LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant: Who is a best small forward in the league? NBA Feature (Part-2)
LeBron James and Kevin Durant are the best players on their respective teams and their team’s success heavily depends on the duo. As a result of the grand hype James and Durant have received in the early stages of the NBA career,
the argument as to who is a better player is at large.
In order to draw a conclusion for this debate, every aspect of the game needs to be analyzed and this is what we will do in this feature.
Passing and Ball Handling
LeBron James is one of the best players in the league when it comes to ball handling making plays for his team. Playing at the small forward position, James has the ability to handle the ball like a point guard which is one of
the most dominating aspects of his game. James passing capabilities can be easily assessed with his career average of 7 assists per game. In the last season as well, he was the play maker in chief for Miami Heat, a team which was at the bottom of the ladder
overall in that aspect.
James is a beast on the offense there is no doubt about that, but what people do not give credit him so much for is the amount of chances, he creates for his team-mates to score.
For Kevin Durant though, ball handling and passing is an area, he needs to work on. Although Durant is a good dribbler of the ball however comparing his control on the ball to that of LeBron, the Oklahoma City star has a lot of
ground to cover. Durant however has just played for four seasons in NBA and his game will only get better with the passage of time.
At the moment though, James is better than Durant when it comes to handling and passing the ball on the court.
Rebounding
LeBron James and Kevin Durant are both outstanding rebounders and post players, a trait which makes them extremely dangerous. However James has a little edge over Durant in rebounding, not only because he is more experienced but
because the Heat superstar is more muscular and aggressive in the post. In his career so far, James has averaged 7.1 boards per game. In contrast, Kevin Durant has also done an impressive job with a career average of 6.3 rebounds per game, but he has over
the years built the reputation of being soft on the paint.
In a recent interview, Durant accredited this as a part of team strategy, but the fact remains that most of the teams double team him and it is this fact that he avoid going all out. Kevin Durant will also do well to add some muscle
on his skinny body to avoid being pushed around by the bigger players of the league.
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