Giannis is the best player in the league

[AngelEyes]

I agree. He's the best overall player in the NBA and he's the most valuable player.

[AngelEyes]

I think he is. He doesn't have off games because his aggression is always consistent. He doesn't have the convenience that all the other top tier have minus AD. And Giannis is on a losing team without him and they have the best record in the league. Harden is the only other player I would say that could pull that off right now. btw, Harden went into the Golden State alone and beat the three best shooters in the game by himself - he out shot all of them during the game and at the end. Its disgusting that you guys rarely mention him in these discussions. What does he have to do? If he has to do that in the playoffs then its not even up for discussion who is the best player. If the question is "who is" that just means now, today...

Durant is on arrested development. He joined a team and they never came close to their win total before him. So-be-it, if he proves himself outside of an obvious advantage situation I would probably have him as the best. Another strike against Durant is that OKC looks really good without him too. Nobody is going to say that about a Giannis or Harden team. Giannis on GS is a God so it becomes very hard to compare KD to others in this situation. Harden sees more triple and double teams than all the other players with Giannis as the only other player near that level.

Giannis is a lot like Jordan before Jordan really developed his J. He could go at the basket all night long with continued aggression. Kobe was similar. Giannis is a lot taller without their range.

Jordan had a good mid range shot coming into the NBA, by 88' it was deadly.

[AngelEyes]

He is the least skilled player out of the top 10 players in the league. That's for sure.

That's a fucking stupid and inaccurate statement. Giannis is crazy skilled, to be 6'11" with great guard skills and fantastic foot work in the post. There is a lot more to skill than being a consistent 3 point shooter.

[Pointguard]

The 2016 Warriors had a SRS of 10.38 and the 2017 Warriors with KD had a SRS 11.35. I don't care that the Warriors didn't come close to winning 73 games (if they really cared, they could have broken their own record in 2017). The 2017 Warriors were significantly better then the 2016 Warriors. Without Durant, they are a great team. With KD, they are perhaps the greatest team of all-time.

Doesn't matter. He chose a small impact situation. He is being compared to guys who have more impact. That

[Prometheus]

No kd is

[hold this L]

That's a fucking stupid and inaccurate statement. Giannis is crazy skilled, to be 6'11" with great guard skills and fantastic foot work in the post. There is a lot more to skill than being a consistent 3 point shooter.

what great guard skills lol

[SamuraiSWISH]

He is the least skilled player out of the top 10 players in the league. That's for sure.

Definitely

[Pointguard]

Jordan had a good mid range shot coming into the NBA, by 88' it was deadly.

But it was his constant attack to the basket that distinguished him from everybody else. Clyde Drexler had a good mid range game too. Jordan's tenacity to keep driving and going over people was his main attribute his early years. Obviously it is easier for Giannis to go over people and he is Jordan's only rival with a great second and great last step. Use what is dominant and add on to it.

[tontoz]

Kawhi, AD, Paul George (they actually won playoffs series) are all better in this case?

Nobody can be considered the best in the league without playoff success, but playoff success does not automatically qualify a player for top 3 consideration.

Kawhi has actually been considered a top 3 player at times during his career. He has been great during the reagular season and a Finals MVP.

AD has only 1 playoff series win in his career. That is a big reason why he isn't in the conversation.

George isn't known as a clutch player and has never been considered top 3. He has sure been playing great this season though.

[game3524]

Doesn't matter. He chose a small impact situation. He is being compared to guys who have more impact. That’s why he’s not getting the mantle, yet. And its very fair.

Small impact? They were the best team of all-time due to him.

The only way its disingenuous is that you admit you aren’t measuring impact or player value. Durant joins a great team that somehow doesn’t really distinguish itself in any way with or without him. He leaves a team that doesn’t really miss him now. Both Harden and now Giannis were/are on teams with best records that would be among the worse teams in the league without them.

You are completely ignoring context. OKC had Westbrook, of course they aren't going to drop off the face of the map since he is a top 10-12 player. Comparing that to Harden and Giannis is just dumb since neither of them had a guy of Russ calibers (Granted CP3 is but he has been hurt most of the year).

See above. It’s a cinch okc is going to be the second seed this year when was the last time you could say that . Maybe you don’t know how well they are doing. They are only 3 games behind GS which starts Durant and 4 other allstars. They aren’t in a different space right now without Durant. Golden State with 4 allstars doesn’t have much space on them. Harden had a much better record than GS last year and that’s a deep lottery team without Harden. Tell me how you are measuring value and impact.

Are you really this stupid?

They are going to be second or third because they have Paul George and Russell Westbrook. That says nothing about KD's value to the team.

It is mind boggling how you are comparing OKC to the Bucks and Rockets and assessing that means Harden and Giannis are more impactful. By your theory Jordan wasn't worth a damn since his team won 55 games without him in 1994.

[ArbitraryWater]

It amazes me how people think Steph is better.

It amazes me how people think KD is better.

Every intangible and even tangible thing in the world points to Steph as better.

[Rico2016]

KD is the best player in the world but Giannis will win MVP

Um, don't know how to break this to you but KD might not even be the best player on his own team...

[Rico2016]

It amazes me how people think KD is better.

Every intangible and even tangible thing in the world points to Steph as better.

One guy blew a 3-1 lead to the other and then joined them.

We know the truth

[ArbitraryWater]

I think he is. He doesn't have off games because his aggression is always consistent. He doesn't have the convenience that all the other top tier have minus AD. And Giannis is on a losing team without him and they have the best record in the league. Harden is the only other player I would say that could pull that off right now. btw, Harden went into the Golden State alone and beat the three best shooters in the game by himself - he out shot all of them during the game and at the end. Its disgusting that you guys rarely mention him in these discussions. What does he have to do? If he has to do that in the playoffs then its not even up for discussion who is the best player. If the question is "who is" that just means now, today...

Durant is on arrested development. He joined a team and they never came close to their win total before him. So-be-it, if he proves himself outside of an obvious advantage situation I would probably have him as the best. Another strike against Durant is that OKC looks really good without him too. Nobody is going to say that about a Giannis or Harden team. Giannis on GS is a God so it becomes very hard to compare KD to others in this situation. Harden sees more triple and double teams than all the other players with Giannis as the only other player near that level.

Giannis is a lot like Jordan before Jordan really developed his J. He could go at the basket all night long with continued aggression. Kobe was similar. Giannis is a lot taller without their range.

I remember the Bucks destroying the Celtics in Boston with Giannis not even taking shots for the first half, so I doubt it.

[game3524]

It amazes me how people think KD is better.

Every intangible and even tangible thing in the world points to Steph as better.

The Warriors secretly told us what they really think of Curry when they signed Durant. It was basically them admitting that they needed an elite ISO player for when defenses really hunkered down in the playoffs.

That was the main reason why they lost in 2016. Steph and Klay couldn't create good looks against the Cavs defense, while Kyrie and LeBron could and did in the last 3-4 games.