Top 50: Kevin Durant, no. 8

i would really like to watch Durant play, but i still can’t bring myself to watch that team. stupid clay bennett ruined everything.

Durant Makes scoring look easier than anyone ive seen and i mean anyone… just my opinion tho

Great spot for KD. hes a BEAST!!!

@ The D train……: Yes and No. You are right on the energy part but MORE than this is the plain fact that when things (& especially defences ) became really complicated (BIG –NO TOMORROW games) you just CANNOT drive to the basket. Team U.S. have the luxury to have all it’s players relatively fresh ,the problem was not that Lebron and Wade were tired in last year’s final, it was simply that they knew that they are not “money” from 6 metres and not 85%+ from the line since there is a high propability you’re gonna get fouled.
@James the balla…..: you write “….Bron would have to break his shot down and rebuild it over and over again until e has that finesse down… but that is not one of his strengths. That’s why Kobe at age 24-26, when he would dunk, it looked like art. He got up high and used style. Bron does one thing, one hand pull back off one foot. He is to big and strong to have that finesse, Kobe and MJ and those guys have……” I really hate that I’m gonna write this after your 12:21pm comment but after your above observations I say that either you’ve really played ball or you have coached in a good level. This was so simple and so accurate.
@monkeyball……: you DO NOT develop freak of nature athletes just by playing ball all day long, Greece and Lithouania are the 2 propably most bball crazy nations in the world (having in mind the populations) we NEVER produced anybody NOT EVEN NEAReven near M.J’s Lebron’sKemp’s Miner’s Iverson’setc running/jumping/explodingability. N-O-B-O-D-Y. If you don’t get why this happens I cannot help you more from here.

The Seed: Dominique Wilkins couldn’t shoot? Are you kidding me? He had one of the nicest midrange games in the league. He could get that ball in off any angle. What are you talking about?
LeBron James has a good shooting touch too… But that’s beside the point. And comparing LeBron to Nique isn’t detracting from either one of the two, since they’re both great players…

And for what it’s worth, I do think in 3-4 years, he has the chance to be the best in the game. Ahead of LeBron.

Good night to EVERYBODY!!!!!

I think ESPN posed that question, can Kevin Durant be better than LeBron in the future. LeBron is considered a “Big Man” and most of the time “Big Men” with muscle tend to deteriorate in the long run, which poses a detriment to their abilities, especially those who are known basically for their power and strength and use that to best their opponents. I don’t think Kevin needs to gain that much weight, just enough to give him some kind of upper body strength and leg strength, but he still needs to keep his speed because alot of the smaller physique players in the long run are still able to obtain their quickness. So if he puts on a little more muscle in addition to picking up the missing pieces he needs to be a complete player, shoot the next several years, the league is his.

@monkeyball, i think panigiotis’ comment about “freaks of nature” in the USA refers to the fact most of the animals used for food are jumped full of steroids and testosterone from the day they are born. combine this fact, which harbours physical growth, with the fact that many US ballers, like u said, do nothing but ball during their developing years, and so, they turn into freaks of nature in a technical sense aswell. add to that a relatively giant population (china’s got 1.6billion and ball is rising in popularity but still has a way to go before having player depth of a comparable calibre, india’s 1.3billion have barely heard of ballin), with the benefits of having the best league and supporting infrastructure you can pretty much guarantee american domination of basketball for at least a few more decades, team usa won’t win every tournament but theres no reason why even weakened squads won’t challenge in the final, barring horrendous coaching decisions (which would include creating a next to non-existant team chemistry, which is the primary reason a team of amassed superstars don’t always produce the results they can and should)

@DAGOMAR – yes yes yes, truest words ive read on this page

It’s really easy to forget how dominant T-Mac was in his prime during that time in Orlando. From 2002 to 2004, he was virtually unguardable…almost supernatural on the court. His game, especially during those stretches when he was putting up strings of 35-7-5-3-2 games, was almost baffling to watch, because he didn’t really seem to be TRYING all that hard. He was also an outstanding athlete, easily matching present-day Durant…comparable to Josh Smith/J.R. Smith. I mean, dude was an animal out there. Dropping 40 points was NOTHING for him. All that being said, Durant is already a superior long-distance shooter. Because of his solid supporting cast, he should have the time to step away from scoring so much and develop defensively. If he does that, and can avoid injury, he will likely eclipse T-Mac.

@panagiotis – ur logic makes no sense. the reason why america produces so many basketball players is because kids all over america plays basketball. this is also the reason why canada produces the best hockey players – because every kid here follows and plays this sport religiously and they play it competitively at a very high level from a very young age. I mean think bout it canada has a population of 32 million where as the US has a population of 400 million and europe has a population of around 500 million, yet we produce almost half the players in the NHL. the same thing works for basketball, baseball, soccer. How many american soccer players are there huh? not a lot and i don’t think any of them would be considered among the greatest. mj, kobe, lebron they grew up playing basketball and from a very young age they started playing it competitively at a very high level. that’s why they are so good. europe canada asia does not have these kind of facilities and that’s why it takes so long for a european to develop and get accustomed to life in the nba.

wouldn’t kevin “the asassin” be fitting for him?

Any new rooks on list?

@James…..:that’s how it is,the basic of shooting mechanics don’t get learned from scratch at age 25…M.J and Kobe had perfect style by the age of 20…only videogamers can really hope for guys to develop them at age 25…. (dear Jukai, you’re gonna wait A LOT for Howard to develop anything close to Pau’s offensive game. Pau was playing SMALL FORWARD in the Paul Pierce mode, in the Euroleague for Barcelona at age 19 !!!)

All this bs bout kobe’s game looking sexy and bron’s looking mean is straight BullS**T. Who cares whether kobe’s game is sexy and bron is not , this is a pro game not some beauty pageant, I rather have a player who attacks the d on every play, either by passing, rebounding and driving . It is becoming a shame to see greatness like lebron being hated on. Stop watching SC top 10 plays and watch the actual game.

Pau with Kobe “Hes the best big man in the league”…. every year before last year …… Pau without kobe*** “crickets” ***…

IDK, if I disagree here, the boy is tough and only gonna get betta.

What the hell? Everyone here talking about how KD is too “high” on the list? That’s bullcrap. Kevin Durant should be number 2!!

Now that he’s first team all nba, this looks pretty smart.