Durant's been ungodly this December

[DMAVS41]

The whole "ungodly" thing aside, Durant's having another ridiculous season that, for whatever reasons, seems to sort of be flying under the radar. Maybe it's just my jaded perception of the media (mainly ESPN) falling all over themselves trying to promote Paul George and shove the Pacers/Heat "rivalry" down our throats; but Durant is still easily one tier above George and I actually think he's closer to LeBron than a lot of people realize or want to admit. I mean he was kind of shit in terms of efficiency in November, but he's still averaging 29-8-5-2-1 on 49/41/88 shooting for the season and, once again, he's killing it in the advanced stats: 28.2 PER, 120.1 ORtg, 98.8 DRtg, .290 WS/48.

I know quite a few people here are turned off by his game because he is "gifted" a lot of free throws, which is fine if that's how you choose to watch OKC games instead of actually appreciating that Durant is still really damn good FTs aside. But what he's doing isn't normal. It's top 15 or top 25 all-time great. It's transcendent player type stuff and, unfortunately because of LeBron being even greater, it's somewhat getting overlooked and/or not really being appreciated to the extent it deserves to be appreciated.

Durant has probably been the best player overall so far this year.

But PG is the real deal. Don't get me wrong, he's not Durant, but when arguably the best perimeter defender in the league (clearly better defensively than Durant...and I think Durant is a very good defender actually) can give you 24/6/4 on 59% TS as well. And his team is 20-5...you are going to get legit MVP talk.

For example, PG is clearly a better player overall right now than 11 Rose. His team is on pace to win the same amount of games...etc.

Deep down everyone knows how good Durant is, but he's just in a tough spot. Putting up great numbers and winning around 60 a year has become routine. So that hurts him in the MVP stuff because it has also become routine for everyone to just agree Lebron is clearly better. So the media needs a new narrative to work with...and the Pacers/Heat and PG fit it perfectly.

[KG215]

Durant has probably been the best player overall so far this year.

But PG is the real deal. Don't get me wrong, he's not Durant, but when arguably the best perimeter defender in the league (clearly better defensively than Durant...and I think Durant is a very good defender actually) can give you 24/6/4 on 59% TS as well. And his team is 20-5...you are going to get legit MVP talk.

For example, PG is clearly a better player overall right now than 11 Rose. His team is on pace to win the same amount of games...etc.

Deep down everyone knows how good Durant is, but he's just in a tough spot. Putting up great numbers and winning around 60 a year has become routine. So that hurts him in the MVP stuff because it has also become routine for everyone to just agree Lebron is clearly better. So the media needs a new narrative to work with...and the Pacers/Heat and PG fit it perfectly.

I get that, and I do think he deserves some MVP talk to some extent. I just don't see a logical reason/argument for why he should be ahead of Durant for MVP right now. Either way, I guess it's really not a big deal. We're barely a quarter of the way through the season and right now the MVP race is very fluid.

[DMAVS41]

I get that, and I do think he deserves some MVP talk to some extent. I just don't see a logical reason/argument for why he should be ahead of Durant for MVP right now. Either way, I guess it's really not a big deal. We're barely a quarter of the way through the season and right now the MVP race is very fluid.

Because MVP is not always about the best player. Again look to 11. Rose was clearly not as good as Lebron or Howard...yet he easily won MVP.

MVP is about the narrative and expectations. Paul George and the Pacers are exceeding expectations and while it's not shocking, it's a bit of a surprise.

People have just gotten used to Durant putting up historic numbers and winning near 60 games. Saw the same thing happen in Dallas to some extent with Dirk. It just became commonplace. With Durant, it's even worse because WB is now being propped up a lot...especially after last year's playoffs.

I think Durant has been the best player to date so far in the league, but I bet if the MVP votes were taken today. It would be Lebron then PG then Durant. And everyone just agrees that Lebron is clearly better than Durant...so I don't see any scenario outside the Heat having a way worse record in which Durant wins MVP over Lebron. Seems like it will take a Rose type guy to kind of come out of nowhere to dethrone Lebron.

[scm5]

Because MVP is not always about the best player. Again look to 11. Rose was clearly not as good as Lebron or Howard...yet he easily won MVP.

MVP is about the narrative and expectations. Paul George and the Pacers are exceeding expectations and while it's not shocking, it's a bit of a surprise.

People have just gotten used to Durant putting up historic numbers and winning near 60 games. Saw the same thing happen in Dallas to some extent with Dirk. It just became commonplace. With Durant, it's even worse because WB is now being propped up a lot...especially after last year's playoffs.

I think Durant has been the best player to date so far in the league, but I bet if the MVP votes were taken today. It would be Lebron then PG then Durant. And everyone just agrees that Lebron is clearly better than Durant...so I don't see any scenario outside the Heat having a way worse record in which Durant wins MVP over Lebron. Seems like it will take a Rose type guy to kind of come out of nowhere to dethrone Lebron.

It's weird, Durant gets almost no credit for how good the Thunder are, yet their success and wins are almost entirely on his shoulders. Without Durant, the Thunder would be in a lot of trouble.

Meanwhile, Miami is so stacked that if Lebron misses a few games, they would probably still have a winning record while he's out.