Sorry for the obscene title, but for some odd reason(thank you Trey Parker and Matt Stone and all the wonderful people behind Team America: World Police), whenever I watch international play, whether it be Basketball, Soccer, Baseball, Synchronized Swimming, etc. That song/phrase comes into my head, great song by the way!(if you haven't heard it check it-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnUgAaea4M).
Anyway, on to the topic at hand, Team USA whooping the world's ass in basketball just like the good old days! Although instead of Jordan, Malone, Stockton, and Pippen, the FIBA Championship team of today consists of Durant, Curry, Gordon, Gay, and Westbrook. Team USA is young, athletic, long, quick, and instead of them relying entirely on their offense like the "Dream Team" in Barcelona, this new young team actually plays hard nosed defense, and that's something that any basketball purist will respect and enjoy! No disrespect intended to Team USA back in the day, they did have great defenders on their team, but they also knew that the competition back then wasn't as competitive as it is now days, so they could let teams like Turkey and Greece shoot wide open three pointers without even a worry, oh and their offense was just straight up ridiculous!
While watching this FIBA tournament the last couple weeks, it has brought up a new topic of discussion around the NBA and the basketball world. Who is the best player in the world??? Easy answer right, either Kobe or Lebron....NOPE...there is a new name climbing to the top of the debate....Kevin Durant! Simply unbelievable! The dude/kid was only 4 years old when the Dream Team was punishing teams in Spain. He probably doesn't even remember it, crazy young! Can you imagine if he stays healthy and transforms his lil boy body into that of a man??? He would be unstoppable! The great thing is, everybody that is in the states and follows the NBA knew of this great talent, but now that cats out of the bag, and the world has caught on! I can just imagine what the other international basketball coaches are planning for the Summer Olympics in London..."triple team Kobe, double team Durant, oh shit...we only have 5 guys on the floor! why isn't anyone guarding Deron Williams, Why is Lebron wide open!???"...Its gonna be awesome! So in conclusion I have a few unanswered questions, Who is gonna be on the roster come London time? Has Kevin Durant surpassed Kobe as the best in the world??? I guess we will have to wait to see the answers revealed for those two questions, but there is one thing I am for sure certain on....Team USA is back to the powerhouse it once was, and everyone knows this world wide! So I will end this post with the same three words I started with-AMERICA...FUCK YEAH!!!
i hate this notion of assuming to be able to define who the greatest player of all time might be. it's on the same level in my mind as trying to name the best day of your life before it arrives.
ReplyDeleteand now i'm not saying that in this instance kevin durant isn't a candidate for such an honor, but i feel like it's a little to early to be placing any bets. when kobe was drafted out of high school everyone thought he could bet he greatest. and while he has been far from disappointing, there was still room for lebron seven years later. now even as king james keeps up with the hype, and kobe keeps winning rings, there is still room for durant's awesomeness.
and it's true in four years durant could surpass lebron, and give him 10 more years and he may have more rings than kobe or jordan, but as for right now there are a lot of what ifs playing into durant's potential.
he is great now, but what if his boyish form doesn't evolve as well as one might hope? what if he doesn't progress? he is great now, but in the end, when he is retired and doing hanes commercials will he have surpassed all those that have come before him? how can we possibly project such an thing? we can't, all we can do is watch in wonder and amazement as he, kobe and lebron continue to impress us all.