DENVER, CO--Kevin Durant, OKC Thunder after practice at Pepsi Center Friday afternoon. Andy Cross, The Denver Post (Photo By Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Over the years, the NBA has seen many players who were often unguardable and could score at will. In this debate for the greatest scorer in the NBA, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan are some of the most common names.
In a recent debate between NBA analysts Kendrick Perkins and Max Kellerman, Perkins picked Durant while Kellerman went with Jordan. When a fan replied to the video of this tweet by praising Durant, the Nets superstar shut down the argument himself.
Durant’s reply was incredibly respectful towards the man often termed as the GOAT of basketball. Durant also admitted that he was still learning from Jordan and requested to be left out of such arguments. He displayed a lot of humility and acknowledged that he wasn’t at Jordan’s level.
While KD was being humble, he is in reality probably the closest to Jordan when it comes to scoring. Durant has won four scoring titles so far and has averaged over 30 points per game just twice. But Jordan was never a good perimeter shooter, while KD is one of the best in the business.
Jordan won ten scoring titles, averaged over 30 points per game for eight seasons, and has a career FG% of 49.7, which is marginally better than Durant’s 49.3%. If Durant continues to stay dominant for a few more years, he could have a better argument.
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When Durant joined the Warriors, they already had Steph Curry and Klay Thompson as their stars. Draymond Green was also in his prime at that time. So with Durant’s arrival, they had four star players. But his ability to play without hogging the ball and play team ball propelled the team.
Similarly, Curry and Thompson are also two of the most humble players in the league. So all of this helped them to have the best on-court chemistry and took them to back-to-back titles. It can often be tough to manage egos with multiple stars. This is seen in the Rockets situation where Russell Westbrook wants to leave because he didn’t get to be the primary ball-handler.
Now Durant is going to team up with Kyrie Irving, who is also called a ball hog at times. So he will have to stay patient once more and do his best to help the team win.
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