Durant never has been the best player at his position. I consider him a superstar. It is a subjective phrase.
LaMarcus was much more athletic back then and a solid defender. He was more willing to play any role on the team if it helped us win. He shot better percentages although his usage rate was lower. He could run up and down the court. He certainly has a number of advantages now but its not a hands down improvement. I'll be very eager to see how happy he is a year from now in San Antonio if they don't win a title and he's still averaging 15ppg.
This is why I think "superstar" is subjective because I think harden would definitely be a superstar in the eyes of the league but I think he's a trash player and he's nothing without his 20 fta a night. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Agreed, he was my fav player growing up. He also carried his team to the finals. But this is a different NBA. I think we care more about efficiency these days than 15 yrs ago to deem superstar status
His entire offense was pick and pops and rim running. He had nowhere near the repertoire under the rim that he has now. Doesn't mean he wants to use his post moves that often, but he has them.
Yeah but if he doesn't use them does it matter? Rasheed Wallace had MVP skills but he never used them all so he was just an allstar. LMA holds the ball more now and can be confused with double teams. He has a higher ceiling but game in and game out what does he actually contribute to wins? I'm not sure its better than his 3rd year in the league. LMA was very underrated back then and helped Roy out a ton. We ran the offense though him effectively when Roy rested on the bench. Its just people are so focused on PPG once LMA started jacking up 20+ FGA and he gets his 20 points many assume he's a superior player.
My thinking for superstar guard is, whether he can score 30 or drop 10-15 assists without you even realizing it as a spectator. Or hell, even completely control a game defensively. Right now, I see Steph, Bron, KD, Davis, and (ugh) Harden in that mold as what I call superstars. Dame is just a tier lower with Paul George, CP, Griffin, Leonard, Boogie, Westbrook. He's above the Bledsoe, Drummond, Knight tier.
7th in the league in scoring. 6th in the league in assists per game. He's paid like a superstar. I think he is one.
He won't get paid like a superstar (by our billionaire anyway) until next year, so any production at that level is awesome and ahead of schedule.
Man, I just have a really hard time calling Leonard a fringe superstar. He hasn't even averaged 20+ for a full season yet. I think he's on his way, and his numbers certainly look good this year, but I'd put him in the "All-Star" category.
Durant has been first team all NBA 5x and MVP 1x... When I say best at position that's essentially what being All-NBA is.
Plus, LeBron and Durant play multiple positions, so to say that Durant isn't the best at his position is kinda silly. He can realistically play three positions.
