he already hoisted the trophy, that's the top of the mountain.

[pingbling23]

Originally Posted by Qwasian

we aren't talking about "GOOD TEAMS", we are talking allstar caliber players. like the top level talent of the NBA as a supporting cast, there is a big difference, what other player has that on a regular basis and can't win? mozgov and delly performed like top level talent last year in the playoffs for many games, the only reason people view lebrons supporting cast as garbage players is because they have this skewed idea that lebron is so great so by default everybody else must suck, but that's not reality, people want to taint curry for whatever reason just like they used to try to do lebron but he's great and it's obvious, whats the point in trying to discredit him? he already hoisted the trophy, that's the top of the mountain.

have you forgotten about the powerhouse teams out in the west? those teams have multiple all star caliber players as well and most cant win. the boston super team that could only win one. how about some of the lakers super teams that couldnt win any? heat and lebron sucked against dallas, won 2 in a row, and then lost to one of the greatest team displays i have ever seen in san antonio. i honestly think the heat as a team gave up on each other since they knew lebron was leaving but thats a debate for another day. lebron does not have luck on his side (besides the ray ray 3 lol). wade was never as healthy as we all thought he would be and bosh even had some major health issues through the playoffs not to mention varajo's season ending injury, and kyrie and love going down in the playoffs/finals. i am in no way trying to taint curry. he didnt have the best of finals and wasnt his teams most valuable player, but hes an incredible player. he has also been drafted (and developed) into a much better situation then lebron was. sorry to derail this thread, i just cant stand seeing inaccuracies posted. ill leave it here.

[Qwasian]

Originally Posted by pingbling23

have you forgotten about the powerhouse teams out in the west? those teams have multiple all star caliber players as well and most cant win. the boston super team that could only win one. how about some of the lakers super teams that couldnt win any? heat and lebron sucked against dallas, won 2 in a row, and then lost to one of the greatest team displays i have ever seen in san antonio. i honestly think the heat as a team gave up on each other since they knew lebron was leaving but thats a debate for another day. lebron does not have luck on his side (besides the ray ray 3 lol). wade was never as healthy as we all thought he would be and bosh even had some major health issues through the playoffs not to mention varajo's season ending injury, and kyrie and love going down in the playoffs/finals. i am in no way trying to taint curry. he didnt have the best of finals and wasnt his teams most valuable player, but hes an incredible player. he has also been drafted (and developed) into a much better situation then lebron was. sorry to derail this thread, i just cant stand seeing inaccuracies posted. ill leave it here.

your missing what i'm saying, the powerhouse teams in the west DO WIN, it's bigger than just an NBA title, those guys are consistantly in the playoffs, spurs, thunder, lakers etc. THAT IS WINNING. lebron has had solid supporting cast's his entire career, a team without a solid supporting cast is like the sixers, or the bottom teams. you can't say oh he doesn't have the #1 team lineup so he's got a bum squad. of course curry didn't have a great finals he's a guard who they teamed up on and tried to shut down, lebron had a great finals because he's the type of player that can make his own shot, he's big & physical, but that should prove everything to you right there, he played great and they still lost, which taints his value, he doesn't have the ability to just make the team come together and win. curry being doubled up helps spread the floor, it causes havoc on the defense and caused cleveland to lose. golden state just beat cleveland again in the regular season, with tristan thompson almost having a double double and kevin love did have a double double, jr smith and dellavadova were in double figures. how come if they play with lebron and put up these kind of stats they are scrubs? but if players play with curry and put up the same kind of stats they are world beaters who make curry shine? it's obviously just a matter of skewed opinion. you can say anthony davis is great too, just like lebron, a big man who plays great but will never get you where you need to be without a bunch of help. curry doesn't have to shine all playoffs or all finals long, he just have to shine in enough games that beat you, if he lights you up 2 or 3 games it's a wrap, lebron can light you up every night and still won't win.

[Durantula]

What exactly means back on top?
He is currently a top 3 Player and 3rd in the West.
Isnt that enough to be considered being at the top?
I think he is back. He and Russ also sat out a bigger number 4th quaters because of blow outs.
If OKC can't win it all this year its time for Durant to move on.
NYC would be my Dream destination. When cp3 also realizes he can't win anything in LA, Time to Team up with Durant, Melo and Porzingis.
Get Phil back to Coach and we have something special!

[Nyfancam01]

i'd take durant OR Davis over curry and wouldn't even think about it lol

plus i'd take lebron over anybody in the NBA. People saying they'd take curry 1st is hilarious... if lebron, durant or davis are on the warriors squad instead of curry... THEY WIN TOO.

[IamRalpho]

Originally Posted by Nyfancam01

i'd take durant OR Davis over curry and wouldn't even think about it lol

plus i'd take lebron over anybody in the NBA. People saying they'd take curry 1st is hilarious... if lebron, durant or davis are on the warriors squad instead of curry... THEY WIN TOO.

Most shocking statement in the world.

Lebron is on the wrong side of 30 right now.

Steph Curry is the best player in the NBA right now, anyone who disagrees needs to check their eyes.

Is he the greatest overall? Of course not, Lebron, Kobe, etc but right now Steph Curry is the MVP and that usually means the best player.

[Nyfancam01]

Originally Posted by IamRalpho

Most shocking statement in the world.

Lebron is on the wrong side of 30 right now.

Steph Curry is the best player in the NBA right now, anyone who disagrees needs to check their eyes.

Is he the greatest overall? Of course not, Lebron, Kobe, etc but right now Steph Curry is the MVP and that usually means the best player.

not a chance. Lebron James is still a better all around player than Curry. Curry literally could never compare to James' all around game.

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by IamRalpho

Most shocking statement in the world.

Lebron is on the wrong side of 30 right now.

Steph Curry is the best player in the NBA right now, anyone who disagrees needs to check their eyes.

Is he the greatest overall? Of course not, Lebron, Kobe, etc but right now Steph Curry is the MVP and that usually means the best player.

Send me to an eye doctor then...

Because LeBron is still the best player on the planet. Curry might be the most exciting player. LeBron is still the best player in the NBA.

Winning MVP doesn't mean a damn thing once you've won it as many times as LeBron has. It just becomes Karl Malone and Steve Nash syndrome.

[IamRalpho]

Originally Posted by asujbl

Send me to an eye doctor then...

Because LeBron is still the best player on the planet. Curry might be the most exciting player. LeBron is still the best player in the NBA.

Winning MVP doesn't mean a damn thing once you've won it as many times as LeBron has. It just becomes Karl Malone and Steve Nash syndrome.

Right now, I am sorry I would choose Curry. Lebron for all he's done is awesome, and he is a top 7 player of all time but if you tell me you get to pick one player today...December 29th, 2015 to win a title this year, I am taking Curry.

Lebron James has so many miles on him and at his age, he is gonna start to slow down.

Ive come to appreciate how amazing Lebron is/was but there was a time in the NBA when MJ wasnt the best player, didnt mean he wasnt the greatest ever.

What Curry is doing now is what Lebron did a few years ago, just unexplained amazingness. And what Barkley and Malone did for a few years in the 90s.

Give me the the best shooter of all time, one one of the best contracts of all time, on the best team right now at the age of 27 over anyone else, and that is coming from the same person who said last year that KD had surpassed Lebron for the 15 minutes he was healthy last year.

[ninjacookies]

I can't lie. Curry is the best player in the game right now. Pretty much was solidified in this past game vs. Cleveland where he single handedly schooled lebron on a few dribble drives in crunch time deep in the 4th.

But sustainability is key. Can he keep this up for 5,6...10 years? In order to be in that discussion, he's going to have to string together multiple titles, which is entirely possible.


I almost equate this to playing nba 2k15. If you have a player that is on god mode with 100 rated shooting, in essence he is more dominant offensively than even a player with a 100 dunk rating...as a player with that kind of range is absolutely unguardable from any area of the floor. Whereas Lebron's game is still predicated on dribble drives and outmuscling opponents. What's even crazier is how dominant a player Curry is off the dribble. It boggles my mind everytime since he is probably in the bottom half of the league in terms of athletic intangibles and stature, but his basketball iq and understanding of defender tendencies and floor spacing is second to none. He is one crafty son of a gun.

Again, what he's doing now is impressive...but he still has a long way to be in the conversation with the greats. But at this very moment in time, I'd have to say he is the best player in the game. Though not by much. Lebron tends to defer and his age is slowly creeping up, so naturally he is more on cruise control mode to conserve himself for the post season.

[Qwasian]

Originally Posted by Nyfancam01

i'd take durant OR Davis over curry and wouldn't even think about it lol

plus i'd take lebron over anybody in the NBA. People saying they'd take curry 1st is hilarious... if lebron, durant or davis are on the warriors squad instead of curry... THEY WIN TOO.

no they don't because of the influx of shots they take and need to be themselves, they make the team not win....... ex. durant, westbrook & harden on the same team couldn't get it done, that's a big 3 in itself and they had peices around them.

[Qwasian]

Originally Posted by Nyfancam01

not a chance. Lebron James is still a better all around player than Curry. Curry literally could never compare to James' all around game.

it's not all about putting up stats everytime, it's about doing what your team needs as you've seen him try to do many times in the playoffs and he wasn't succesful, his only way to win is to put alot of talent around him and brute force his way to a win, which is cool, but curry obviously has more basketball talent and IQ. it's about letting off the gas when needed too, that's extremely valueable, then turning it on when they let off you and start to guard other guys who get hot. lebron is a one trick pony, "GIVE ME THE BALL".

[Nyfancam01]

did you really just say curry has more talent and basketball IQ than Lebron James?

Thank the lord i'm getting out of sports cards. WOW.