14 Durant vs 06 Kobe

[BlazerRed]

Durant. Near 50/40/90 too.

[BlakFrankWhite]

Durant. Near 50/40/90 too.

Yup....And it wasn't some 15 ppg crap like Nash.

It was 32 ppg on 50/39/89, ffs

[ArbitraryWater]

what KD did without Russ was amazing.. second seed in a LOADED conference.

2014 Bron>2014 KD>>2006 KB

[#number6ix#]

I'm a big time fan of both but I got to give the edge to KD...

[tpols]

You do realize Durant played two of the best defensive teams in the Grizzlies and the Spurs during the 2014 playoffs right? While Kobe played against an average defensive team at best.

The only "weak" defense Durant played in the playoffs were the Clippers (rated 9th defensively) and he absolutely tore them apart averaging 33/10/5 on 61% TS.

I don't think this whole efficiency thing works for Kobe in this discussion because.... well Durant is just more efficient than Kobe.

I think Kobe was a little more dominant individually but... efficiency was not the reason.

Durant was only more efficient in the RS with a .48 FTR. when it dropped to "kobe levels" aka .38 his efficiency nose dived.. and was right at kobes or below it.


I mentioned the differences in defense in my post... kobe faced an easier one but I don't see him getting rattled NY physicality and refs swallowing their whistles hence why I'd take 06 peak kobe.. more reliable, methodical half court offense built on buckets not trying to draw fouls that may pay off or may blow up in your face.

And it's not just about TS.. it's about being taken out of your game.. not even being able to dribble or post against pressure.. isn't captured in the stats but kobe isn't having his game taken away like how Durants was.

[atljonesbro]

Pretty clearly Durant. There isn't a real argument you can make for Kobe

[BlakFrankWhite]

Durant was only more efficient in the RS with a .48 FTR. when it dropped to "kobe levels" aka .38 his efficiency nose dived.. and was right at kobes or below it.


I mentioned the differences in defense in my post... kobe faced an easier one but I don't see him getting rattled NY physicality and refs swallowing their whistles hence why I'd take 06 peak kobe.. more reliable, methodical half court offense built on buckets not trying to draw fouls that may pay off or may blow up in your face.

And it's not just about TS.. it's about being taken out of your game.. not even being able to dribble or post against pressure.. isn't captured in the stats but kobe isn't having his game taken away like how Durants was.

We didn't see enough of Kobe in the PO's....how would he have done against elite defensive teams like the Grizz and Spurs teams Durant had to face?

[DMAVS41]

Durant was only more efficient in the RS with a .48 FTR. when it dropped to "kobe levels" aka .38 his efficiency nose dived.. and was right at kobes or below it.


I mentioned the differences in defense in my post... kobe faced an easier one but I don't see him getting rattled NY physicality and refs swallowing their whistles hence why I'd take 06 peak kobe.. more reliable, methodical half court offense built on buckets not trying to draw fouls that may pay off or may blow up in your face.

And it's not just about TS.. it's about being taken out of your game.. not even being able to dribble or post against pressure.. isn't captured in the stats but kobe isn't having his game taken away like how Durants was.

I think this is pretty spot on...and I argued as such last season when people were saying Durant was better than Kobe ever was.

I do think we have to point out Kobe in the 06 playoffs though. It's not like he set the world on fire in that series....certainly did nothing to separate himself from KD in the playoffs in 14.

[TiagoSimoes]

2014 Bron>2014 KD>>2006 KB

[#number6ix#]

what KD did without Russ was amazing.. second seed in a LOADED conference.

2014 Bron>2014 KD>>2006 KB

Come on bro KD was better than bron in 14

[tpols]

We didn't see enough of Kobe in the PO's....how would he have done against elite defensive teams like the Grizz and Spurs teams Durant had to face?

Thought someone would ask this.. and imo we have plenty of evidence that kobe could hang... When kobe faced similar defensive opponents in the early 2000s spurs and kings he had some of his most brilliant performances ever.

And I know shaq will be brought up.. "he took away attention from kobe" but its not like durant was alone in the playoffs..he had a dominating westbrook and even reggie playing amazing in those tough series. He had a shit ton of help and distraction on his own yet was very fortunate to even get out the first round.

[BlakFrankWhite]

I think this is pretty spot on...and I argued as such last season when people were saying Durant was better than Kobe ever was.

I do think we have to point out Kobe in the 06 playoffs though. It's not like he set the world on fire in that series....certainly did nothing to separate himself from KD in the playoffs in 14.

Lol...you do realiise KD averaged 30/9/4 in the playoffs....and lost to a historically great Spurs team.

Had the Thunder gotten past spurs...they would have beaten Heat and won the 'ship...I have no doibt

[ArbitraryWater]

Come on bro KD was better than bron in 14

bro, he wasnt... no one dared to say that shit during the playoffs, KD being better than Bron... seems now that LeBron had absolutely no one showing up for him in the finals, everybody in retrospect is like 'KD was better', no... there's a reason LeBron was picked as best player before the 2015 season by coaches.

edit: if OKC beats SAS, Heat win IMO

[DMAVS41]

Lol...you do realiise KD averaged 30/9/4 in the playoffs....and lost to a historically great Spurs team.

Had the Thunder gotten past spurs...they would have beaten Heat and won the 'ship...I have no doibt

Totally agree with the bold.

Also think you are totally ignoring his actual level of play against the Grizzlies...and how he could have been at home (should have been) if not for two of the biggest bail out games in playoff history.

There was some stat that Durant fell into twice in that series....where only like 20 players won a playoff game playing as bad as he did in the modern NBA.

[RRR3]

DMavs didn't you say Durant was on 11 finals Bran level choking wise in round 1?