Adsense

YB

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Durant: Scorer Extraordinaire

Kevin Durant is one of the most efficient and unstoppable scorers I, or the League, has ever seen.  Simply said, the guy can put the ball in the basket.  Although he may not (yet) be the League’s overall best player, as a recently crowned King in Miami may have already laid claim to that title, you would be hard-pressed to find someone with superior scoring ability to KD in today’s NBA.  

Durant is a machine.  Three pointers, pull-ups, step-backs, turnarounds, drives, dunks; the dude has them all in his arsenal and can pull out any at the drop of a dime.  The three straight scoring titles should come as no surprise to anyone who has had the opportunity to watch Durant play, as he is able to score over the world’s best defenders with the same ease as a high schooler balling on his younger brother’s Little Tikes hoop.  

Dirk Nowitzki is widely celebrated as one of the world’s best scorers, as he has a great shot, great range, and an uncanny ability to hit extremely difficult, heavily defended, off-balanced shots.  Kevin Durant is like an athletic Nowitzki; he can do all of that same stuff, plus he has the ability to drive the lane, jump over you, and dunk on your head.  Durant is extremely well-rounded, and his size (Durant stands over 6’9’’) makes him unstoppable from almost anywhere on the court. A combination of that size, athleticism, and shooting ability doesn’t even seem fair.  Dirk has laregely been able to dominate offensively based off of his size and shot; imagine what Durant could do with those same two assets plus extreme athleticism. 

The three scoring titles Durant has already laid claim to (which are more than either Shaq or Kobe  has up to this point in his career; or many other legends you would think to list) have come at such an early point in his career, that it would be somewhat shocking if he didn’t secure several more throughout his playing days.  And the dude is only 24 years old!!  KD is still only impoving, and his game has expanded almost each season, as he has continued to add muscle, leading to improvements on the defensive end and on the glass.  To think that he snagged three scoring titles while still somewhat raw and undeveloped  should be a pretty scary thought for the rest of the League.  

At this rate, barring any serious injury, Kevin Durant has an opportunity to become one of the most prolific scorers in basketball history, and maybe even make a run at Kareem’s long-standing scoring record.  There’s no reason to think that he couldn’t.  Durant is poised to dominate for the next decade, and as he continues to grow and improve as a player, his scoring numbers should, if not improve, at least remain consistent with the high level they are already at.  We are witnessing one of the most prolific scorers the game has ever seen, and everyone needs to take note.


No comments:

Post a Comment