Can Kevin Durant Surpass Larry Bird?

[kdspurman]

Durant is far more athletically superior than BIRD. And Durant is a better shooter and scorer than Bird. Bird was the better passer. Bird also had great leadership skills. I know when it's all said and done though that Durant will be far better than Bird. I think he's better now to be honest but I wont say it cause of lack of titles. But athletically Durant is just better

Woah..

[Longhornfan1234]

Never. Ever. Nor is Lebron better than Bird. Typical NBA forum troll thread. What a joke. Lerbron doesn't even break the top 10. Probably never will. Way to show your age.

LOL, what?

If LeBron wins another finals MVP and season MVP, he's easily in the top 10.

[BroadwayBullies]

Durant can surpass a lot of the all time greats. He's got time on his side, and had the wonderful advantage of being able to start in the league at a very young age. That's why, barring any injuries, him and Lebron are going to have some gaudy career stats when they finally retire. It didn't hurt he's been extremely productive statistically since his rookie year either, being a perennial >20 ppg guy since he was 19.

But Larry was a helluva player. He's a better passer, rebounder (I mean by a WIDE margin,) defender (also wide margin,) and a better shooter than Durant. You can make the claim Durant is the better scorer because of his superior athleticism to Bird, but that's pretty much the only thing he's got on him.

You can tell this year Durant is really starting to evolve as a player. He's becoming more of a well rounded offensive player, but his overall game on both sides of the court still has to improve greatly for him to have a chance to be compared to Larry Legend.

[Riveramk2]

It depends....does durant have home court advantage

[Ebbs]

Durant definitely can he started so much younger he has a talented young squad locked in.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...anke01&y2=2013

Bird definitely outplayed him his first 6 years. But Durant should have a longer tenure and I'm assuming he gets 1-2 championships minimum over that time with a similar number of MVP's. It will be a discussion when it's all said and done.

[baller101200]

Durant definitely can he started so much younger he has a talented young squad locked in.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...anke01&y2=2013

Bird definitely outplayed him his first 6 years. But Durant should have a longer tenure and I'm assuming he gets 1-2 championships minimum over that time with a similar number of MVP's. It will be a discussion when it's all said and done.

I'm actually surprised those numbers are as close as they are. If you take playoff numbers into consideration, you could argue that they are almost neck-and-neck through the start of their careers.

[Hawkeye15]

I'm actually surprised those numbers are as close as they are. If you take playoff numbers into consideration, you could argue that they are almost neck-and-neck through the start of their careers.

Durant turned 23 in year 5, Bird entered the league at that age.....

[YoungOne]

well if you say lebron already is the best SF, durant can easily become the 2nd best if not the best SF of all time..

[Hawkeye15]

well if you say lebron already is the best SF, durant can easily become the 2nd best if not the best SF of all time..

I think Bron needs another playoff run to pass Bird. I mean, because Bird came in at age 23, and then had back issues, the longevity argument just isn't there. But Bron needs a bit more, no doubt. We are WAY too early to be talking about Durant passing him.

[tredigs]

I blacked out anything that makes it obvious who Durant is, including win shares. LeBron and Bird are pretty close in WS - with LeBron having more OWS and Bird more DW.

I think I know who'd I'd pick if I were just looking at the raw numbers, but they're pretty close. I think it's safe to say that KD isn't in the discussion yet, so comparing accolades between LeBron and Bird, and well, it's pretty close.

Bird played 13 seasons, this is LeBron's 10th. LeBron will be making his 9th straight ASG. Bird made it 12 times, only not making it in 1989, when he missed essentially all of the season.

Bird won 3 championships, and lost twice in the Finals. He has two NBA Finals MVPs.
LBJ has won 1 championship, and also has lost twice. He has one NBA Finals MVP.

LeBron and Bird are both 3 time NBA MVPs.


If you really think LeBron can't surpass Bird, I'm not sure you're thinking straight. He certainly CAN. His numbers are as good, if not better than Bird's. He'll end up playing more season, thus accumulating more counting stats (which some people care about too much). He'll have more shots at rings, MVPs and Finals MVPs. He could finish more decorated too.


KD isn't close, because he doesn't have the individual accolades, or event the stats (hint: he's B, Bird is A and LBJ is C). But he's got a TON of time, and just about all the talent in the world.

I like this post, but the problem with comparing career stats of KD to Lebron and especially Bird is that you're including the early years of a guy whose had less of a prime so far than the other two. Unless I'm not looking close enough and you knocked off the first 3 years or so for each? Bird was also hobbled in his final years so that's a little off as well. Best way to look at it is their primes, which for KD he has not quite hit in all likelihood.

And Hawk I'd say it's more likely than not on Lebron, yeah. But he still has some Finals work to do.

[SteveNash]

Durant has already surpassed Larry Bird.

[JordansBulls]

Durant has already surpassed Larry Bird.

[ManRamForPrez24]

I like this post, but the problem with comparing career stats of KD to Lebron and especially Bird is that you're including the early years of a guy whose had less of a prime so far than the other two. Unless I'm not looking close enough and you knocked off the first 3 years or so for each? Bird was also hobbled in his final years so that's a little off as well. Best way to look at it is their primes, which for KD he has not quite hit in all likelihood.

And Hawk I'd say it's more likely than not on Lebron, yeah. But he still has some Finals work to do.

For sure. The latter parts of Durant and especially LeBron's career could see drastic dropoffs. Bird got out at 35 (I think), and was playing at basically the same level he had been since his injured season. He didn't fall off a ton later on in his career. LeBron trying to play til he's 40 could really skew his stats down a lot.

[SteveNash]

Bird's game couldn't stand in todays NBA.