Why did KD fail so often with double MVP, Scoring champs Russell and Harden?

[ELITEpower23]

Was this not the greatest collection of talent at one point? How many teams have had three MVP winners, three Scoring Champs, two Assist Champs all in their near prime?

KD, top 3 SF
Westbrook, top 10 PG
Harden, top 5 SG
Ibaka, 2012 DPOY Runner up, 2x Blocks Champion, 3x All NBA 1st team

All that for one Finals APPEARANCE in 8 years?

How much help did this cuck need? A 73 win team? :lol Jesus

[SaintzFury13]

Was this not the greatest collection of talent at one point? How many teame have had three MVP winners, three Scoring Champs, two Assist Champs all in their near prime?

KD, top 3 SF
Westbrook, top 10 PG
Harden, top 5 SG
Ibaka, 2012 DPOY Runner up, 2x Blocks Champion, 3x All NBA 1st ream

All that for one Finals APPEARANCE in 8 years?

How much help did this cuck need? A 73 win team? :lol Jesus

I know you're trolling at this point, but I do want to briefly discuss this in a serious matter because it is a time period that interests me.

Kevin Durant in his OKC days is one of the most unlucky people in the history of the NBA if we're being honest. He is perhaps even more unlucky than LeBron James was in his first stint with Cleveland. Yes, Kevin Durant definitely had the talent surrounding him, but that's exactly why he was more unlucky, because it always felt like something happened that prevented his team from ever reaching its true potential. LeBron's Cavaliers never had that potential to begin with.

That core group of Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka, that is god tier. That is greatest dynasty of all time potential in the making. That is everything you want in a young core all right there bottled up for you for the taking, because it's so easy to build around. An elite defensive wing and an elite defensive center is all you really need to compliment a squad like this. No matter how young they were, no matter how inexperienced, if you could find these things, you had a championship contender. And they did. They get Sepholosha and Perkins in 2012. They balanced out the rest of the roster with nice role players, including long time veteran Derek Fisher. Their only problem was running into the Miami Heat, who simply were determined to win no matter what stood in their way.

It's an absolute shame that they couldn't find ways to work things out with James Harden. It's an absolute shame that he wasn't going to be willing to be the long time sixth man of the team in a Manu Ginobli role. It's a shame that injuries and running into Golden State in 2016 prevented this team from ever winning a title. It's absolutely insane that this core group of people never won a title and only made it to the finals once. But it's not the fault of Durant. It's not the fault of Westbrook. They were unlucky, it's that simple.

[Manny98]

https://youtu.be/-ONplZGFZa8

[8Ball]

Was this not the greatest collection of talent at one point? How many teame have had three MVP winners, three Scoring Champs, two Assist Champs all in their near prime?

KD, top 3 SF
Westbrook, top 10 PG
Harden, top 5 SG
Ibaka, 2012 DPOY Runner up, 2x Blocks Champion, 3x All NBA 1st ream

All that for one Finals APPEARANCE in 8 years?

How much help did this cuck need? A 73 win team? :lol Jesus

That 2012 OKC team was a juggernaut of a team.

Had just reverse swept a 20-0 win streak Juggernaut Spurs team.


4 players:
1st team all nba
2nd team all nba
1st team all defense
6 man of the year.


You can't ask for a more stacked team to play with.


LeBron was just too great that series. Bottom line. Durant played magnificent, but LeBron was just more dominant.

[Manny98]

2012 Finals

KD 30/6/2 65% TS

LeBron 28/10/7 55% TS

Wade and Bosh both outplayed Westbrook and Harden that series so LeBron played with way more help

[SaintzFury13]

That 2012 OKC team was a juggernaut of a team.

Had just reverse swept a 20-0 win streak Juggernaut Spurs team.


4 players:
1st team all nba
2nd team all nba
1st team all defense
6 man of the year.


You can't ask for a more stacked team to play with.


LeBron was just too great that series. Bottom line. Durant played magnificent, but LeBron was just more dominant.

Well no, it wasn't just LeBron. Mike Miller went off in that game 5. Shane Battier played great throughout the entire series. Wade and Bosh were both very helpful in their own way.

Keep in mind, four of those five games were very close. LeBron was legendary in that series but to pretend that it was all due to LeBron is just blasphemy. The 2012 may have been a juggernaut but so were the 2012 Miami Heat, who were far more hungry and were more experienced than OKC.

[SaintzFury13]

2012 Finals

KD 30/6/2 65% TS

LeBron 28/10/7 55% TS

Wade and Bosh both outplayed Westbrook and Harden that series so LeBron played with way more help

This is an underrated point because people don't seem to remember just how awful Westbrook and Harden were in that series. Apart from I think game 3 were Westbrook went off at one point, Russell constantly shot his team out of the games. Harden just straight up didn't do anything at times when he was out on the floor and looked lost throughout the entire series. Again, this is what happens when you have two incredibly young guys playing in an NBA finals that early in their careers. I don't give them shit for it, not everyone can go all Magic Johnson mode and win FMVP at 20 years of age (even though Kareem should have won it, that doesn't take away from how good Magic was in that series).

[ELITEpower23]

2012 Finals

KD 30/6/2 65% TS

LeBron 28/10/7 55% TS

Wade and Bosh both outplayed Westbrook and Harden that series so LeBron played with way more help

You know they're SHOOK when they bring up TS :lol

KD only had 2 more points but LeBron had double the rebounds and 3x the assists? :lol With no defensive anchor like KD had Ibaka? :lol

It's levels to this shit baby boi :pimp:

NEXT!

[1987_Lakers]

That 2012 OKC team was a juggernaut of a team.

Had just reverse swept a 20-0 win streak Juggernaut Spurs team.


4 players:
1st team all nba
2nd team all nba
1st team all defense
6 man of the year.


You can't ask for a more stacked team to play with.


LeBron was just too great that series. Bottom line. Durant played magnificent, but LeBron was just more dominant.

I remember that 2012 WCF series with the Spurs, San Antonio was a well oiled machine that year, they were displaying beautiful ball-movement all year and just destroying teams, when they went up 2-0 against OKC, media and fans were drooling all over this Spurs team, but then out of nowhere they dropped 4 straight games to OKC and me personally was left dumb founded. It was a "WTF just happened" moment. :oldlol:

[8Ball]

Well no, it wasn't just LeBron. Mike Miller went off in that game 5. Shane Battier played great throughout the entire series. Wade and Bosh were both very helpful in their own way.

Keep in mind, four of those five games were very close. LeBron was legendary in that series but to pretend that it was all due to LeBron is just blasphemy. The 2012 may have been a juggernaut but so were the 2012 Miami Heat, who were far more hungry and were more experienced than OKC.

Mike Miller had 1 good game.
Chalmers had 1 good game.
Wade and Bosh were helpful.

But Bron was by far the dominant, most impactful player for all 5 games.


2012 Miami Heat were not juggernauts at all. Bosh was playing with a torn abs later in the playoffs and they went 7 games against a non powerhouse celtics. Wade had to get his knee drained in 2nd round of the playoffs. Mike Miller had a bad back the whole playoffs.

2012 Heat were a bunch of crippled dudes. Only appeared tp be juggernauts because Bron was GOAT level in that playoff run.

Bron didn't have 1 bad game in finals.
Barely had 1 bad game in entire playoffs.

[BigShotBob]

Mike Miller had 1 good game.
Chalmers had 1 good game.
Wade and Bosh were helpful.

But Bron was by far the dominant, most impactful player for all 5 games.


2012 Miami Heat were not juggernauts at all. Bosh was playing with a torn abs later in the playoffs and they went 7 games against a non powerhouse celtics. Wade had to get his knee drained in 2nd round of the playoffs. Mike Miller had a bad back the whole playoffs.

2012 Heat were a bunch of crippled dudes. Only appeared tp be juggernauts because Bron was GOAT level in that playoff run.

Bron didn't have 1 bad game in finals.
Barely had 1 bad game in entire playoffs.

KD on the Heat wins that series if you put Lebron on OKC.

[ELITEpower23]

KD on the Heat wins that series if you put Lebron on OKC.

Dumb and wrong. Your usual MO :oldlol:

[SaintzFury13]

Dumb and wrong. Your usual MO :oldlol:

Actually, he's right but for all the wrong reasons. KD in 2012 is not better than LeBron by any stretch of the imagination. But with that said, if LeBron is on OKC, Westbrook's role is now diminished from running the offense to being the off the ball man playing within a system, which he is atrociously bad at. And LeBron would have almost no floor spacing to work with since all four starters on OKC that year weren't good three point shooters. KD on the other hand would have more freedom to work with in Miami and that team would be filled with shooters who could space out the floor and force the OKC defenders to run all over the place and there would be nothing they could do about it.

[ELITEpower23]

Actually, he's right but for all the wrong reasons. KD in 2012 is not better than LeBron by any stretch of the imagination. But with that said, if LeBron is on OKC, Westbrook's role is now diminished from running the offense to being the off the ball man playing within a system, which he is atrociously bad at. And LeBron would have almost no floor spacing to work with since all four starters on OKC that year weren't good three point shooters. KD on the other hand would have more freedom to work with in Miami and that team would be filled with shooters who could space out the floor and force the OKC defenders to run all over the place and there would be nothing they could do about it.

Disagree.

Miami's defense would PLUMMET trading KD for LBJ and OKC's would defense be even deadlier with Sefo, Ibaka, and LBJ.

LBJ would easily find ways to make pacified Harden look like his 6th man self again. Miami would get wrekt with a player swap.

[AirBonner]

Last year KD played with two players better than Pippen and still couldn’t get out of the East

[warriorfan]

They were all in their early 20’s. Name one team who has won a championship with their core being that young.

[hold this L]

Actually, he's right but for all the wrong reasons. KD in 2012 is not better than LeBron by any stretch of the imagination. But with that said, if LeBron is on OKC, Westbrook's role is now diminished from running the offense to being the off the ball man playing within a system, which he is atrociously bad at. And LeBron would have almost no floor spacing to work with since all four starters on OKC that year weren't good three point shooters. KD on the other hand would have more freedom to work with in Miami and that team would be filled with shooters who could space out the floor and force the OKC defenders to run all over the place and there would be nothing they could do about it.
Westbrook not running the offense every time likely is a positive. WB on a leash is more dangerous. Less prettier numbers, more efficient.

[ELITEpower23]

Westbrook not running the offense every time likely is a positive. WB on a leash is more dangerous. Less prettier numbers, more efficient.

Absofugginlutely.

Without question he would flourish with LeBron's playmaking

[SaintzFury13]

Westbrook is ball hog trash and they had Harden coming off the bench.

They were all 23 years old when they made the finals, I think.

Anyways.... OKC was so stupid that they not only brought Harden off the bench, but then they traded Harden instead of Westbrook. You might have a dynasty in okc if the retards started Harden and traded Westbrook.

Having Harden come off the bench was a genius move on OKC's part and made them a much better team. Westbrook, Harden and Durant all in the starting line up was way too much offense and not enough defense. Having Seph be the starting SG gave them perimeter defense they desperately needed and it allowed Harden to run the second unit. Sometimes you can't have all of your top guys in the starting line up. You need to give balance to the second unit. If Seph isn't in the starting line up then who is guarding LeBron on the Thunder? Durant? LeBron had a massive muscle advantage over Durant, who is still to this day a twig. There's a reason Durant never guards him when they play.

[SaintzFury13]

Westbrook not running the offense every time likely is a positive. WB on a leash is more dangerous. Less prettier numbers, more efficient.

Okay, but what does he do in the meantime? Again, you're talking about an offense where Westbrook literally just stands there the entire time when he doesn't have the ball and he has no idea what to do about it. And then there's Seph who can't shoot, Ibaka who at the time couldn't shoot, and Perkins who...yeah, you know where I'm going with this.

KD on the Heat does weaken their defense but they are still able to just build a wall around the paint and stick Battier on LeBron.

[SouBeachTalents]

I know you're trolling at this point, but I do want to briefly discuss this in a serious matter because it is a time period that interests me.

Kevin Durant in his OKC days is one of the most unlucky people in the history of the NBA if we're being honest. He is perhaps even more unlucky than LeBron James was in his first stint with Cleveland. Yes, Kevin Durant definitely had the talent surrounding him, but that's exactly why he was more unlucky, because it always felt like something happened that prevented his team from ever reaching its true potential. LeBron's Cavaliers never had that potential to begin with.

That core group of Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka, that is god tier. That is greatest dynasty of all time potential in the making. That is everything you want in a young core all right there bottled up for you for the taking, because it's so easy to build around. An elite defensive wing and an elite defensive center is all you really need to compliment a squad like this. No matter how young they were, no matter how inexperienced, if you could find these things, you had a championship contender. And they did. They get Sepholosha and Perkins in 2012. They balanced out the rest of the roster with nice role players, including long time veteran Derek Fisher. Their only problem was running into the Miami Heat, who simply were determined to win no matter what stood in their way.

It's an absolute shame that they couldn't find ways to work things out with James Harden. It's an absolute shame that he wasn't going to be willing to be the long time sixth man of the team in a Manu Ginobli role. It's a shame that injuries and running into Golden State in 2016 prevented this team from ever winning a title. It's absolutely insane that this core group of people never won a title and only made it to the finals once. But it's not the fault of Durant. It's not the fault of Westbrook. They were unlucky, it's that simple.
What's crazy about those Thunder are in the 6 playoffs they made, they lost to the future champ in 5 of them, and the one time they didn't was when Westbrook went down in 2013. So while Durant for sure had a talented cast, they ran into ATG teams like the '12 Heat, '14 Spurs & '16 Warriors, giving all of them a competitive series, and came within a Gasol putback of taking the Lakers to a 7th game in 2010.

That's not even getting into breaking up a potential dynasty by trading away Harden fresh off a Finals trip :lol

[SaintzFury13]

What's crazy about those Thunder are in the 6 playoffs they made, they lost to the future champ in 5 of them, and the one time they didn't was when Westbrook went down in 2013. So while Durant for sure had a talented cast, they ran into ATG teams like the '12 Heat, '14 Spurs & '16 Warriors, giving all of them a competitive series, and came within a Gasol putback of taking the Lakers to a 7th game in 2010.

That's not even getting into breaking up a potential dynasty by trading away Harden fresh off a Finals trip :lol

It's hard not to feel bad for Durant sometimes when you think about all of this, even if he did in fact join Golden State. After all the shit he went through...yeah, can't say I blame the guy all things considered. Still a bitch move though.