LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant: Who is a best small forward in the league? NBA Feature (Part-3)
Defence
Neither LeBron James nor Kevin Durant is a superb defender as their individual role in their respective team is to keep the score board ticking and the duo focuses more on their offensive games. However, in order to draw a conclusion
of the debate that who is a better player overall, James is easily a good defender than Durant.
Although James primary role in Miami Heat is to provide fireworks on the front court and he has done that to perfection in the last season. However, with the size, athleticism and aggressiveness LeBron James carry, the dynamic
small forward has all the components to be one of the best defenders if he spends more time on the back court. Even now, James is doing an impressive job on the defence and knows how to weigh down the sharp-shooter of the opposition.
On the other hand, Kevin Durant is still working to discover his defensive game. One of the major hurdles which hamper Durant from being a good defender is his slender physique. A player needs to be physically strong and muscular
like Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett and even James to guard the rim. Durant has a good height however he needs to gain some weight and bring more aggressiveness in his game to find what he has been looking for, a defensive game. This will not only help Durant
to improve as a versatile player, Oklahoma City Thunder will earn more toughness on the court as well.
Shooting
Kevin Durant and LeBron James both are strong and versatile shooters. However, over the span of four years of his NBA career, Oklahoma City Thunder’s small forward Durant has proved himself a better shooter than James and has outperformed
the Miami Heat superstar in career free throw percentage, three-point percentage and shooting efficiency.
One of the dominating aspects of Kevin Durant is his incredible shooting from beyond the arc. Durant has connected more than 35 percent of his shots from downtown which makes him one of the best parameter shooter. Kevin does not
miss many on the free throws as well and always responds to any opportunity which arises during the game. With a shooting percentage of more 88 percent from the charity strip, Kevin Durant is regarded as one of the best free throw scorer in the league.
On the other hand, LeBron James is not at all a bad shooter however, comparing his stats with Durant, James need to do a better job to surpass Thunder’s small forward in shooting. LeBron is not the best of the shooters in the league
when it comes to free throws. Looking at Heat player’s career, James has connected only 75 percent of his shots from the charity strip which is far less from Durant. Considering the long distance shooting, there is not a big difference between James and Kevin
but LeBron losses the contest with a a 3-point percentage of 32.9 percent.
One area where LeBron James is stronger than Durant is the field goal shooting however; overall, Kevin Durant has proved himself as a better shooter.
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