What really should be the only concern: two teams but one throne.
What all the spectators guiltily seemed to have dominating their focus that night: two players, one crown.
Atop the unwritten rules list is, for some reason, that the mecca of all judgmental praise must lie in one player, and that’s that. The throne that the player occupies, the crown he or she basks under, has the fate of status in the hands of arguments across the basketball globe, fluctuating from game to game performances.
These days it’s Kevin Durant v. LeBron James. If that title sounds boringly unoriginal and originally boring, it’s probably because every national sports news outlet on the continent has hammered the buzzing hype of that key matchup to the public like some annoying reminder beating everyone’s eardrums in. That’s all anyone ever focuses on, it seems like…the “marquee matchup.”
It must be presented this way, though, because so many NBA fans come and go with their interest in the rapidly changing parade of persistent demand to keep up on new updates. Many of them hear “LeBron” and think of the best in the game, and that label may need to change now. Much the same, stars are coming, and stars are going in the league. James will continue to get the deserving praise as long as he still has a pair of rings to support his success now, but the granite-hard truth is that Durant is flat-out stomping James into that granite at this point. (Remember the key words: “at this point.”)
Durant, having evolved like the iPhone every year, always seeming to emerge from one year to the next having improved in yet another aspect, has taken his plethora of attributes to a whole different level this year. It’s been the elevated standard of leadership intangibles necessary to succeed in the postseason that’s made the greatest impression so far.
He’d counted on point guard Russell Westbrook for the last six years of his seven-year career to control the tempo and initiate offensive sparks with his athleticism. Durant’s imperative attempt to fill those shoes—much smaller than his, but figuratively a giant step into shoes much ‘bigger’ and more supreme to his realm of comfortable familiarity. He’d never had to take the initiative Westbrook had always handled until then.
Durant failed to win more than a game in their five game Semi Finals series with Memphis that spring. His teammate at the time, Kevin Martin, even said they had “lost the guy (Westbrook) that has the keys to our car,” implying, basically, that Durant was not really the true floor leader of their team. It was like unexpectedly asking a running back to play wide receiver for a few weeks: capable, but not truly prepared or mentally ready.
Still sidelined to this day, Westbrook has watched Durant blossom into the leader his team needed, needs, and will need him to continue to be. Over the past month, he’s averaged 37 points per game and has had more 40-point games just the month of January than anyone else has all season. As of this past Saturday, he’s led his team to a 10-game winning streak and the best record in the NBA.
He’s finally come to succeed without the presence of his partner in crime, Westbrook, whose crime on the court ran fluent until caught in Injury Alley. That said, it’ll be all the more interesting to see how they operate in March or possibly April when Westbrook has returned. For now, all hats must be tipped to Durant and his dream-perfect adaption to his new role.
Now here’s the reference into the past everyone must keep in mind. This time last year, Durant had a slight edge over James in the MVP race as he looked to be well on his way. Sometime around the comeback from February’s All-Star weekend, James kicked it in, propelling his team through that historical 27-game win streak, all while giving his stat sheet a full body tattoo with numbers in the neighborhood of triple doubles nearly every night. He was putting up all the address digits of that neighborhood—and more. It was incredible.
So no, never let “at this point” predetermine anything in an MVP race.
James’ ability to assertively take over every facet of the game was what got the ball really rolling for them. James’ motive must be what Durant has done as a leader so heavily impacting upon his team every possession. Alluding to the individual matchup he refuses to get caught up in, James says before his game against the Thunder, “My motivation runs deep beyond my counterparts.”
And it surely must. Motivation for this guy could be anything from Cleveland, to history books, sometimes probably to Skip Bayless, and most certainly to the enjoyment of winning and sorrow of losing.
At the same time, there’s no hiding what James seeks. He’s said countless times that he’s great friends with Durant. They work out together in the summer. Durant said they text each other frequently. There’s no questioning the mutual bond of respect and competitiveness they share. James is seeking to keep his crown as the ‘King’ by winning, and that’s all that matters. Frankly, his buddy is passing him in the race.
As much as they are friends, the fact of the matter is that there will be times when Durant’s success directly becomes detrimental to James’. Last week, on Wednesday night, the Heat vs. Thunder matchup in South Beach proved to be just that.
A 18-2 Miami lead to open the gate soon meant nothing as the Thunder stormed back. Lightning flashes of the individual matchup didn’t tell much of the story as James became relatively uninvolved for questionable periods of time. Though when he was left to play with a weak lineup, for instance late in the first, he knew exactly what he had to do. Aggression in mind, he took three consecutive possessions under his wide wings, attacking the rim like a commodore does his prey. One of the takes, absorbed fearlessly through the limbs of Durant, forced him into his second foul as a result. And so Durant trotted sheepishly to his bench seat, to which he buckled on and cooled off—for a while.
Durant later came back after watching his team’s bench outscore the Heat’s, 23-8 that half. Igniting a 12-0 run, the Thunder had received that helpful shove to the spine of the team’s run. Durant provided timely, tough jumpers and fast break opportunities. This was a chapter in the story, a game in the season of his success.
He’d shown to be taking that thunderous leadership initiative he’d been criticized of leaving be for too long.
The second half was all his. Spring-loaded release after smooth, quick jump shot, Durant put the Heat away before the fourth even started, finishing with 33. Missing 15 straight three-pointers, the Heat’s cold shooting was the ice to the Thunder’s cloudy steam; the Thunder reacted and took advantage of Miami’s offensive struggles to claw back.
After his team’s turnover frenzy, James had seen enough. He tried isolations for himself, as he does when things are falling apart, but his pull-up and fall-away jumpers would only fall for so long, and only long enough to pad his point total, which reached 34 in meaningless minutes.
He knew it was over. Well, his shot at winning the game was. Past scenarios, like last year, suggest not to admit the MVP race ever is, obviously, but this matchup in which James guarded Durant—and vice versa—all game can certainly point towards where on the map the next MVP, maybe even Finals MVP trophy will be.
Durant, more recently dubbed as the ‘Slim Reaper,’ seems to have finally risen from the underworld of second-best on down this season and has looked to have taken the crown. The time has finally come for a man who finished second to James in the MVP voting in three of the past four years. If the campaign of electric performances all season wasn’t enough, last Wednesday’s game solidified the Reaper’s slaying of the King, officially dethroning him on the spot.
Both the game and eminent individual ‘race’ were considered to be a wrap and completely over with. As a result, alluding to ‘adapting’ to the changed role of leadership, Durant can get used to adapting to this new role, too: the leader of the basketball world.