Y'all Gonna Call Me Crazy

Compare this to the pic
of MJ...Eerily similar right?

I'm just gonna throw it out there so you don't have to wait to call me a fool, crazy, stupid, or ignorant. When all is said and done LeBron won't be the greatest player of all time, neither will Kobe, neither will Jordan...you read that right (coming from probably the biggest MJ supporter out there). When it comes down to it, about 20 years from now I whole heartedly believe that Kevin Durant will be the GOAT. (I'll pause here for expletives and give you some time to give a hardy grunt or laugh). We good? You get it all out of your system? Ok, then bare with me and let me explain why.

I'm not denying that right now, this very instant, LeBron is the best player in the league. That position was up for grabs in the NBA Finals last year, whoever won that was going to snatch the title of "best" up from an aging Kobe, and LeBron took it and he earned it. He finally showed he can finish games and finish a series. So he currently holds that spot if you will, but I'm not sure how long he will. Don't get me wrong, I think the Heat will win it again this year, they most certainly have the team to do so, but lets think 4-5 years down the road, how many more people can LBJ surrond himself with to win more titles? Because that is the thing about him, and its not fault of his he plays the game the way he thinks he should and he is a blast to watch, but he needs a supporting cast. Jordan never did (he had a dynamite cast of role players, but in the end he coulda won with any other 4 on the court). So with those points being made I'm going to begin to list off my crazy reasons why in the end Durant will snatch that spot from MJ.

A skinny boy turned into the man
we know as MJ...Durant will do
the same

1. Look at the way he plays and his frame. I remember when he first started playing for Seattle, as I watched him score in bunches I saw a young MJ, not just in game but in stature. He has the same build as MJ did when he came in. Long, lanky, not quite filled out. We forget that Durant couldn't bench 185 lbs when he came into the league (no joke he couldn't), and we always remember the tone and physical Jordan of the 90's, but before that he was this skinny kid out of North Carolina. Once Durant fills out a little bit more and learns to play in the post better, he will be able to score more and more (if you think about it look at MJ, Kobe, and LBJ's early careers vs. the later career they all learned how to post better and scored more points closer to the basket as they got older). And Durant is 3 inches taller than MJ and a wayyyyy better 3 point shooter...Jordan took on average about 150 3's a year with an average of 32.7%, Durant is at about 675 right now with a 36.6%. Combine all those and we've got a man that score in bunches. Which brings me to my next point, what is it we as fans truly value and measure?

2. Points and rings. Isn't that always the argument with MJ vs. the world. Minus the old Celtics of the 60's that won about 442 NBA titles in a row, MJ commanded the greatest dynasty in modern basketball. He wont 6 straight rings in season he played in, 6 straight. And when he left the team, they didn't win any. Then if it isn't that its the fact that he could score whenever he wanted to. 30.1 ppg (that includes the 2 years he spent in Washington when his stats went way down), that is ridiculous. He averaged 37.1 is third year in the league, averaged 40 ppg in the 93 finals (CRAZY). These are always the arguments. Now look at KD. That's what he does. He has won three consecutive scoring titles. Beating out players like LeBron, Kobe, Melo, and countless other perennial scorers. And you want to know the crazy thing? He does it taking way less shots than Jordan. In the 97-98 season MJ averaged 28.7 ppg (won scoring title), in the 2010-2011 season KD averaged 27.7 ppg (won scoring title). Yet MJ took 1,892 shots, KD took 1,538. That's a difference of 354 shots. So lets just say for easy math that 154 shots of those are 3 pointers and 250 are 2 pointers. According to Durant's averages thats an additional 424 points on the year, which raises his average to 33.1 ppg (all these numbers are rounded to the highest tenth to obviously make my argument look better). 33.1 is a lot more than 27 when that comes out to an average. Now why does this all matter? It's all hypothetical isn't it, you could say the same about LeBron you're probably saying. But there's one thing here...Russell Westbrook. We all know him and the fact of the matter is without Westbrook there, Durant probably gets those extra 424 shots. Now I think we all know that the two of them won't be together forever. I truly believe that Westbrook will leave one day to become "the guy" at another team. And when that happens it will become Durant's team, no questions. He will get those shots us and he can start to take on the role that Jordan did when they won those titles. He can form a team around him and be the scorer that can take a team to many many titles. His shots will go up, his ppg will go up, and as his skills continue to develop, so will his ring total.

I think there's no doubt MJ's GOAT throne is in
jeopardy...just a matter of which one will take it

3. Closer. Ask yourself this, if the game is on the line who do you want taking the final shot. Jordan. No question. Now in the NBA today, who do you want taking the final shot. Kobe. No question. Once Kobe leaves, who do you want taking the final shot. Durant. No question. Don't say LeBron, please don't say that. Just because he won 1 title does not erase all the problems he's had in closing games. Sure he did it for the Celtics series and a bit in the Finals, but those were more putting the game away. Buzzer beaters, last possessions of games with it tied or you're down, I want the ball in Durant's hands. LeBron will do what he does best in those situations and find the "right guy" to take the shot, but that's not what I want. I want a man who will shoot over 3 guys vs passing it to a guy in the corner because in his mind his shot is going to go in, that guy in the corner eh I'm not so sure. That's what Jordan had. Rarely did he pass up a game winning shot. Watch the highlights, I kid you not sometimes he takes a 18 ft. jumper with three guys on him when a guy is wide open 4 ft from the basket, but in his head MJ knew his shot was better and it was his job to win the game. I don't think LBJ knows that, but I think Durant does. Once he begins to diversify his game even more, he will be deadly in closing games. Losing leads and games like they did in the Finals won't happen and he will win titles. More than LeBron will.

Now I know this is out there, and in terms of this I'm gonna say what my Dad always says about the LDS Church, "we are either 100% correct or not even on the map". That's how I feel about this, I'm not writing this to spark up controversy or an argument, this is what I truly see happening in the future. Durant has all the potential Jordan had, with a better outside shot. He takes less shots than Jordan did. He got the the finals quicker than MJ did. Remember it took Jordan 7 years to win a title, took LeBron 9, and Durant his currently in his 6th season. I legitimately feel that as he develops and learns to score in more ways then he already does and  learns to play better defense, that Durant will win multiple championships. And because LeBron is so naturally athletic, so gifted, so talented, that when Durant over shadows him and beats him and takes the reigns as greatest in the NBA, that we as fans will have to admit that somebody who took that from someone like LeBron has to be the greatest of all time. I'm not trying to take anything from LeBron, I admit he is amazing and the best all around player I've ever seen to be honest, but that's not always what we want. Oscar Robertson averaged a career triple double but he's not in the talks as much as Dr. J was, same thing here. It may be weird to see, but 15 years from now a bunch of kids in gyms around the world will be sporting 35 on their jersey and doin little shakes at the free throw line. You don't have to believe me, but if that time ever comes you just remember what I said.

Say Goodbye to Hollywood?...Nah

My my, sometimes living in Utah is a bit of a challenge. I understand passion but sometimes that's not passion you have, it's well...bias. All I heard was "we beat the Lakers, I think this is the year" and "Utah are runnin the table". Oh how you forget the road losses so quick. Yea the Jazz beat the Lakers, but who hasn't these days? Trouble in LA, that's a fact but I don't think its as big of a problem as everyone says, and even more so, I don't think the problem is what everyone always claims it to be.

Look, no matter what you think professional athletes are people, very talented people, but people all the same. Just because they make millions of dollars and get to play a sport as their job and get to go to all sorts of cool events, and only have to "work work" for part of the year and get to travel all over the world and be idolized by billions...wait where was I going with this? Oh yea, that doesn't make them any different than you or I. Ok that's a complete lie it makes them totally different but in terms of personality, sometimes we overlook these people have imperfections like us, and in this particular case (as it has been a lot in the past) they have trouble adjusting to different situations. I'm referring to the Lakers issue of late.

Oh my gosh there 1-4, it's the end of the world, fire Mike Brown, move the team to Hawai'i, they're all old and selfish. Overreactions I say. Do you realize if the lakers go 2-1 over a 3 game stretch for the rest of the season they'll be 26-15 at the half way mark? That's win-lose-win, something I'm sure they can do so lets all just relax right now and try to understand why they struggle. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say something that many people would probably disagree with, NBA players, and many professional athletes in general, are not that selfish. I think a lot of people are trying to say what they said when the heat got together (and sometimes what happens when the Olympic basketball teams get together as well), and that is that they can't play together because they all want the ball and all want to get their stats and their minutes and fulfill their needs. I don't think thats the case, its a comfort thing to me, and they are just trying to get comfortable.

He's used to having the ball in his hand more
often than not (also kinda looks like Drew
Brees in this picture right? weird...maybe Brees
is actually both people and that scar on his face
is just a cover up...wouldn't put it past him)

Let's look at the facts for the team that won the NBA title last year. Remember this whole fiasco in 2010. They started off 10-8, went 1-4 through and early stretch in their season, and ended up making the NBA finals that year. Do you really think its because Wade, Bosh, and LeBron all wanted to score more than the other? All of the Olympic teams, do you really believe that most of those people (I say most because there definitely are some) put their personal gain over the nations? No, they find it tough to play together not because they are selfish, but because they are comfortable with their games. Lets throw in a real life example in here because by this point I usually have about 14 references so I'm falling behind. New kid moves into school sophomore year of high school. Kid was a stud at this last school; knew everyone, had a girlfriend, great student, good athlete, the works. So he moves into this new school and for the first two months hasn't made any friends because he's trying to figure out how to meet new people because he's never been in this situation before. Did the kid himself change? No he still has the same personality, same beliefs, all that, he's just not getting results because he's not comfortable yet. So let's focus this onto the Lakers.

Let's start with Nash. If anybody watched the first couple games you saw what I saw, Steve Nash kinda floating around. He's used to having the ball in his hands because he needed to have the ball in his hands, now he doesn't need to hold onto the ball for 17 seconds of the shot clock so what does he do...he doesn't really know. He's not comfortable not having the ball in his hands and isn't sure how to help the offense without it.

Dwight's just gotta get used to him always being right there

Next to Dwight, in Orlando (and really the east for that matter) he was THE big guy. Now he has another perennial all start down in the post with him. Now I think he's flourished the most because of this on the offensive side of the ball because of the freedom Pau has given him, but I also think it has thrown the offense off. He can't just post up (pun intended) in the paint because Pau may be flashing across or have a better mismatch than him. Pau's gonna be there all season, he's gotta get used to that. 

Don't you fret...this man will get 'em right.

Now to Kobe. Get over it people he's legit, it wasn't rape like you think it was rape and for probably a good 8 years he was the greatest basketball player on the planet. Now he does want his shots and its been documented that he has had a selfish attitude, but of late he's shared the ball with Pau and been much more of a team player. If you watched the Olympics you saw him take 2 shots in a half (that's like a girl only watching 5 minutes of the Bachorlette...just doesn't happen they always need more) so don't tell me its all for him. Kobe, like Jordan, is a competitor and wants to win, if he thinks shooting 30 times will win the game he will shoot 35 just to make sure. Call it a fault but its the reason he was the greatest in the league for a long time. Now his job in this situation, which is throwing him off, is maximizing Nash and Dwight's game. In the past Pau has been a little different, and in the triangle I think he was utilized better, but now Kobe must manage the team from the court and make sure that Nash and Dwight are being themselves.

So how does this all happen, let's look back at the teams that fixed it and managed it. 1992 Dream Team - Chuck Daly (R.I.P. Chuck we all miss you). This is the man that defeated the greatest player ever at the time three straight years in the Eastern Conference Finals (the difference between Jordan and LeBrown will always be Mike stuck it out and didn't leave to make his own all-star team). The dream team in 2008 & 2012 compared to the one in 2004...Mike Krzyzewski, one of if not the greatest coach of all time. Lakers when they won it with all that talent, Phil Jackson. The difference is coach, even Spoelstra has proven to be able to deal with it. This is where it is Mike Brown's duty and job to make the comfortable, not change their game, not change who they are, but make them comfortable while doing it. That's why if they end up at 10-15 or even under .500 I'm fine with firing him, but give him some time and give the players some time.

We have all had times where we feel off because we don't feel right, don't feel calm and collected, don't feel comfortable, and its been weird. That's how LA is feeling, and how they might feel for a few more weeks. But mark my words they will be a force at some point in the year and I'll be able to wear my Lakers jersey around Utah and laugh (funny thing is I'm not even a Lakers fan). Just give it time.



e. moats