The recent NBA offseason survey shared by Tim Bontemps of ESPN to determine who the best player in the world is has sparked controversy all over social media. NBA executives and scouts participated and Nets forward Kevin Durant received five votes, tying him with Giannis Antetokounmpo for the most votes on the list.
This by itself has many questioning who will take the throne for this title next season. Antetokounmpo is fresh off of winning a championship while Durant took the Nets toe-to-toe with the Greek Freak’s Bucks in seven games. Keep in mind, the two other Nets superstars were not healthy for the series.
With all this chatter about these two beasts of the East, LeBron James isn’t happy about receiving zero votes on this poll.
THANK YOU! As if I didn’t need more to⛽️ ME! #Washed👑
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 19, 2021
James took his Los Angeles Lakers to only the first round last season, losing to the NBA Finalists of the West, the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers were depleted with Anthony Davis going down for good with a groin injury in Game 6. In that series, the King was averaging 23.3 PPG, 8 APG and 7.2 RPG before getting eliminated in six games.
As convincing to see James do this at 36-year-old and as convincing as it was to see Antetokounmpo lead Milwaukee to their first championship in 50 years, Stephen A.Smith admitted that this isn’t enough. On First Take, Smith made sure to make this loud and clear:
“Kevin Durant is the best player in the world. Period. There is no NBA player, including LeBron James, at this point in time that is a better player than Kevin Durant in the world. Nobody!”
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