Got Room on the OKC Thunder's Bandwagon? Some Thoughts On the Win

Still KD’s performance was enough to get TNT’s Kenny Smith to posit that Durantula will be the best player in basketball in three years.

Not far to go …

1. Lebron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Kobe Bryant

Cheering against the Lakers is even easier when KD is on the other team.

Lebron James is only 25 so he’s still improving too, so I can’t say that Durant will definitely be the best player in 3 years, but I think the race of the future is between those two. They have real different games, but each is incredible and worth appreciating. I’ve never seen basketball players with their unique games before, it’s unreal. If James stays in the Eastern Conference I foresee some exciting Lebron vs. Durant Finals duels in the future.

I couldn’t be more excited, and welcome to the party, Trips. Glad to have you on board and hear your thoughts.

I’d echo BOW’s thoughts…

LeBron is the best player on the planet by a wide margin, but Durant is edging closer by the game and is sure to continue that progression. great times ahead for these two and their impending rivalry.

David Stern has to be ecstatic that his two marquee teams for the next decade could conceivably be Cleveland and Oklahoma City.

Westbrook is a physical freak. In their last loss, he was coming by the free throw line and it looked like he just made the decision to go for it because he saw an opening. He exploded from about the free throw line, and if 2 lakers hadn’t crashed in to foul him I bet he would have made it to the rim. As it was, he nearly obliterated one of the Lakers and got his FTs.

Incredible athlete.

Just imagine if Durant could bench press like Oden!

Durant has the misfortune of playing in the same era as Lebron, I don’t know if he can ever truly pass Lebron as the best player in the NBA. Maybe just for stretches.

Durant is more skilled than Lebron already, and likely will only improve over the years. Lebron has been rounding out his game and is a very complete player but is still not a dead eye shooter. You leave Durant open and you know he will hit it, you put Durant at the line and you know he is walking away with 2 points. That isn’t true for Lebron. Durant lacks Lebron’s strength, quickness and speed. Durant doesn’t have the near the same court vision. Between the two I would be less surprised to see Durant lose a chunk of a season to injury, only one of them is built like a semi.

Both are surefire Hall of Famers, and they will make the NBA great to watch for the next 10 years. Both are good on and off the court for the league, something the NBA really struggled with for about 10 years there. They are students of the game and keep improving each year. The Lebron vs Durant finals matchup could be familiar in the coming years, and I for one welcome it.

It is indeed KD’s misfortune to be playing in the Lebron era. For all of the dramatic ways that Durant has improved in his first 3 years, Lebron James is far and away the best player in the NBA. Durant is certainly the more skilled SHOOTER, but that’s the only skill in he exceeds Lebron.

Lebron is the better ballhandler, passer, defender, and rebounder (I know KD averaged slightly better rbs/game this year than Lebron…but if I need a rebound to win the game, I’d rather have Lebron on the floor to try and get it). Lebron is also the most versatile player in the league, where he could effectively start at 4 positions.

Bottom-line is that KD may, in fact, be #2 player in the league or close to it, but #2 is a LONG ways away from #1.

The way he guarded Kobe last night, I’m not sure Durant can’t become the better defender of the 2. He’s not far behind in steals and blocks, and I think he could at least make the defensive comparison a wash. Lebron is certainly the better ball handler and will probably remain so.

Thanks for this write-up. You make some great points. I’m glad you’re a convert. The Thunder are a lot of fun to watch and seeing them grow is like watching a child ride a bicycle. First day your holding onto the back to steady them, two days later Russell Westbrook is popping wheelies and hopping over curbs.
 
I saw Kenny Smith’s comments and I’m not sure I buy it unless Lebron gets injured. The guy can do so many things.
  
The Thunder aren’t going to win this series, but a 4-2 loss will still teach them quite a bit. And if you they can take it a full seven games, who knows?

Stern won’t let the series get to 7. Too much wear and tear on Team TV Ratings.

You know who the refs will be if it does indeed go 7.

One thing to keep an eye on is Bynum’s explosivenss. Since game 1, he seems to have lost some every game and I think the every other day schedule this series is on(seems to be the only one on that schedule) could really prove to limit him for the rest of the playoffs if the Lakers don’t wrap this one up quickly.

Game 4, look for Kobe to attack the rim when he’s looking to score. He shot 0 FTs in game 3 and I can’t see him shooting any less than 10-12 in game 4. Will be interesting to see how the Lakers attack early on. In game 1 they pounded it inside early, in game 2 Kobe got off to a great early start and they really didn’t throw the ball in as much as game 1. In game 3 they got back to pounding it early, then kicked it out for 3’s off crashing in down low and then fell in love with the 3’s and long jumpers. Even in game 1 they got away from pounding the ball inside. I’m expecting a heavy dose of Gasol, Bynum, Odom, inside and Bryant attacking all game.

Can the Thunder avoid their pathetically slow starts they’ve had all 3 games? I wonder how this series looks if the Thunder could have avoided those starts in games 1 and 2.

Looking forward to game 4, just like game 3 I wish I could be there b/c the Ford Center is going to be rocking, maybe even more than it was in game 3. The blue out looked very cool although it seemed to work against them in the early part of the game.