Durant and Leonard, who has a higher historical status? After a comprehensive comparison, the gap is obvious at a glance

Durant and Leonard, who has a higher historical status? After a comprehensive comparison, the gap is obvious at a glance

LeBron James is undoubtedly the top small forward of this era, always at the top of the pyramid. Below him are Durant and Leonard, with the former being hailed as one of the best scorers in history and the latter being the most outstanding two-way star on the wing. Both Durant and Leonard currently hold 2 championships + 2 FMVPs. So, in terms of historical ranking, who is higher? Below, we will conduct a comprehensive comparison from various aspects such as career statistics, honors and achievements, influence, and commercial value.

Career Statistics

Durant has played 1090 games so far, averaging 36.7 minutes per game, scoring 27.3 points, 7 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 50.1%, 3-point shooting percentage of 38.7%, and free throw percentage of 88.3%.

Leonard has played 699 games so far, averaging 31.7 minutes per game, scoring 20 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.6 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 49.8%, 3-point shooting percentage of 39.1%, and free throw percentage of 86.1%.

It is not difficult to see that in terms of data comparison, Durant almost completely dominates, and it should be noted that this is still based on playing more than 300 games more than Leonard.

Honors and Achievements

Durant has won 2 championships, 2 FMVPs, 1 MVP, 4 scoring titles, 6 first-team All-NBA selections, 5 second-team All-NBA selections, 14 All-Star appearances, and 1 Rookie of the Year award.

Leonard has won 2 championships, 2 FMVPs, 1 steal title, 2 Defensive Player of the Year awards, 3 first-team All-NBA selections, 3 second-team All-NBA selections, 3 first-team All-Defensive selections, 4 second-team All-Defensive selections, and 6 All-Star appearances.

In terms of honors, both have their own strengths. Durant excels in scoring titles and All-NBA team selections, while Leonard has DPOY and more All-Defensive team selections. In my opinion, Durant still has the upper hand, as the value of a scoring title is clearly higher than that of a Defensive Player of the Year.

Influence and Commercial Value

The comparison of influence is relatively subjective and cannot be directly reflected like data and honors. Durant is one of the greatest scorers in history, with a center-like physique but possessing the skills and shooting of a guard, breaking people's perception that tall players can only play inside. It is precisely because of Durant's emergence that more and more tall players began to focus on technique and shooting. Although Leonard is also one of the top stars in the league, he is obviously less well-known and popular than Durant.

In terms of commercial value, Durant's annual income ranks just behind James and Curry among active players, approaching around $100 million. At the same time, Durant has signed a lifetime contract with Nike, becoming the third player after Jordan and James to have a lifetime contract. In contrast, Leonard is far behind Durant in terms of commercial endorsements and shoe sales.

In summary, Durant surpasses Leonard in terms of data, honors and achievements, as well as influence. It is worth noting that in the rankings of historical players by media outlets such as ESPN and TNT, Durant is ranked around 15th, while Leonard is ranked outside the top 20, showing that Durant's historical status is currently higher than Leonard's. What do you think about this?