Culture of Hoops

George Gervin gives high praise to Kevin Durant

Image courtesy of Keith Allison/Flickr.

Image courtesy of Keith Allison/Flickr.

Baller Mind Frame’s No Layups brings you the hottest NBA stories on the web mixed with personal opinion from our very own Aaron Lanton. Check it often and absorb the knowledge we’re dropping on you!

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. (Durant’s career scoring average of 27.02 ranks sixth in NBA history, while Gervin is ninth at 26.2.)

But there’s a difference, Gervin said: Kevin Durant, in the midst of one of the great individual runs in NBA history over the past month, is simply better.

“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.

“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.”

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. Spurs Nation

The Iceman is an incredibly humble dude. It’s really cool to see a legend give respect to the new generation. Far more rare than it should be. 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5s6bSfOBpI[/youtube]

– AL

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