Poll: Is Kawhi the best player in the league?

[RRR3]

We can all agree Kawhi is incredible and an all-time great talent but would you say he

[FKAri]

No. But assuming he isn't 100% I do wonder if a 100% Kawhi would be.

[RRR3]

I’m gonna say no, it’s still Curry, but I thought it was a good time to ask the question. I think Kawhi is without a doubt top 5 and probably top 3.

[ImKobe]

Based on these Playoffs? Yes.

Long-term? I'd say Durant is still the superior all-around player.

[Dray n Klay]

LeBron....

[RRR3]

LeBron....
Don

[Shogon]

He's 2 behind Steph.

[Heavincent]

I

[SouBeachTalents]

I

[bullettooth]

Curry might have an edge on offence... but it's not even close on defence.

Kawhi all around. Basketball isn't only offence.

[ArbitraryWater]

we will be able to make a solid choice after these next 4-7 games of basketball

[baudkarma]

Kawhi has been the best player in the playoffs, no question. It remains to be seen if he'll maintain this high level of play into next season. If he does, he'll have a legit claim to be #1.

[tpols]

Kawhi's my dude...

traded him for beal in fantasy (which worked), but i knew hed blow up in the playoffs when it counted.

The only guy even close to him is Ding0. And even as a huge Chef fan, kawhi scares me because because he has a more reliable midrange component to his game, while curry has more explosive upside.

They both fit seamlessly in any offense because they dont need to overdribble to score, and are egoless compared to quite a few other stars.

Because of his defense, i may even have to say hes better.

But dont sleep on the wolf ding0 mate... hes got a chip on his shoulder and so does klay rn

[warriorfan]

1. Chef
2. Leonard

[Celtics 1825]

Curry has to be first for me. Then I'd probably go Durant and have Kawhi at 3.

[Phoenix]

There's not a better player that's this prolific on both ends of the floor. As far as impact, I think the Warriors suffer more if Steph is out than if Kawhi is out for Toronto, judging by their team records, and thus far Golden State hasn't skipped a beat with KD out. Make of all of this what you will.

[NBAGOAT]

I lean curry a little but impact can be team specific and this may be a little recency bias. People should be more sure after the finals but that

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Only voting "no" because its arguable.

Kawhi and Curry are both high impact, depending on what their teams need.

Durant is in that discussion too. Of the three, he's probably the best isolation player.

[Phoenix]

[QUOTE=NBAGOAT]I lean curry a little but impact can be team specific and this may be a little recency bias. People should be more sure after the finals but that

[egokiller]

How many times has Kawhi lost to Jason Terry in the playoffs?

[NBAGOAT]

The thing with the Toronto/Golden State series is that not a whole lot can be determined about the pecking order. Let's say KD is out, so the two best players in the series are inarguably Kawhi and Steph. After those two, the next best players are Klay and Dray before you get to Lowry and Siakim. If Boogie and KD end up coming back, that's even more compounding heavily in the Warriors favor. Toronto's fortunes are way more reliant on Kawhi being great than KD being great, or even on the floor, because the Warriors are fully capable of winning this series regardless.

I agree. It might finally be time for curry to win a fmvp and stop that lazy criticism from always being thrown out. I think Lowry may have to play even better than he did vs mil to have a decent chance outside kawhi being great

[Keno]

title still belongs to lebron when fully healthy.

[imdaman99]

Yes. Now that he's able to create for the guys on his team, I got him at the top.

Come to the Knicks Kawhi, once you get the Raps a ring. You loved training here remember??? That's gotta mean something right????? lol

[elementally morale]

Curry. Kawhi is top 5, possibly top 3.

[superduper]

title still belongs to lebron when fully healthy.

title still belongs to Jordan when fully healthy

[fsvr54]

People think Curry is better than KD and Kawhi?

:biggums:

[bdonovan]

People tend to focus on individual contributions. And very little on: how much better do you make other players? As a counter-example, Westbrook pads stats by grabbing defensive rebounds that anyone else on OKC could grab instead of running up to receive the outlet and push the ball. That doesn't really help the team but it does give him incredible # of Triple Doubles. His drive and kicks are pretty much arbitrary; it's not getting the best shot, just something other than him because he had to kick (but he still gets assists as result of ball dominance). In true team play, one pass leads to another and the original playmaker gets no credit statistically.

I remember first watching the NBA in the late 80s and watching how Jordan would often sit back the first quarter or first half and facilitate. He knew he could always turn it on later. I know Jordan is associated with the advent of ISO-ball at the expense of team ball in the NBA but did a lot of the little things: he set screens for other players, he moved without the ball to distract the defense and give other players (like Steve Kerr or Pippen) more open looks. That was his will to win- but it spoke to team offense and team defense and making others better.

It's no coincidence the team such a player is on usually wins. Kawhi is a terrific two-way player. I just don't watch enough of his games to say whether he makes others better on D or O. At least of what I saw in the playoffs, I didn't really think he facilitated in an optimal way (finding cutters, passing to the guy with the best %, intentionally leading one's defender away from the guy you're passing to, etc.); he wasn't bad at all- but wasn't top-tier.

In any case, two-way players like Anthony Davis, Kawhi, Jimmy Butler, Joel Embiid, Klay Thompson should get more credit than they do.

[red1]

feels like it yeah.


no one's playing as well as he is.

[houston]

no he ain't

[Walk on Water]

Curry is the best