Karl Malone, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry

[Lebron23]

Rank these players.

[pandiani17]

Kevin Durant
Karl Malone
Stephen Curry

[Axe]

Kevin Durant
Karl Malone
Stephen Curry
:cheers:

[light]

Rank these players.

1. Steph Curry
2. Kevin Durant
3. Karl Malone

Curry is the most historically significant player of the three and deservedly ranked higher than the other two.

[pandiani17]

1. Steph Curry
2. Kevin Durant
3. Karl Malone

Curry is the most historically significant player of the three and deservedly ranked higher than the other two.

I think Durant is the best player out of the three. Curry has got the most accolades, but if my job was on the line and I had to rely in any of them right now, I would choose KD and Malone over him.

[DMAVS41]

I think Durant is the best player out of the three. Curry has got the most accolades, but if my job was on the line and I had to rely in any of them right now, I would choose KD and Malone over him.

Right this second or over their primes? Seems like Durant is probably a little better currently...although it is tough to tell with Curry playing with guys that don't make sense and aren't that good.

But Curry did more without Durant than Durant did without Curry.

[StrongLurk]

Karl Malone is underrated man, dude was a monster for so long.

That being said, I'd take KD slightly over Karl and Karl over Curry.

[AlternativeAcc.]

Right this second or over their primes? Seems like Durant is probably a little better currently...although it is tough to tell with Curry playing with guys that don't make sense and aren't that good.

But Curry did more without Durant than Durant did without Curry.

This isn't remotely close to being true. Are you retarded? Rhetorical question

Curry had 2 noteworthy regular season runs without Durant, and massive chokes on the big stage


Durant had what, 8-9 years as a top 3 player without curry?

By did more you mean lucked into a fluke championship?

[DMAVS41]

This isn't remotely close to being true. Are you retarded? Rhetorical question

Curry had 2 noteworthy regular season runs without Durant, and massive chokes on the big stage


Durant had what, 8-9 years as a top 3 player without curry?

By did more you mean lucked into a fluke championship?

Cool, tell me about all those titles and historical seasons Durant had when he played without Curry.

And, lets be clear...Durant was in great circumstances...this isn't a KG in Minnesota situation. This was Durant getting historical levels of help for a large portion of his career and he couldn't get it done.

Curry's teams without him on the court for his career...-3.1 points per 100 possessions
Durant's teams without him on the court for his career...+.5 points per 100 possessions

Also, did you miss the 2016 WCF in which Curry outplayed Durant and won after Durant choked his ass off at home? Do you think we all forgot about that? You talking about chokes, assuming you are referencing the 16 Finals, but if you had a brain...you'd realize what a terrible argument that is because the player you are arguing for choked earlier and lost to the very player you are arguing is much worse. Not sure how that data point fits into Durant being better.

And then when Durant got hurt in 2019, the Warriors dominated the Rockets and swept the Blazers...and gave the Raptors all they could handle...all without even a replacement for KD...he was just removed from the team...and they still easily made the Finals...and could have won a title.

And then there is this:



The Duel
@TheDuelSports
·
May 17, 2019
The Golden State #Warriors have now won 27 of their last 28 games when Stephen Curry plays and Kevin Durant sits.

Tell me more about how Curry is much worse.

Are you retarded? Actual question.

[r0drig0lac]

Malone => Durant >>> Curry

[pandiani17]

Right this second or over their primes? Seems like Durant is probably a little better currently...although it is tough to tell with Curry playing with guys that don't make sense and aren't that good.

But Curry did more without Durant than Durant did without Curry.

On the surface, this affirmation might be true. However, Curry had better teammates and didn't have injuries to deal with, while people forget that the Thunder had either KD/Westbrook injured in every post-season 2013-2015. Also, when they were in the same team KD seemed to be the better player.

[1987_Lakers]

Are we talking peak play? If so...

1. Durant
2. Curry
3. Malone

[DMAVS41]

On the surface, this affirmation might be true. However, Curry had better teammates and didn't have injuries to deal with, while people forget that the Thunder had either KD/Westbrook injured in every post-season 2013-2015. Also, when they were in the same team KD seemed to be the better player.

Curry did deal with injuries and I'm not sure he had more help either.

Again, Durant's teams performed better without him on the court than Curry's...and we have to put some weight on 2016. They played head to head in the playoffs...

Curry won and was pretty clearly better.

28/6/6 61% TS for Curry

30/8/3 54% TS for Durant

In the biggest game of the year, at home, with a finals trip on the line...Durant put up a real stinker. 41%TS and a 93 ortg.

The double standards are pretty bad here. Guys like Curry and Dirk...and non-traditional players always get more hate and are under appreciated in my opinion.

It gets kind of hard to start arguing that Durant was clearly better than Curry when stuff like that happens...Curry gets under-rated...even now. Curry is playing with nothing of note help and doing 28/6/6 61%TS and has this team at .500 and people are acting like he's no longer great.

[1987_Lakers]

Curry did deal with injuries and I'm not sure he had more help either.

Again, Durant's teams performed better without him on the court than Curry's...and we have to put some weight on 2016. They played head to head in the playoffs...

Curry won and was pretty clearly better.

28/6/6 61% TS for Curry

30/8/3 54% TS for Durant

It gets kind of hard to start arguing that Durant was clearly better than Curry when stuff like that happens...Curry gets under-rated...even now. Curry is playing with nothing of note help and doing 28/6/6 61%TS and people are acting like he's no longer great.

Curry by far gets the most illogical hate on this site, it's pretty weird.

[DMAVS41]

Curry by far gets the most illogical hate on this site, it's pretty weird.

Yep.

You have people, in this thread, arguing Durant was clearly better because Curry "choked in the 16 Finals"...when in that same year...Curry outplayed Durant while KD had an epic choke at home to make the finals;

41%TS and a 93 ortg...in a home game.

:oldlol:

[getting_old]

To watch:

1) Curry easily, has changed the game in a fun way

2) Durant, reminds me of McAdoo in his prime, much appreciated

3) didn't get to see Karl play all that much with the late games and lack of playoff memories, and he seemed to collapse in the last 3 minutes of any close game

[tpols]

As engines

Curry
Durant
Malone

As individual talents

Durant
Curry
Malone

Overall

Curry
Durant
Malone

[tpols]

On the surface, this affirmation might be true. However, Curry had better teammates and didn't have injuries to deal with, while people forget that the Thunder had either KD/Westbrook injured in every post-season 2013-2015. Also, when they were in the same team KD seemed to be the better player.

Wait... better teammates than Durant? Durant had Harden and Westbrook in the few years he was actually good. Curry had... Klay and Dray who are nowhere near as prolific. And of course Ibaka and Steven Adams. Durant easily had more help than Curry, but he just choked. You know it's a choke when a GOAT shooter on KD's level is just bricking everything. He has GOAT skill and length but was prone to choking.

DMAVS is right in that it's an absurd contradiction to hate on Curry for his ONLY terrible series... while in that very same playoff run, Durant choked a 3-1 lead against... Steph Curry. :oldlol:

And there were no suspensions or alterations.

That's crazy.

[DMAVS41]

Wait... better teammates than Durant? Durant had Harden and Westbrook in the few years he was actually good. Curry had... Klay and Dray who are nowhere near as prolific. And of course Ibaka and Steven Adams. Durant easily had more help than Curry, but he just choked. You know it's a choke when a GOAT shooter on KD's level is just bricking everything. He has GOAT skill and length but was prone to choking.

DMAVS is right in that it's an absurd contradiction to hate on Curry for his ONLY terrible series... while in that very same playoff run, Durant choked a 3-1 lead against... Steph Curry. :oldlol:

And there were no suspensions or alterations.

That's crazy.

Yep, imagine actually making these arguments.

It is like the Dirk vs KG thread. Talking about Dirk being a failure in 06 for not winning it all despite being an underdog in round 2...and then arguing that KG getting his ass handed to him in the 02 playoffs by Dirk doesn't mean anything because Dirk's team was better....even though...on the criteria used for team strength...the difference between the 06 Spurs and 06 Mavs...was almost identical to the difference between the 02 Mavs and the 02 Wolves.

Never ceases to amaze me.

[Stephonit]

When did Karl or Kevin lead a team as bad as the 2013 Warriors farther than Steph?
Lead a team to a record like the 2016 Warriors?
Win a championship like the 2015 Warriors?

Curry accomplished more than Karl Malone or KD did even before KD joined unless you value padded numbers.

[theballerFKA Ace]

As of now

Malone
Curry
Durant

Malone's all defensive team selections, longevity, staying on the same team his whole career except for the last one, and having success on a team no one wanted to play on gives him the nod over the other 2 as of right now.

[Axe]

When did Karl or Kevin lead a team as bad as the 2013 Warriors farther than Steph?
Lead a team to a record like the 2016 Warriors?
Win a championship like the 2015 Warriors?

Curry accomplished more than Karl Malone or KD did even before KD joined unless you value padded numbers.
No klay?

[Round Mound]

See this is the crap that we have to deal with if a players wins a championship or wins more championships then he is considered better than the other that doesn't or the one that won less. That is bull crap amount of rings or rings or not doesn't define how good a player is. The level of dominance does.

If Malone played today he would have rings like Durant does. Especially if he joined a 73-9 team with 1 MVP and another All Star. And a DPOTY.

1-Malone more dominant than Durant
2-Durant more dominant than Steph
3-Steph

If it was the 80's and 90's.

[DMAVS41]

See this is the crap that we have to deal with if a players wins a championship or wins more championships then he is considered better than the other that doesn't or the one that won less. That is bull crap amount of rings or rings or not doesn't define how good a player is. The level of dominance does.

If Malone played today he would have rings like Durant does. Especially if he joined a 73-9 team with 1 MVP and another All Star. And a DPOTY.

1-Malone more dominant than Durant
2-Durant more dominant than Steph
3-Steph

If it was the 80's and 90's.

I agree with your take about level of impact or dominance, but I disagree with how dominant Malone actually was.

And I also think leading teams to the finals and winning a ring as the main guy matters for ranking players. Obviously Durant's rings on the Warriors mean nothing in a comparison with Malone though.

[Stephonit]

See this is the crap that we have to deal with if a players wins a championship or wins more championships then he is considered better than the other that doesn't or the one that won less. That is bull crap amount of rings or rings or not doesn't define how good a player is. The level of dominance does.

If Malone played today he would have rings like Durant does. Especially if he joined a 73-9 team with 1 MVP and another All Star. And a DPOTY.

1-Malone more dominant than Durant
2-Durant more dominant than Steph
3-Steph

If it was the 80's and 90's.

When did Karl or Kevin have a more dominant season than Curry's 2016? Did they have a season where they consistently blew out the opposition and sat fourth quarters? Curry won a unanimous MVP for a reason. By the way I assume you consider Curry was the best player that year or your post is hypocritical.


As of now

Malone
Curry
Durant

Malone's all defensive team selections, longevity, staying on the same team his whole career except for the last one, and having success on a team no one wanted to play on gives him the nod over the other 2 as of right now.

I don't understand why the all-defensive selections matter. They are basically participation trophies. Nearly all the awards are. Why should that matter more than the defense-bending off-ball gravity Curry possesses? If there was an award for that Curry would win it every year. Just goes to show the arbitrary nature of awards and why championships should be valued as highly as they rightfully are. They may be imperfect but they are freer from the biases that plague the other awards.


No klay?

Karl wasn't playing with Stockton and Eaton? Kevin didn't play with Westbrook?

[Thenameless]

As engines

Curry
Durant
Malone

As individual talents

Durant
Curry
Malone

Overall

Curry
Durant
Malone

This is good. I agree.

[RRR3]

1. Curry
2. Durant
3. Malone

[dankok8]

In terms of ability as basketball players...

I think Curry is better than KD because he was the engine of those Warriors teams and the most important piece of their dynasty. This is validated by their impact numbers like ON-OFF, RAPM etc. The way he warps defenses and his combination of dribbling and 3pt shooting makes him the most unstoppable of these three players and one of the most unstoppable ever. I feel confident putting him first. As for KD vs. Malone I find that rather debatable. Yes KD has 2 rings but he didn't prove that much and his Finals stats in particular are inflated by playing in this era on a stacked team like GS against Cavs teams that were horrible on defense. If I had to choose one I'd probably go with KD because he's more dominant offensively regardless and any edge Malone has on defense isn't that big but Malone is not the wrong choice IMO.

1) Curry
2) Durant
3) Malone

Legacy-wise I'd have Malone definitely over Curry. Possibly over KD.

1) Malone
2) Durant
3) Curry

[Stephonit]

In terms of ability as basketball players...

I think Curry is better than KD because he was the engine of those Warriors teams and the most important piece of their dynasty. This is validated by their impact numbers like ON-OFF, RAPM etc. The way he warps defenses and his combination of dribbling and 3pt shooting makes him the most unstoppable of these three players and one of the most unstoppable ever. I feel confident putting him first. As for KD vs. Malone I find that rather debatable. Yes KD has 2 rings but he didn't prove that much and his Finals stats in particular are inflated by playing in this era on a stacked team like GS against Cavs teams that were horrible on defense. If I had to choose one I'd probably go with KD because he's more dominant offensively regardless and any edge Malone has on defense isn't that big but Malone is not the wrong choice IMO.

1) Curry
2) Durant
3) Malone

Legacy-wise I'd have Malone definitely over Curry. Possibly over KD.

1) Malone
2) Durant
3) Curry


I don't know how any of you can begin to come up with such conclusions. Sum up Malone's legacy in a paragraph and then do the same for Curry's. Curry's legacy will be easier to define because he's had more impact.

One could start with a simple point: Did Malone change the game? Did Curry? End of discussion.

[light]

In terms of ability as basketball players...

I think Curry is better than KD because he was the engine of those Warriors teams and the most important piece of their dynasty. This is validated by their impact numbers like ON-OFF, RAPM etc. The way he warps defenses and his combination of dribbling and 3pt shooting makes him the most unstoppable of these three players and one of the most unstoppable ever. I feel confident putting him first. As for KD vs. Malone I find that rather debatable. Yes KD has 2 rings but he didn't prove that much and his Finals stats in particular are inflated by playing in this era on a stacked team like GS against Cavs teams that were horrible on defense. If I had to choose one I'd probably go with KD because he's more dominant offensively regardless and any edge Malone has on defense isn't that big but Malone is not the wrong choice IMO.

1) Curry
2) Durant
3) Malone

Legacy-wise I'd have Malone definitely over Curry. Possibly over KD.

1) Malone
2) Durant
3) Curry

Legacy-wise it's still Steph. He single handedly created a new era of shooting and became the greatest shooter in history.

Malone can't touch that.

Karl Malone just played a long time. He didn't innovate.

[light]

I think Durant is the best player out of the three. Curry has got the most accolades, but if my job was on the line and I had to rely in any of them right now, I would choose KD and Malone over him.

Curry is still more historically significant because he changed the game.

Durant is just riding LeBron's coattails when it comes to dominant SFs but Curry isn't riding anyone's coattails when it comes to shooting - that's all him.

[dankok8]

Ok yea... in terms of innovation it's Curry but Curry still has a way way shorter career. A lot of all-time lists still have Karl ahead of these two. Like if Curry and KD never played after this moment don't think they passed Karl yet.

[pandiani17]

Legacy-wise it's still Steph. He single handedly created a new era of shooting and became the greatest shooter in history.

Malone can't touch that.

Karl Malone just played a long time. He didn't innovate.

Well, I think the change of some rules to foster small-ball also contributed to that.

[Axe]

Legacy-wise it's still Steph. He single handedly created a new era of shooting and became the greatest shooter in history.
Greatest shooter, you say. But you seem to forget the fact that he barely won anything until the warriors hired steve kerr as their head coach.