A Pre-Argument to the Potential Future “Durant is Better than James” Argument

5 Jun

I want to beat everyone to it — Kevin Durant isn’t better than Lebron James. I can see the stories coming already if Durant wins a title before James. I can see the internet bursting out of control with some nonsense about how Durant has some kind of extra winningness that James doesn’t possess. I just know it. The story writes itself. The story is bullshit.

I’m pre-calling everyone out. This may be a first for me.

James has never played for a team as good as as the Thunder, and that has nothing to do with him personally.  It is hard to hold him accountable for an unevenly constructed Heat team where the only other players who aren’t garbage are injured (Bosh) or injured/getting old (Wade). I honestly believe the Lebron’s 2008-2009 Cavs would absolutely destroy this year’s Heat team (as it is now in its unhealthy state), and that was a team that clearly wasn’t good enough to win a title.  That was a team everyone excused away as “Lebron not having enough help.”

Well, things aren’t better for him this year team-wise, but as an individual, he has played absolutely out of his mind.  Switch Lebron and Durant, and I think the Spurs-Thunder series is already over in five (in favor of the Thunder). Switch Lebron and Durant, and the Thunder suddenly impose their will defensively in a way we haven’t seen them play yet. Switch Lebron and Durant, and there is no longer a question about which player is better.

This isn’t a knock against Durant. I love watching him play. You can pick your poison over who is the second best player in the NBA – Durant or Dwight Howard. I just don’t think it is a contest yet for first best – it is still Lebron. He is most likely going to drag the corpse of the Heat into the Finals, and that is a very real accomplishment given the lack of health and depth on his team.

The worst part of this future-narrative will not even be unfairly ripping apart Lebron. I’m a Cleveland fan. I am ALL for ripping apart Lebron — even to an irrational extent. The worst part will be how much we downplay the importance of full, deep teams yet again. The true crime is making championship wins and losses about one player — the best player. It’s not.

When you are a top five player in the NBA, it is rarely about the individual. That is only a factor if two teams are basically even. Too little is made of well constructed, deep teams. Look at the list of NBA Champions for the last ten years. Look even further past that. Almost all of these teams had depth and function. Slapping together three great players and surrounding them with scrubs is a dangerous game. We are seeing that in these playoffs. It should be obvious once the Heat inevitably do not win the Finals.

But if the Thunder are the team that happen to go on to win, it isn’t because Durant is better than James. It is because Durant is amazing, and he happens to have a fantastically constructed team around him. James is amazing, and his team wasn’t built all that well. That is all there is to it.

2 Responses to “A Pre-Argument to the Potential Future “Durant is Better than James” Argument”

  1. Eddie June 6, 2012 at 3:52 pm #

    I’m not ready to say Durant is an all around better player than Lebron James, because at this point he is not, but I will say that Lebron deserves all the backlash, criticism and clowning that will come to him if Durant wins a title first.

    It was Lebron’s decision to play with Wade and Bosh. He should have known that there would be no cap space left to get a good supporting cast. Obviously the 3 of them together thought they were good enough to win Multiple titles… So did the Media! We can’t be revisionists about this thing now, the clock is still ticking for Lebron and the Heat, who are now on the verge of being eliminated by the Celtics!

    • Spacefunmars June 6, 2012 at 4:22 pm #

      I don’t disagree that he should get the blame for going to a team who couldn’t put enough around him. But I feel a lot of that blame is still on Pat Riley. He put a lot of money into Mike Miller that has gone nowhere. Riley didn’t NEED to get James and Bosh via sign-and-trade. He did it to make them happier, money-wise, but they already made their decisions at that point – what were they going to do? Back out?

      I’m not sure if Lebron could have expected the extent that Riley has messed up putting this Heat team together. Just one other useful signing/move outside of the big three could have been enough to be a difference maker. Of course, that is ignoring the whole Wade/Bosh injury thing as well.

      Lebron deserves a lot of blame, but he’s the best player in the league. You can blame him for things that are his fault, but you can’t deny him that.