Has Lebron gifted Durant a ring and status as the best player in the game?

[sweggeh]

Has he? This Cleveland move is great for Lebrons popularity, but the bottom line is he has possibly given up two years of winning for the NBA championship wilderness of Cleveland.

Im sure the gleam of this move will stay with Lebron for a while, but eventually it will fade and he will have to start winning to maintain his status as the best and most popular player in the game. Is it possible this all backfires on Lebron and Durant wins a couple of uncontested rings. I mean at this moment in time the only team favoured to win a title of OKC can be the Spurs,and they are unreliable due to their age, plus I would not be suprised if OKC came of age and beat them anyway.

If this happens, Durant will be considered the best player in the game. Will Lebron ultimately regret throwing away his historical legacy and status worldwide, only to enhance his legacy a single city near where he grew up?

I think so. I think this is the beginning of the end of the Lebron era. Lebron took over from Kobe, and now Durant will take over from Lebron. Lebron will live to regret this decision.

[navy]

It's possible. The Cavs are a wildcard and honestly the team isnt very good right now. Lots of future potential, but right now? They arent winning shit.

[tmacattack33]

You are overlooking teams like the Clippers and Blazers.

Also, next year the team coming out of the East may look pretty good...like the Bulls for example.

OKC is no shoe in for getting to the Finals, let alone winning it.

[sweggeh]

You are overlooking teams like the Clippers and Blazers.

Also, next year the team coming out of the East may look pretty good...like the Bulls for example.

OKC is no shoe in for getting to the Finals, let alone winning it.

We hear about teams like the Blazers, Clippers, Rockets, etc. every year. These are not elite teams like the Thunder, Spurs are and the Heat were. Unless OKC suffers unforeseen injuries, only the Spurs can beat them in my book.

[dynasty1978]

Not really, it's the Spurs league and everyone else is playing for 2nd.

Timmy D will get his 6th ring (should be a 7th, since he gifted Lebron his 2nd).

[Roundball_Rock]

The Clippers are not elite? If Paul did not pull off an epic choke they could have defeated OKC. They won 57 games, have two elite players and three other good players in Jordan, Reddick and Crawford along with a good coach.

LeBron will still be the best player next year. Durant, outside of scoring, does not impact the game nearly as much as LeBron does. Will Durant win a ring next year? As people have noted, they have tough competition in the West (OKC has only made it out the West once) and the East is stronger next year so even if they get to the Finals they conceivably could lose to a team like Chicago.

[sweggeh]

The Clippers are not elite? If Paul did not pull off an epic choke they could have defeated OKC. They won 57 games, have two elite players and three other good players in Jordan, Reddick and Crawford along with a good coach.

LeBron will still be the best player next year. Durant, outside of scoring, does not impact the game nearly as much as LeBron does. Will Durant win a ring next year? As people have noted, they have tough competition in the West (OKC has only made it out the West once) and the East is stronger next year so even if they get to the Finals they conceivably could lose to a team like Chicago.

If OKC is healthy and on form, they beat Clippers 9 times out of 10. They have firepower unlike any other in this league, even the Spurs. Clippers played near their maximum while the Thunder didnt play the best that they could, and the Thunder still won.

No one from the East can win a title this year, its the Wests to lose.

[GODbe]

No, King James still has more muscles, more speed, more rings, better FG%.

[GimmeThat]

his team record was 59-23 last season.
If Westbrook comes back healthy and they go 65, while the Cavs gets to about the same record.

I say Durant's probably still favored as the better player unless the Cavs win it all.



If they meet in the finals though. Lebron is going to have a tougher time figuring out what it's going to take for his team to win instead of Durant.

[tmacattack33]

his team record was 59-23 last season.
If Westbrook comes back healthy and they go 65, while the Cavs gets to about the same record.

I say Durant's probably still favored as the better player unless the Cavs win it all.



If they meet in the finals though. Lebron is going to have a tougher time figuring out what it's going to take for his team to win instead of Durant.

If they meet in the Finals, who is going to guard Lebron this time? Last time Durant sucked at it so bad that Brooks had to take him off Lebron.

Sefalosha is gone fyi.

[kennethgriffin]

the heat are good enough to make the finals with lebron

the heat are good enough to make the ECF without lebron


but with or without theres no way either team can beat the top 3-4 western confrence teams in a playoff series. not at this point.

its the main reason lebron left. the heat are on that downward curve due to wade slipping. ( and even bosh and bron are slightly aging too )

both lebron and the heat needed a change. the heat needed lebrons money to retool. and lebron needed a new situation

regardless of what lebron did. the next 2-3 titles were guaranteed to go out west. to either sanantionio, dallas, okc, memphis... and next year even portland will be better.

lebron might luck up 1 more title if lucky when wiggins, bennett, thompson all hit their primes in 6 years

be thankful for that..


and stop thinking lebron is the bringer of titles and and every year is his

hes won 2 titles in 11 years. and only with absolute ridiculous amounts of luck for one of them...

[sweggeh]

the heat are good enough to make the finals with lebron

the heat are good enough to make the ECF without lebron


but with or without theres no way either team can beat the top 3-4 western confrence teams in a playoff series. not at this point.

its the main reason lebron left. the heat are on that downward curve due to wade slipping. ( and even bosh and bron are slightly aging too )

both lebron and the heat needed a change. the heat needed lebrons money to retool. and lebron needed a new situation

regardless of what lebron did. the next 2-3 titles were guaranteed to go out west. to either sanantionio, dallas, okc, memphis... and next year even portland will be better.

lebron might luck up 1 more title if lucky when wiggins, bennett, thompson all hit their primes in 6 years

be thankful for that..


and stop thinking lebron is the bringer of titles and and every year is his

hes won 2 titles in 11 years. and only with absolute ridiculous amounts of luck for one of them...

He has brought the Heat 2 titles in 4 years and led them to 4 straight titles. At this point he is a threat every season to win a ring, but the problem for him is Cleveland dont have anywhere near the team around him to allow him to lead them to a title. He has thrown away his legacy imo. I hope he realises that and returns to Miami in a year or two.

[SilkkTheShocker]

Durant is a loser that will never win a ring.

[sweggeh]

Durant is a loser that will never win a ring.

Nope. Lebron has gifted him one now. He will definitely win one either this season or next.

[Kingwillball]

He is not as good as Lebron and never will be so no..

[Jlamb47]

Durant is a loser that will never win a ring.
2/5

[navy]

2/5
2/5 > 0/1

[GimmeThat]

If they meet in the Finals, who is going to guard Lebron this time? Last time Durant sucked at it so bad that Brooks had to take him off Lebron.

Sefalosha is gone fyi.


Lebron and his teammates are going to guard Lebron.

[kennethgriffin]

He has brought the Heat 2 titles in 4 years and led them to 4 straight titles. At this point he is a threat every season to win a ring, but the problem for him is Cleveland dont have anywhere near the team around him to allow him to lead them to a title. He has thrown away his legacy imo. I hope he realises that and returns to Miami in a year or two.


i was refering to the odds of lebron being surrounded by enough talent to compete for a title or win a title throughout his career

just pointing out that it is more rare than lebron fans would like to believe


i could just as easly say "well kobe goes to the finals almost every year"


and youd say.. "hes been to 7 out of 18 years"

than i could say "yeah but i only count the years in which he plays with a prime gasol and has phil jackson as coach"


no sorry. just because you have help one day doesnt mean its going to be there the next


lebron would not automatically go to more finals and win more titles just because hes lucked out a few so far


the heat are never going to be as good as they once were. it would have made no sense to keep trying

[choppermagic]

Since when will Durant have uncontested rings?

Did you forget that the Spurs just won, and beat up lebron's team in the Finals? And the West is killer tough with many teams retooling and getting better (except OKC it seems). The only thing that was uncontested is Lebron's runs for MIami through the Eastern Conference. Now there is more balance to the East.

[LoneyROY7]

If OKC is healthy and on form, they beat Clippers 9 times out of 10. They have firepower unlike any other in this league, even the Spurs. Clippers played near their maximum while the Thunder didnt play the best that they could, and the Thunder still won.

No one from the East can win a title this year, its the Wests to lose.

:roll:

F*cking delusional.

[sweggeh]

i was refering to the odds of lebron being surrounded by enough talent to compete for a title or win a title throughout his career

just pointing out that it is more rare than lebron fans would like to believe


i could just as easly say "well kobe goes to the finals almost every year"


and youd say.. "hes been to 7 out of 18 years"

than i could say "yeah but i only count the years in which he plays with a prime gasol and has phil jackson as coach"


no sorry. just because you have help one day doesnt mean its going to be there the next


lebron would not automatically go to more finals and win more titles just because hes lucked out a few so far


the heat are never going to be as good as they once were. it would have made no sense to keep trying

There is no point talking about the past. Lebron from 2010 onwards wasnt the same player as Lebron pre decision. Since the decision his game has improved greatly and currently he is a threat to take anyone to the finals and can win with any team if they have the right players around him (not necessarily a stacked team, but a team with decent options other than him, which Cleveland dont have).

[KD35Brah]

Lebron was gifted a ring by Jesus.

Lebron is not a threat in the Finals anymore, because he doesn't have Bosh and Spo to use the trapping defense against teams anymore.

The Heat's trapping defense was kryptonite against OKC. Now that the Heat won't make the Finals anymore OKC will win titles.