If you were starting an NBA team, who would you rather build around - Durant or Bron?

[Mic-Nificent]

Man the Lakers and Spurs been called old all year now they were legit contenders?

That's just people talking out of both sides of they mouth as usual. People stay talking shyt about a team until they win and then after they win they try and downplay it with "well of course they won, they had ____, and played against a weak _____ team didn't have____"

 

[luigimus]

Lebron fukked up! He probably wishes he would of pick any other team than the heat!!

 

[Loose]

Man the Lakers and Spurs been called old all year now they were legit contenders?

so a team on a 20 game win streak wasn't a force now? A team that star players only lost a combine 3 games wasn't a force now? A team Vegas was incredibly behind isn't a force now?

 

[Roadie pipeher]

Man the Lakers and Spurs been called old all year now they were legit contenders?

that's the most hilarious part about all of this, let "these" people tell it and kd beat squads in their prime...

 

[Mic-Nificent]

that's the most hilarious part about all of this, let "these" people tell it and kd beat squads in their prime...

It's not like the Spurs and Lakers are bum squads. They were two of the top 3 teams in the conference.

The top 3 teams in a conference are generally considered to be legit contenders, not favorites but contenders non the less.

 

[Jerz-2]

Man the Lakers and Spurs been called old all year now they were legit contenders?

This is crazy talk.

The Spurs were on an almost unprecedented run prior to losing the series with OKC. They virtually dominated all year long. They finished with the best record in the West. They had a nine-game lead in their own division and a 4 or 5 game lead over any other WC team going into the playoffs.

How were they not legit contenders?

 

[YBE]

That's just people talking out of both sides of they mouth as usual. People stay talking shyt about a team until they win and then after they win they try and downplay it with "well of course they won, they had ____, and played against a weak _____ team didn't have____"

two weeks ago....the Spurs were being compared to the 1996 Bulls on here.....now they're old bums

 

[Mic-Nificent]

Mark my words whoever win the finals people are going to try and downplay that shyt too.

 

[Jerz-2]

I'm not even a Spurs fan, in fact I don't like them whatsoever and am glad they lost last night.

But come the hell on here, man. Saying they weren't "legit contenders" to win the title, especially when they were up 2-0 and were dominating the entire playoff field up TO that point, is asinine.

I understand y'all's points about overzealous fans and what have you, but there's really no need to disparage the Spurs by suggesting they weren't legit contenders dating back MONTHS into the season, man. C'mon.

Also...all that said, Duncan has always been a crybaby bytch, even though he's arguably the greatest PF of all time. SMH @ him blaming the refs....

 

[Roadie pipeher]

It's not like the Spurs and Lakers are bum squads. They were two of the top 3 teams in the conference.

The top 3 teams in a conference are generally considered to be legit contenders, not favorites but contenders non the less.

...you are correct they were contenders.

 

[Loose]

This is crazy talk.

The Spurs were on an almost unprecedented run prior to losing the series with OKC. They virtually dominated all year long. They finished with the best record in the West. They had a nine-game lead in their own division and a 4 or 5 game lead over any other WC team going into the playoffs.

How were they not legit contenders?

Word spurs was on a 20 game streak yet they weren't contenders damn near the whole country had them as favorites too , what a clown

 

[JYoung24]

Lebron was nothing short of brilliant in Cleveland but that LeBron and this Lebron is night and day.

That Orlando series really fvcked with his head, how can the best player in the World drop r35/12/10 and lose in 5 games.

Cuz he wasn't the best player in the world

 

[Street Knowledge]

Man the Lakers and Spurs been called old all year now they were legit contenders?

The spurs were the best team in the nba this season. These nikkaz had a 20 game win streak at one point. Don't rewrite history.

The point still stands, The Lakers and spurs are both better then all 3 of those garbage squads. The only reason The nets and wizards made the playoffs because the east was flat out terrible

Think about it, the only 50 win team Bron beat in his entire Cavs career was that old and sick pistons squad.

 

[Long Live The Kane]

I'm probably leaning towards Durant...Bron's more naturally talented than Durant, but then again Bron's prolly the most physically gifted perimeter player in the history of the league...halfway through his career it's given him some very pretty stats and 3 regular season MVPs, but I have no qualms in saying he's up there with the biggest bytches in sports history...he's a transcendent talent, handcuffed by his own innate bytchmadeness...after the disappearing act in his playoff series in Cleveland, his shameful exodus to Miami to form the superteam, and the no-show in last year's Finals...I just can't take him over a bonified killer like Durant to build my team around...you build your team around a heartless, though supremely talented, coward and you run the risk of getting Cavalier'd...build a 60plus win team favored to win it all around him, have him get shook in the playoffs and no-show is the most pivotal game in my franchise's entire history, leave you with nothing, skirt off for what he perceives as an easy way out joining a superteam, only to disappear on them too in the Finals the next year...nah, I'm good

Outside of the intangibles, strictly from a basketball sense...I'm not convinced, at all, that lebron is easier to build around than Durant is...for all the talk of how Bron is a master of everything on the floor and the "he makes his teammates better" cliches, him being something of a "point shooting power forward" affects the type of players and team one is naturally inclined to put around him in an effort to maximize his individual talents (what happened with the Cavs...they built the consummate "bron ball" team, elite defensive squad with shooters) and lessens the effectiveness and impact of other stars you may pair him with (what's happened to Wade and Bosh)...Durant, though freakishly unique himself with his height and length, is more of a conventional 3...he's a dominant scoring wing that can play towards his ceiling while playing off the ball...allowing a team built around him to fall into more traditional well defined roles...he can play with a ball dominant point or combo guard like Westbrook without reducing him to mainly a spot up shooter...Bron's versatility as a defender is what gives me the most pause (well that and his durability, he's a fukking tank..no major injuries 9 years in), but I'll take Durant's coldbloodedness over the novelty of having my small forward guard centers in spots...bottomline is basically i think i have the best chance for the most championships with Durant as the core of my franchise

 

[No Homo]

Lebron easily. He's great on both sides of the floor and makes his teammates better (no cliche). I like Durant but I doubt he can do what Bron did in Cleveland or without Wade this season.

what did he really do in cleveland though?