Neither LeBron James nor Kevin Durant had the sort of playoffs they were hoping for this year.
Although the Brooklyn Nets obviously advanced further than the Los Angeles Lakers did in 2021-22, both teams failed to achieve their ultimate goal – winning a championship.
This past week NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen spoke with Yahoo’s Vincent Goodwill about a myriad of topics.
Among them: how Durant ultimately stacks up to James.
Although Pippen was very complimentary of Durant’s talents, he made it clear that James was still the superior player.
“Surpassing LeBron James takes a little bit more than an individual effort,” Pippen said.
“LeBron James is a complete team player who understands team and winning.
“Has (Durant) gotten to that level yet? He went home (in the playoffs) … I think he still has some learning to do in terms of what it takes to will a team to victory.”
This isn’t the first time Pippen has waded into a debate of this nature.
A while back, he also definitively answered the question of who was better between James and his former Chicago Bulls teammate, Michael Jordan.
Yikes. https://t.co/rP9DViKpei
— Game 7 (@game7__) June 14, 2021
Needless to say, that assessment caused something of a stir.
While both James and Durant are incredible talents, it’s hard to argue with Pippen’s rationale. The latter is an incredible player, but the former is a cut above any other active player in the NBA today – both in terms of accolades and skill level.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
