[size=15.555556297302246px]SAN ANTONIO — Fresh off his speech to a troop of local Boy Scouts, Spurs legend George Gervin was asked about his similarities to NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant.[/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px]It certainly wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last.[/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px]Separated by almost 40 years, the two scoring machines were seemingly cloned from the same genetic material, sharing everything from their wispy builds to an otherworldly ability to put the ball in the basket. (Duran’t career scoring average of 27.02 ranks sixth in NBA history, while Gervin is ninth at 26.2.)[/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px]But there’s a difference, Gervin said: Durant, in the midst of one of the great individual runs in NBA history over the past month, is simply better.[/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px]“He’s a phenom,” said Gervin, 61. “A guy his size, can put the ball on the floor, shoot the ball as well as he can, it makes him unstoppable. People do compare him with me. I hear it a lot. But the only reason is because he’s slim, he can put the ball on the floor and he can score.[/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px]“He scores differently than I did. Shoots deeper. Three, four inches taller. Unstoppable. Only guy who can stop him is him. I wasn’t bad. That was a long time ago, you know. I’m real comfortable with my career. But he’s special. I’m glad to be around to still be compared.”[/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px]Making such comparisons across eras is always difficult, and it’s no different in this case. With Gervin and Durant, it’s less about how they played than the leagues they played in.[/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px]NBA teams averaged about three 3-point attempts per game during the earliest seasons of its inception, with many of those coming in end-of-clock/quarter situations. The current average is more than 21 3s per game. Conversely, the game was played at a much higher pace back then: Roughly 103 possessions per game, nine more than the current 94. More possessions = more shots = more points.[/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px]Gervin’s best season was 1979-80, in which he averaged 33.1 points for the third of his four scoring titles. Durant, still only 25, is currently in the midst of his, on pace to win his fourth crown at 31.1 points per game. Adjusted per 36 minutes, we can get a better idea how they stack up:[/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px][size=15.555556297302246px]Gervin[/size][/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px]79-80: 31.7 ppg, 52.8 FG %, 31.4 3-pt %, 85.2 FT %, 4.9 rpg, 2.5 apg, 58.7 TS %, 24.0 Player Efficiency Rating[/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px][size=15.555556297302246px]Durant[/size][/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px]13-14: 29.4 ppg, 51.2 FG %, 41.3 3-pt %, 88.2 FT %, 7.2 rpg, 5.0 apg, 64.5 TS %, 31.0 Player Efficiency Rating[/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px]Not even getting into the superior floor game, Durant is significantly more efficient. Gervin’s true-shooting percentage was excellent, but Durant’s is simply off the charts. Gervin might very well have developed a better 3-point shot had he played in a later era. (His percentage in 79-80 was more than three points higher than the league average.) Unfortunately for him, there’s no way to account for probably the single biggest difference between the two as scorers. Then there’s the fact Durant averages about two more free throw attempts per 36 minutes.[/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px]So it would seem that Gervin isn’t merely assuming the role of humble elder statesman. (He also declined to take credit as a stylistic influence, preferring to credit Durant as a singularly great player.)[/size]

[size=15.555556297302246px]At the very least, Gervin has a much cooler nickname, literally and figuratively:[/size]

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Edited by: tyrone, Feb 5th, 2014 @ 7:32 pm

"Unstoppable. Only guy who can stop him is him. I wasn’t bad. That was a long time ago, you know. I’m real comfortable with my career. But he’s special. I’m glad to be around to still be compared."

That's a great line. Classy.

So, you're posting because someone from an era you have insulted... someone who isn't near the top ten says he wasn't as good as KD is now?

Gotta love it. It fails to prove anything and doesn't validate your opinion at all so you post it as a celebration.

BTW, Gervin also wasn't a top defender... so maybe there is something to your comparison.

Agree, both dudes are extremely likable.

Durant proved himself at Texas and proving himself in the NBA just about every night. You just refuse to believe your lying eyes...........or perhaps you aren't looking. On his way to 4th scoring title in five years. Without Westbrook carrying the team on his back leading OKC to number 1 power ranking. Players are better than in the era you romanticize. There's weren't no Griffins, Lebron, Kobe, who do things not even imagined back in the day. How many fast break Alley Oop dunks Heinsohn, Sharman, Cousy, Baylor, West, even Chamberlain throw down? The guys Durant faces night in and night out and far quicker, faster, and athletic than anything your heroes faced when doing their thing.


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Edited by: tyrone, Feb 6th, 2014 @ 11:28 am

lying eyes lol

To but Griffin in hat same category as Bron is embarrassing.

Griffin is an awful comparison... he doesn't know the game... He jumps out of the roof yes... he has a low BBall IQ and I rather have Chris Webber at his prime.

You show time and again that your opinions are based on what you like...not about the game.

Webber in his prime :chills:

Best passing big man ever?