Kevin Durant

Lakers Fast Break- KD Decides To Stay With The Nets…Time For Plan B For The Lakers? Group Chat!

August 24, 2022 By Lakers Fast Break Leave a Comment

Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets come to an agreement on him staying with the team “moving forward” so the Nets are no longer seeking to trade off their core players. With a Kyrie trade seemingly out the window, where does this leave the Lakers? And can we still significantly improve the team? The guys are back as LakerTom from lakerholics.com, Joe Soro from lakersball.com, and YouTube’s John Mikaelian discuss the potential options for the team plus thoughts on Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers episode three on the latest Lakers Fast Break Podcast!

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Lakers Fast Break- Lakers Free Agency Special!

June 30, 2022 By Lakers Fast Break Leave a Comment

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Lakers and Nets On a Collision Course for Epic Battle of Superstar Big Threes

August 26, 2021 By LakerTom 5 Comments

Nothing would be sweeter than the NBA emerging from two Covid infected seasons to celebrate its 75th anniversary with an epic battle of Superstar Big Threes between the powerhouse Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets.

The NBA has always been a superstars’ league and the Lakers’ bold trade for Westbrook was just another inevitable step in the steady evolution of player movement that now has superstars openly colluding to create superteams. Never hesitant to swing for the fences or shoot for the moon, the Lakers created a LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook Superstar Big Three to match the Nets’ Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden.

By trading for Westbrook, the Lakers conceded they were unsure they could win running it back with the same roster and confirmed a Superstar Big Three was now the minimum price to compete for the NBA championship. With newly minted Superstar Big Threes, the Lakers and Nets enter the 2021–22 season heavily favored to win their conferences and locked and loaded on a collision course to meet next June in the NBA Finals.

Assuming both teams avoid the injuries that derailed their recent seasons, which superteam and which Superstar Big Three has the better chance of winning the 2022 NBA Finals: the Los Angeles Lakers or Brooklyn Nets?

THE ‘ALPHAS’: LEBRON JAMES OR KEVIN DURANT?

Any analysis to determine who has the best Superstar Big Three has to begin with a comparison of LeBron James and Kevin Durant, the alpha dog superstars who are the Lakers’ and Nets’ team leaders and best players.

The question is whether LeBron James at 36-years old can continue to defy Father Time and deliver yet another MVP level performance or whether the time has arrived for Kevin Durant to take over as best player on the planet. While many NBA pundits have already moved Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo ahead of LeBron James as the best player on the planet, it could be premature to take the best player throne away from the King.

Both LeBron and KD struggled last season with injuries with James playing just 45 of the Lakers’ 72 regular season games due to a high ankle sprain and Durant only 35 of the Nets’ 72 regular season games due to hamstring. James averaged 25.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.8 assists in 33.4 minutes per game shooting 51.3/36.5/69.8% while Durant averaged 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists in 33.1 minutes per game shooting 53.7/45.0/88.2%.

The 36-year old James won four NBA rings: two with the Heat in 2012 and 2013, one with the Cavs in 2016, and one with the Lakers in 2020. The 32-year old Durant won two NBA rings with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018. LeBron and Kevin are both looking for breakout seasons returning from injuries. The big question is whether LeBron has another championship run left in the tank or whether Kevin Durant will take over as the best player.

Assuming both are healthy, LeBron James and Kevin Durant are clearly the league’s top two superstars right now. Chances are the team who has the best alpha superstar is likely to be the team that wins the 2022 NBA Finals.

THE ‘ROBINS’: ANTHONY DAVIS OR KYRIE IRVING?

Heading into 2021–22, the next most important members of the Lakers’ and the Nets’ Superstar Big Threes are Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, the co-superstars or ‘Robins’ to LeBron James’ and Kevin Durant’s Batmen.

While Davis and Irving are their team’s second options, they are also both proven superstars who have championship resumes and rings to prove it. Both have the talent and mentality to be the best player in a playoff series. Both won championship rings as ‘Robins’ to LeBron James ‘Batman.’ Anthony won his championship ring playing with Lebron and the Lakers in 2020 while Kyrie won his playing with LeBron and the Cavaliers in 2016.

Davis and Irving, much like James and Durant, are looking to bounce back from injury riddled last seasons. Davis played in just 36 of the Lakers’ 72 regular season games while Irving played in only 54 of the Net’s 72 games. Davis averaged 21.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists in 32.3 minutes per game shooting 49.1/26.0/73.8% while Irving averaged 26.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists in 34.9 minutes per game shooting 50.6/40.2/92.2%.

Should alpha superstars LeBron James and Kevin Durant battle to a draw, Anthony Davis or Kyrie Irving could easily emerge as the superstar who wins Finals MVP for the championship Los Angeles Lakers or Brooklyn Nets.

THE ‘CATALYSTS’: RUSSELL WESTBROOK VS. JAMES HARDEN?

The key to whether the Lakers or Nets win the NBA championship could depend on the performance of Russell Westbrook or James Harden, two enigmatic superstar guards who are wild card catalysts for their teams.

The 32-year old Westbrook and 32-year old Harden have both been severely criticized and maligned for never having won an NBA championship and for playing a selfish style of basketball not conducive to winning in the playoffs. This despite Westbrook winning MVP in 2017 and being voted to 9 different All-NBA teams during his 13-year career and Harden winning MVP in 2018 and being voted to 7 different All-NBA teams during his 12-year career.

As third wheels, Westbrook and Harden are the members of the Lakers’ and Nets’ Superstar Big Threes who will be forced to make the biggest sacrifices to their games in terms of fewer touches, shots, and possibly playing time. Russ averaged 22.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, 11.7 assists in 36.4 minutes per game shooting 43.9/31.5/65.6% while James averaged 24.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 10.8 assists in 36.6 minutes per game shooting 47.1/36.6/85.6%.

There’s a possibility the 2021–22 NBA championship could come down to how well Russell Westbrook and James Harden filled their roles as catalysts and figured out exactly what they needed to do for their team to win.

THE ‘CHAMPS’: LOS ANGELES LAKERS OR BROOKLYN NETS?

While basketball is a team game, the 2022 NBA Championship will likely be won by the team whose superstars play the best. That’s why pundits expect the Lakers and Nets with their Superstar Big Threes to be in the Finals.

The pundits believe the Nets’ Superstar Big Three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden may be the best superstar trio in the history of the league with three elite scorers who can get buckets at all three levels. Meanwhile, those same pundits see the Los Angeles Lakers’ Superstar Big Three of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook as flawed, primarily because Davis and Westbrook are subpar 3-point shooters.

The Lakers’ and Nets’ Superstar Big Threes appear to be fairly matched when it comes to combined points, rebounds, and assists. The Nets are obviously better offensively while the Lakers probably better defensively. Right now, the Nets are favorites because of their elite 3-point shooting but the Lakers’ Superstar Big Three have the size, length, physicality, and athleticism to bully and dominate Brooklyn in the paint and on the boards.

We’ll get a better feel during the season whether the Lakers or Nets will finish as favorites. For certain, the arms race between these two teams is far from over and both will be looking to make moves at the deadline.

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Brooklyn Nets: Two Different Paths to Championship!

February 18, 2021 By LakerTom 3 Comments

It’s a shame Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant will miss tonight’s matchup between the teams favored to meet in the NBA Finals but there’s clearly a sense of fairness and karma by having both teams missing a superstar.

But there’s more at stake tonight than just bragging rights between the Nets and Lakers. Tonight we get a first look at a possible answer to the question of whether a third superstar or deep and talented roster is more important. Granted, we’d get a truer answer were AD and KD both playing but tonight’s game still comes down to a contest between the Nets with two superstars and a weak roster vs. the Lakers with one superstar and deep roster.

The outcome of tonight’s game could even impact the decisions of the Lakers and Nets front offices before the trade deadline. The Lakers have long been scheming ways to add a third superstar to James and Davis. Tonight’s game could motivate them to chase a third superstar or stand pat. Meanwhile, the Nets will be looking for ways to bolster their shallow, weak bench after trading away their depth to add third superstar James Harden.

In the end, it’s unlikely the results of tonight’s game will change anything for either team as it’s simply another regular season game and neither team has the necessary trading chips to make dramatic changes to their rosters. The Lakers aren’t going to jettison their invaluable roster depth and talent for a third superstar and the both teams are going to be limited to shopping the buyout markets to upgrade their rosters at this point in time.

But that doesn’t mean tonight’s game is not going to give us a glimpse of how the Lakers and Nets matchup and a preview of the NBA Finals teams. The NBA is a superstar league and the Lakers and Nets are superstar teams. So who should be favored? That Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant are not playing should favor the Lakers as they have the deeper and more talented roster and expose the Nets who have the weaker and more flawed roster.

In addition to having the deeper and more talented bench, two other factors that should favor the Lakers are they are the top ranked defensive team in the league and also have the best superstar on the planet in LeBron James. Finally, while superstars dominate the NBA, championships are still won by teams and the Lakers at this point in time are clearly a ‘better’ team than the Nets, who are still trying to figure out how to play with each other.

Assuming their deeper and more talented roster can execute its ‘Next Man Up’ philosophy, the Lakers should be able to contain the Nets’ Harden and Irving like they consistently did to the Rockets’ Harden and Westbrook.

Who’ll Take the Throne from LeBron? Can Kevin Durant Return as the King?

May 19, 2020 By LakerTom 1 Comment

This is the 3rd in a series of six articles about the top NBA superstars who hope to dethrone King James as the best player on the planet over the next decade. Here are links to our two previous articles covering Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard.

A two-time NBA Finals MVP and NBA champion, Kevin Durant was another superstar whom, like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard, analysts believed had surpassed LeBron James to be the best player in the league.

Even though age and recent Achilles injury have taken some of the luster off his chances to dethrone James and become the best player of the 2020’s, the 6′ 10″, 240 lb 31-year old Durant cannot be discounted as a candidate. Before his injury during last year’s Finals, many experts considered Kevin to be the best player in the NBA after leading the Golden State Warriors to back-to-back championships over LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Now with his third team in twelve years, Kevin Durant has joined Kyrie Irving and a talented young Brooklyn Nets team that should be one of the favorites to challenge the Milwaukee Bucks as the best team in the East. Like Giannis and the Bucks and Kawhi and the Clippers, Kevin and the Nets will need to become a dominant team and win multiple NBA championships for him to have a chance to earn honors as the best player of the decade.

How KD recovers from his torn Achilles will determine whether he’ll be able to come back and be included in the conversation as to which superstar will assume the throne from LeBron and become the king for the next decade. The 31-year old, Durant will face an uphill battle not only to regain the transcendent ability he had before the injury but also to stay relevant and rule for an entire decade in the 2020’s as LeBron did during the 2010’s.

If Kevin can fully recover from his Achilles injury and with Kyrie turn the Brooklyn Nets into an NBA long-term dynasty, he could then beat the long odds and be able to replace LeBron as the NBA king of the next decade.