Kevin Durant vs. LeBron James: Round II
A rather entertaining and comical conversation took place on the set of Pardon the Interruption today between hosts Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser and guest Bill Simmons of ESPN.com.
The trio debated whether Kevin Durant could eventually have a better career than Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James. It’s a variation of an argument that first gained traction this summer. Longtime NBA scribe Sam Smith wrote in July that he’s heard multiple league execs suggest Durant could one day be a better player than James.
Tuesday’s slight distinction in the debate seems a little more plausible when you think about it. Still, neither Wilbon nor Kornheiser were buying what Simmons, who is extremely high on Durant, was selling. Here’s the transcript.
MW: Let’s talk about two guys still in their 20s, even though one of them has been around for a while. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, two of your favorite subjects. You’ve questioned how the Cavs have built around LeBron and praised the Thunder and the way they’ve built around Durant. Can you see in any scenario, because I can’t Bill, Durant having a greater career than LeBron James?
BS: Well, Durant has two things that LeBron never had. He has a good GM, and he actually has good young teammates that they’re building around. I mean, LeBron, what did he have? Ricky Davis? Zydrunas Ilgauskas? Like, he never really had that second guy and that third guy. As we talked about before we came out, if LeBron goes to the Clippers next year, suddenly he’s got cap space, he’s got a good young team. So I don’t know if the LeBron book as been written yet because it’s all going to depend on where he goes.
TK: Wait, am I on the moon here? Did you just entertain the possibility that Durant would have a better career?
BS: I think he could. LeBron has made one Finals and got swept. He made the Eastern Conference Finals last year and was out in five. Like, he really hasn’t done anything yet other than win an MVP.
TK: But does anybody ever say, when they list the two best basketball players in the NBA, does anybody ever put the name Kevin Durant in there?
BS: But he’s only like 21 years old. The situation that he’s growing into is a better situation. He’s got the cap space. He’s got the young talent.
TK: (To Wilbon) Are you sitting here silently for this?
MW: I’m trying to listen to what he’s saying. If LeBron leaves, and you always have to…
TK: Oh, he’s leaving. He’s going to New York.
MW: We’ll get to that at some other point, and we’ll bring Bill back for that. But Durant is one of those guys I was skeptical about initially. In his second year he looked awfully, awfully good. I don’t put him with LeBron. Yet.
BS: Let me ask you this, how many of Gretzky’s Kings seasons do you remember?
TK: One.
BS: Yeah. So that could be LeBron’s entire career. He just could be playing with the Kings over and over again until he’s 35.
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Griffin’s injury not first for No. 1 Clippers pick
It’s been a tough year for OU stars. First quarterback Sam Bradford, now news that Blake Griffin probably won’t make his NBA debut until after Thanksgiving because of a broken knee cap.
It’s bad timing for Thunder fans. The Clippers’ only visit all season to the Ford Center is Nov. 15, a game Griffin will now miss. OKC also plays at the Clippers on Nov. 11. As a result, the only time Griffin will play againt the Thunder is March 5 in Los Angeles.
One can only hope this is a small setback at the start of Griffin’s career, not a repeat of history of another former star from a Big 12 school that was picked No. 1 overall by the Clippers whose career was plagued by injuries.
Danny Manning led Kansas to a national title but was limited to just 26 games his rookie season after the Clippers selected him No. 1 overall. It would be the first of three reconstructive knee surgeries for Manning.
Manning averaged 22.8 and 23.7 points to earn back-to-back All-Star Game honors early in his career after overcoming his first ACL surgery 20 years ago back when it was more dicey than modern day ACL procedures.
Turns out, it would be Manning’s only two All-Star Game appearancess. Hampered by knee injuries, Manning finished with a 14.0 career scoring average. Instead of leading the Clippers to new heights, Manning ended up bouncing around the league, playing for Atlanta, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Utah, Dallas and Detroit.
I was tempted to pick Tyreke Evans for Rookie of the Year in our annual predictions published on Monday.
The primary reason I considered Evans was he should get a ton of minutes and a ton of shots playing for the Kings while Griffin will share minutes with some veterans and on occasion has suffered injuries because he plays so hard.
But no one could have forecasted Griffin would suffer such a freakish injury. Hopefully, Griffin, a talented player with a great attitude and tremendous work ethic, returns sooner than doctors have estimated and he still plays in enough games that he can compete for Rookie of the Year.
Griffin's injury not first for No. 1 Clippers pick
It’s been a tough year for OU stars. First quarterback Sam Bradford, now news that Blake Griffin probably won’t make his NBA debut until after Thanksgiving because of a broken knee cap.
It’s bad timing for Thunder fans. The Clippers’ only visit all season to the Ford Center is Nov. 15, a game Griffin will now miss. OKC also plays at the Clippers on Nov. 11. As a result, the only time Griffin will play againt the Thunder is March 5 in Los Angeles.
One can only hope this is a small setback at the start of Griffin’s career, not a repeat of history of another former star from a Big 12 school that was picked No. 1 overall by the Clippers whose career was plagued by injuries.
Danny Manning led Kansas to a national title but was limited to just 26 games his rookie season after the Clippers selected him No. 1 overall. It would be the first of three reconstructive knee surgeries for Manning.
Manning averaged 22.8 and 23.7 points to earn back-to-back All-Star Game honors early in his career after overcoming his first ACL surgery 20 years ago back when it was more dicey than modern day ACL procedures.
Turns out, it would be Manning’s only two All-Star Game appearancess. Hampered by knee injuries, Manning finished with a 14.0 career scoring average. Instead of leading the Clippers to new heights, Manning ended up bouncing around the league, playing for Atlanta, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Utah, Dallas and Detroit.
I was tempted to pick Tyreke Evans for Rookie of the Year in our annual predictions published on Monday.
The primary reason I considered Evans was he should get a ton of minutes and a ton of shots playing for the Kings while Griffin will share minutes with some veterans and on occasion has suffered injuries because he plays so hard.
But no one could have forecasted Griffin would suffer such a freakish injury. Hopefully, Griffin, a talented player with a great attitude and tremendous work ethic, returns sooner than doctors have estimated and he still plays in enough games that he can compete for Rookie of the Year.
Picking winners could be humbling
I can’t promise I’ll make good on the overall goal that seems a litle overwhelming but it was suggested at one of our staff meetings that I try picking the winner of every NBA game this season.
It could be humbling if my record turns out to be not very good but it could be fun. You can’t have any shot at picking them all unless you start with Opening Night.
Here goes:
Cleveland 94, Boston 90: A high profile opener. Shaq and LeBron open against the Celtics. Both teams have the talent to win it all. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Boston posted an upset tonight but the Cavs were 39-1 at home last season before LeBron sat out the final home game. That’s just too good a home record.
Dallas 98, Washington 92: The Wizards should be much improved and could win 25 more games this season. But Antawn Jamison is out a few weeks with a shoulder injury. The Mavericks started 1-4 at home last season but were 31-5 at American Airlines Center the rest of the season. Dallas simply too tough at home.
Portland 102, Houston 90: Greg Oden looked good in preseason. The Trail Blzaers were 34-7 at home. The Rockets are expected to suffer a major drop off but will scratch and claw under one of the league’s most underrated coaches. And they did beat Portland in the first round of the playoffs last year. But with no Yao Ming and no Ron Artest, Portland wins at home.
Lakers 107, Clippers 88: The story line in Oklahoma is whether Blake Griffin makes his debut or has to sit out with a sprained knee injury. The Clippers should be much improved but no way they pull off a stunner on a night NBA Commissioner David Stern is in the arena and the Lakers are presented their championship rings.
Etan Thomas In The Gym
It’s been a long and hard road back to basketball for Etan Thomas, who underwent open heart surgery two years and two weeks ago. He missed the entire 2007-08 season following the operation. His 6-foot-10 inch, 260-pound frame lost 35 pounds during the recovery process. He struggled to put one foot in front of the other more than 10 times without exhaustion setting in while rehabbing.
People thought Thomas would never play another NBA game.
But Thomas, the former Tulsa Booker T. Washington standout, was determined to get back on the court. Doubters served as one of his driving forces. The acclaimed author and poet penned a song about misleading reports surrounding his heart condition. And he hit the gym. Hard. He made it back for the 2008-09 season but played in only 26 games after tearing his MCL in a game in mid-January. He spent this summer trying to come back from the latest setback, and cameras were around to capture footage of what his workouts were like.
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ESPN Analysts Weigh In On OKC
So I decided to watch a bit of preseason ball on ESPN last night — as if I haven’t had enough exhibition games for one beat reporter. And just as I turned to the broadcast I caught Jamal Mashburn saying during the pre-game show that the Thunder will make the playoffs as the eighth seed. And ya’ll thought my 35-win endorsement of this team was high last year. : ) Avery Johnson gave the eighth seed to the Clippers and essentially laughed at Mashburn’s prediction.
But two days earlier a few of their colleagues, Jalen Rose and Jon Barry, also weighed in on OKC during a national teleconference. Here’s what they had to say.
JALEN ROSE
“I really like the young core group of this team. Kevin Durant is going to be one of the league leaders in scoring. I think he’s a tremendous talent. Russell Westbrook as a combination guard can break defenses down and get shots for himself as well as others. He’s going to continue to get better. The rookie Harden is a slasher. He’s going to be able to score and is real nifty and crafty. And Jeff Green, here’s a guy that can rebound, do the intangibles, get blocks, get steals, he’s real strong, he finishes around the basket. That group of young players continuing to grow together is really going to create a lot of excitement for their fans. Not yet a playoff caliber team, but definitely a team that will show promise and on a nightly basis will be the kind of the team that can put up big numbers and make a lot of contending teams look bad. ”
JON BARRY
“Another very young team. The average age is 25, or something like that. I like Harden the rookie. Another year at the point guard position for Westbrook will help. He still needs to learn the position. I think he’s still a bit out of control. Not used to the position. A terrific athlete. He’s going to be a terrific player. Durant is a stud, big-time all-star. I love Collison. He’s a dirty work guy. But they are a couple of years away. As long as they continue to grow, I love the young pieces. I don’t think there are a lot of moves that have to be made. If this team stays together, in a couple of years they are certainly a quality playoff team in the West.”
GET YOUR THUNDER GIRLS CALENDAR
The Thunder Girls are having a calendar release party tonight at 7 at Mickey Mantles in Bricktown. Thunder fans can get and advanced copy of the Thunder Girls calendar before they go on sale for the first time at Wednesday’s season opener. Calendars cost $15, and tonight will be the only time all the Thunder Girls will be in attendance to sign copies of the calendars.
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Playing The Odds With OKC
The online gambling Web site Bodog.com has released a variety of odds for the 2009-10 NBA season. I’m not a betting man, but there is some very interesting material about the probability of how the Thunder and some of its players will do this season.
Kevin Durant
Over/Under: 27.5 PPG
Over/Under: 6.9 RPG
(I’m taking the under on points and a push on rebounds.)
Russell Westbrook
Over/Under: 16.3 PPG
Over/Under: 6.0 APG
(Give me the under on points, barely, and the over on assists.)
Jeff Green
Over/Under: 17.4 PPG
Over/Under: 6.8 PPG
(Again, I’m going under on points and I’ll take the over on rebounds.)
James Harden
Over/Under: 12.0 PPG.
(Sounds close to me. I’ll go 12.4)
Kings 104, Thunder 89
Don’t think this game didn’t matter. Not for a second.
If for some reason you’re still under the impression that Thursday night’s 104-89 loss to the starless Kings was simply a throw-away game, the last of this exhibition season, carefully chew on Kevin Durant’s words.
“It always means something when we step on this floor,” he said. “We’re a young team. We want to get better every time we step on the floor. Tonight was a tough one. We took some steps back.”
Steps.
Plural.
This was the third straight loss by at least 15 points. The third straight time a team has drained at least 10 3-pointers. The third straight game the wanna-be-defensive-minded Thunder allowed 104 points or more. The third straight game in which the opponent has shot better than 50 percent from the field.
In no way is it time to panic. It’s certainly way too early for that. But while the outcome doesn’t matter in these tune-ups, the performances and the trends certainly serve as warning signs.
After seven preseason games, the Thunder has demonstrated an inability to put together 48 minutes of quality basketball. It’s the same flaw that plagued this bunch last season. Some of this preseason’s blunders can be attributed to odd lineups and funky rotations, to subs closing out games and philosophy taking precedence over the outcome. But mostly, the Thunder showed the same imperfections during times its main unit was on the floor and times when the team tried to successfully close out a game with a win.
Have we forgotten Phoenix’s 26-9 fourth quarter on Oct. 12 that erased a 20-point lead before the Thunder prevailed by five in overtime? Lose that game and this exhibition season goes from 2-5 to 1-6, from decent to disappointing.
“It’s definitely a concern in our minds because we want to change it,” said Shaun Livingston. “That’s not how we want to come out and start the season. I know that we are going to come out better opening night. We know we are better than that.”
The Scene At Shootaround
I’ve been MIA lately, I know. Had to focus my attention on this little nifty thing we do before every season called a special section. I got a little bogged down with that on top of the regular load. But it gives me great pleasure to say that weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and our Thunder special section will hit newsstands and your front porch or driveway this Sunday. So let’s get back into the swing of things here shall we?
TINKERING WITH THE ROTATION
Thunder coach Scott Brooks at this morning’s shootaround sounded like he is done throwing out funky lineups and wacky rotations. I expect Brooks to play what mostly will be his main rotation in tonight’s preseason finale against Sacramento. But Brooks said he and the coaching staff are still trying to figure out who fits best with each other while giving different players an opportunity to adjust to playing with different teammates.
“It’s good for our team,” Brooks said. “It’s good to build chemistry on the floor. You’re going to be put in a position where you have to play with different guys…You try to figure out what a guy does with different guys. The game is impacted by who you’re playing with.”
DEJA VU
Rarely in the NBA will a team open the regular season against the same team it ended the preseason against. But that’s the position the Thunder and Kings are in this year. Cleveland and Boston have also managed to pull the scheduling quirk.
Brooks, however, said tonight’s game shouldn’t have any bearing on Wednesday’s season opener. Because of exhaustive scouting departments, he said, NBA teams, don’t have anything left to hide.
“We know what they’re going to run and they know what we’re going to run,” Brooks said. “We have to do a great job of executing it and using effort in our execution.”
Brooks did say Wednesday’s packages will be different than tonight’s because he plans to implement more wrinkles in the final few days of practice before the two teams meet again. He called the next five days of practice “pretty important for us.”
A FRIEND TURNED FOE
Perhaps a more significant advantage than the Kings’ ability to pick up on the Thunder’s strategy early is the presence of former Thunder forward Desmond Mason on Sacramento’s roster. Brooks expects Mason to share secrets with his new teammates. All players do once they change teams. Mike Harris informed Jeff Green of Houston players’ tendencies at the scorer’s table just before tip-off Monday.
“One of the things our coaches do when we have guys that play with other teams is (go over) their personnel’s tendencies,” Brooks admitted. “I think it’s important to listen to the players. They know, they feel it, they see it on the court. They experience it. So you always tap into their knowledge. And I’m sure Sacramento is going to be no different. Desmond knows what Kevin Durant does and how he does it. The bottom line is it takes five guys to make an offense work and it takes the same five guys to make a defense work.”
Brooks’ outburst very revealing
Thunder coach Scott Brooks is about as upbeat a coach as you will see. He’s constantly encouraging players and prefers to talk about a player’s strengths instead of their weaknesses.
That’s why Brooks’ late-practice, high-volume lecture to his team Wednesday afternoon at the end of practice was eye opening.
After players half-heartedly completed what’s supposed to be a fast-paced, 100-pass, spacing, ball movement drill, Brooks screamed some unprintable words and then told his team that he and his assistant coaches, all in their 40s and 50s, could go at that speed.
Brooks almost never uses R-rated language but his tongue lashing certainly got his team’s attention. Brooks informed players they would re-run the drill and go at game speed, not just for this particular drill but every drill throughout the entire season. Players responded by running the drill crisply and effectively.
This isn’t a team you need to crack the whip very often. Players showed up two weeks early for training camp. Many arrive early and leave late for practice. They even practice sometimes on an off day.
But Brooks’ vocal outburst was revealing if for no other reason than he refuses to accept half-hearted effort and he will continue to push, prod and challenge a young team to continue working hard to take their game to another level.
Normally self-motivated, players were reminded Wednesday at practice that Brooks is setting the bar extremely high as far as effort, engery and focus.
