Why LeBron James Is Better Than Kevin Durant

When we posted this debate a few weeks ago â€“ LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant â€“ it set off an avalanche of opinions. On Friday, we gave you the KD side. Now, another writer comes with his rebuttal…

To the untrained eye, the comparison between LeBron James and Kevin Durant is closely similar. Both players share a very unique game composed of guard-like skills in a big man’s body. If you block out all exterior factors, and focus solely on each player’s game on the court, the comparison is acceptable. Durant has played four NBA seasons to LeBron’s eight and has put up similar statistics in his first four seasons to what LeBron was able to do in his first four.

The biggest separation between the two as far as numbers is in the assist category, where it’s clear to see that LeBron is far more advanced (however we’re not going to hold that against Durant in this argument).

When you look at it from a more analytical perspective, there are so many other reasons (besides the stats) why Durant has such a long way to go to reach the level that LeBron James is at right now. The argument has become pretty popular because people seem to love Durant so much, and hate LeBron so much. Nonetheless, that doesn’t change the fact that the comparison is a silly one. Simply put, the two stars are at very different stages in their careers, and that is the biggest difference between the two.

At this time, LeBron James is easily the most heavily criticized player the NBA has ever seen. Most of his critics will tell you that it’s all a result of the attention he’s brought onto himself. That may hold true, however it doesn’t matter. LeBron James catches more heat than any player to ever hit the hardwood (no pun intended), regardless if he brings it upon himself or not. Don’t get me wrong now, he’s no Mr. Perfect. However since he’s put on that Miami jersey, LeBron James has always been the scapegoat when the Heat turns lukewarm, even when it’s not all his fault.

Since he’s been in the league, LeBron has always been judged on a higher scale than the rest of his peers. The bar was already set extremely high for him from the time he was a rookie. Moving to Miami raised that bar of expectations higher than ever. Yet, that didn’t seem to affect his play much at all. Durant has never been forced to play under such harsh circumstances with the eyes of every basketball fan in the world watching his every move.

After he decided to move to Miami, LeBron James was called a “Robin”, a player who was running away from the limelight and needed someone else to carry him to glory. Yet despite that, he came to Miami, controlled the basketball, took over the scoring load and the role as the number one option immediately. With the eyes of every basketball fan in the world on him, he managed to put together another season deserving of MVP honors, despite playing along side two other All-Stars. At the end of games, whether or not he comes up short, the ball always found itself in the hands of LeBron James. So how can he be a “Robin”? The pressure was on for LeBron this season, and up until the Finals, he delivered consistently.

The 2011 NBA Finals is every LeBron critic’s dream. The fact that he came up so small on the biggest stage serves as ammunition for those arguing he is the “Robin” to Wade‘s “Batman” or that because he fell short, he is inferior to someone like Kevin Durant. Call me crazy, but the 2011 NBA Finals serves as proof of the exact contrary.

LeBron proved something to his critics with his absence in the Finals this past season. Receiving all that criticism became a little bit of a priority for him. He knows that Miami can’t get it done without him playing well. He just wanted to make sure the team, Coach Spoelstra & the rest of the world to knew it too.

I’m not trying to sit here and make excuses for LeBron because I don’t necessarily admire what he did in the Finals. But at the same time if he had played a little bit better, just enough for them to win an extra game or two (both Game 3 & Game 5 were decided by one possession) the issue of “whose team is this?” would have been swept under the rug, and would have come back to haunt them in the future.

I think it’s good that LeBron went M.I.A (no pun intended) because now it’s clear to see that he is the vital factor in the difference between success and disappointment.

From the get-go and throughout the entire regular season, LeBron James was in the driver’s seat in Miami. Going into the playoffs, he was the alpha dog & Wade was there to make it easier on him, which was working perfectly for them. They made it through Philly, Boston and Chicago playing with the understanding that LeBron was the leader. After taking his squad through those teams, LeBron still wasn’t awarded with the credit that he deserved. Many were still calling Miami Wade’s team despite the fact that LeBron had been leading the way the entire year.

In my opinion, LeBron took that a bit personally and as a result, left it up to Wade to win it for Miami. Since all his critics believed that the team’s fortune would ultimately be decided by Wade in the Finals, LeBron took the backseat to show them that wasn’t the case. From the time Wade seized the driver’s seat from LeBron, the series was lost for Miami. For the first time all season long, it was actually Wade’s team, LeBron actually was “Robin” and as a result, Miami lost.

LeBron was out to prove that he is of extremely high value to his team & that’s exactly what he did. In order for Miami to be successful in the oncoming years, it needs to be understood that LeBron James must be in the driver’s seat at all times. By going absent in the Finals, LeBron proved that the team needs him in control (as opposed to Wade) to get the job done. Everyone loves to judge LeBron’s collapse in the Finals as a choke job, or shrinking in the big moment. However, I feel that LeBron felt it was more important to him, and better for the team going forward, if he proved to the world that it’s his car to drive & not Wade’s.

With that said, it’s very unfair to judge LeBron James on his first season in Miami, which was frankly a failure. After looking at it from an analytical perspective it’s easy to see. Something had to give here. Unfortunately the cost of showing the world that he’s the captain of the ship was the 2011 NBA Championship. Frankly, he’s okay with that for now.

The NBA has been LeBron’s for a good while now. He has been expected to win a championship for the past three seasons. However the chips haven’t fallen the way he’s exactly liked them to. So now instead of allowing himself to continue to fall victim to his own disappointment, he’s writing his own story the same way Kobe wrote his own out in L.A. LeBron’s time is here, and the multiple championships are so close that he can now taste them.

Kevin Durant is far from reaching the stage where he is expected to win a championship. Right now, he’s just trying to play his best basketball personally. Once he’s comfortable with that, he can worry about winning it for his team. For now, he’s still catching up to LeBron James in virtually every aspect except shooting.

Durant is the golden child of the NBA. After handling his loss this past year so well & not throwing his teammates under the bus, Durant has received even more admiration than before. Remaining loyal to his organization is respectable. However, he isn’t necessarily better than LeBron because of that; If Cleveland drafted a player of Westbrook‘s caliber, maybe ‘Bron would still be in a Cavs jersey.

Right now is LeBron James’ time. Whatever team he’s on will be considered one of the best teams in the NBA, and will absolutely be expected to win a championship. That isn’t the case with any other player in the league. Not Kobe, not Dirk, not ‘Melo, and definitely not Durant (with the West slowly weakening, it will soon be Durant’s for the taking). He needs to use the next few years – & demise of the Lakers – to work on getting better defensively, making his teammates better, and being more assertive when his teammates (cough..cough… Westbrook) get him out of rhythm. Durant is a scoring machine already, but he needs to elevate the other aspects of his game to be considered in the same sentence as LeBron. Until he does that, he’s not making it past Miami in the Finals anytime soon.