Zach Lowe: Durant should finish as one of the Top 10 ever.

[Droid101]

Blahblahblah, said the same thing about a ton of players that never came close.

Not that he doesn't deserve it, but come on. Premature.

[SyRyanYang]

He's pretty much Larry Bird 2.0..

With 5 rings he will easily be top 10

yeah but getting 5 rings is the hard part lmao

[guy]

Premature. It feels like he's been pretty underwhelming in the playoffs for the most part, especially the last 2 seasons. Not saying he can't get there, just saying he hasn't done enough to assume that he will.

[stephanieg]

Pedestrian playmaking to all time greats, not a lockdown defender, doesn't dominate in the post, reliant on foul calls...nah.

[Timmy D for MVP]

Should isn't the right word. That means that it would take something going wrong for him to miss it.

Could is the proper word. He clearly has the potential, talent, and early career resume to pull it off. But if you look at the top ten they have championships. He'll need a couple.

But if he gets another MVP or two, some more scoring titles, why not? He'll likely be in the conversation, though I imagine he'll be outside looking in. Think about it like this: Kobe is on the bubble now imo. Lebron will surpass him (and everyone else in the post Jordan era), bumping Kobe to 11. Is Durant better than Kobe? Is he better Than Hakeem? These are the people he'd be competing against for that spot.

I feel like Lowe is projecting forward here. Which is something that we do, and we're allowed to do, but we can't be surprised if it ends up wither way, and he's not wrong to project forward in the first place.

[SamuraiSWISH]

Who is he better than out of (in no order):

Jordan
Russell
Wilt
Duncan
KAJ
Hakeem
LeBron
Shaq
Bird
Magic

No one. All of those guys are pretty clearly better.

You forgot Kobe. He's not better than him either. And based off his playoff struggles ... has he really cemented himself as being better than the following guys either:

Barkley
KG
Wade
K. Malone
Moses Malone
Ewing
D-Rob

Premature. It feels like he's been pretty underwhelming in the playoffs for the most part, especially the last 2 seasons. Not saying he can't get there, just saying he hasn't done enough to assume that he will.

Co-sign.

[guy]

You forgot Kobe. He's not better than him either. And based off his playoff struggles ... has he really cemented himself as being better than the following guys either:

Barkley
KG
Wade
K. Malone
Moses Malone
Ewing
D-Rob


Co-sign.

Way too much premature crowning going on it seems. At least with Lebron before the titles it was due to him being possibly the most freakish athlete ever. Durant isn't THAT special and really hasn't set himself apart from second tier of greats like those you mentioned.

[SamuraiSWISH]

Way too much premature crowning going on it seems. At least with Lebron before the titles it was due to him being possibly the most freakish athlete ever. Durant isn't THAT special and really hasn't set himself apart from second tier of greats like those you mentioned.

IMO based off his post seaosn play, I don't think he's more impressive than even McGrady thus far.

This myth about the second round garbage. Tracy didn't get to the second round because he either played with garbage, or underperforming softies in a difficult conference. KD has had STELLAR support his entire career: Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka, Reggie Jackson. No Darrell Armstrong, and Bo Outlaws in the bunch.

Durant has been marginally better than Carmelo Anthony. Hell, has he even proven to be better than someone like Dominique Wilkins? Who balled out consistently in the playoffs. Even against one of the all-time great teams, pushing Larry Bird to his limits.

Too much premature media hype. People loose all kinds of perspective. All kinds of marketing going on.

[chazzy]

Durant has been marginally better than Carmelo Anthony.

That's going too far. Durant's '13 regular season was incredible and matched by few in this era. He had a great playoffs in '11 and '12. Last year he didn't perform well but was still able to produce good numbers. If we're going to dock him for his last two playoffs that much, then Melo deserves the same scrutiny.

[Milbuck]

Durant has been marginally better than Carmelo Anthony.

Seriously?

[RoundMoundOfReb]

and halfway through all their careers people probably threw out top-10 lists and said the same shit (except for Wilt and Russell who played before anyone cared)

Not true at all. All of those guys 7 years into their careers had a top 10 trajectory (pretty clearly) except maybe Hakeem but even he was a better player than current durant by that time.

[Cold soul]

Should isn't the right word. That means that it would take something going wrong for him to miss it.

Could is the proper word. He clearly has the potential, talent, and early career resume to pull it off. But if you look at the top ten they have championships. He'll need a couple.

But if he gets another MVP or two, some more scoring titles, why not? He'll likely be in the conversation, though I imagine he'll be outside looking in. Think about it like this: Kobe is on the bubble now imo. Lebron will surpass him (and everyone else in the post Jordan era), bumping Kobe to 11. Is Durant better than Kobe? Is he better Than Hakeem? These are the people he'd be competing against for that spot.

I feel like Lowe is projecting forward here. Which is something that we do, and we're allowed to do, but we can't be surprised if it ends up wither way, and he's not wrong to project forward in the first place.

What makes you think that?

[RoundMoundOfReb]

You forgot Kobe. He's not better than him either. And based off his playoff struggles ... has he really cemented himself as being better than the following guys either:

Barkley
KG
Wade
K. Malone
Moses Malone
Ewing
D-Rob

No doubt. I think prime for prime I'd give Kobe a slight edge over Durant and Kobe has some pretty insane longevity to go with it. I just listed my current top 10. I just don't see Durant being better than any of those guys. He'll probably be top 20 but even that's not a given. He hasn't seperated himself from Wade/Barkley/KG/West tier at all

[SamuraiSWISH]

Seriously?

He's been better, especially considering the 2014 MVP. But Durant's performances in the playoffs that while good, still leave a lot to be desired for a player of his magnitude and hype. I mean top ten all-time? And he's getting bullied by Tony Allen, and Chris Paul?

[oarabbus]

Who is he better than out of (in no order):

Jordan
Russell
Wilt
Duncan
KAJ
Hakeem
LeBron
Shaq
Bird
Magic

No one. All of those guys are pretty clearly better.

Are you serious? Durant is 26 years old. It's not like he's 33 right now.