Within their first five years neither LeBron James nor Kevin Durant had won
an NBA championship. Nonetheless, both proved in that short stretch that
their ringless fingers could not hide one very obvious fact: they would
ascend the ladder of NBA greatness in their careers. While enjoying the
entertainment that both NBA superstars exhibit today, there is a very high
likelihood that both will finish their career in the heart of the discussion
for greatest NBA players of all time.
在LBJ和KD的前五年生涯中，兩人都未得到NBA冠軍。然而，兩人卻都在
這小段時間內證明了，儘管手上沒有戒指，他們仍然能夠在生涯內登上
NBA的巔峰。
正當我們盡興於LBJ和KD的表現所帶來的娛樂時，這兩位球星同時也一直
被人們拿來討論說，到底誰是最偉大的NBA球員，而這很有可能持續直到
他們的生涯結束。
So how do the two best players in the NBA compare? Quite frankly, as you will
see in their statistics, they are eerily similar. Here is a comparison of
LeBron and Durant’s respective first five years in the NBA, both of which
started at age 19:
所以到底該如何比較這兩位球員呢？坦白的說，從統計數據上來看，他們
兩人的數據是出奇的相似。以下是兩人生涯前五年的比較，且皆從１９歲
起開始：
Coming into the league, LeBron James was hailed as the next great thing.
Gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school basketball player,
LeBron was expected to be nothing short of the stature of Kobe Bryant and
Michael Jordan. Conversely, many analysts questioned Kevin Durant’s
relevance as a professional player. While LeBron had an NBA-ready body right
out of high school, Durant’s physique was much more questionable. Whispers
of bust surrounded the dynamic scorer who was 2007 College Player of the Year
in his one year at Texas. Perhaps prophetic, in their respective drafts,
LeBron was No. 1 overall and Durant was No. 2.
LBJ剛進聯盟時，便被譽為下一個偉大的傳奇。以高中籃球員成為Sports Illustrated
的封面人物，LBJ被認為是一名不下Kobe和Jordan的球員。然而反觀Durant，
有許多分析球評質疑KD是否適合做一個職業球員。因為在LBJ高中畢業的時候，
就擁有能闖蕩NBA的身體素直，但是Durant的體格是否適合卻是被畫上問號的。
許多議論便開始圍繞著這位在大一就得到２００７年度最佳大學球員的身上。
As their high selection suggests, both landed in cities with NBA teams
desperately in need of a franchise player. At the time of James’ arrival,
the Cleveland Cavaliers had missed the playoffs for five consecutive years.
Outside of LeBron, little hope was on the horizon. In the Akron native’s
rookie year in the league (2003-04), two of the top five scorers on the team
included Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ricky Davis. Similarly, Kevin Durant came to
the then-Seattle SuperSonics hoping to revive a franchise that had lost Ray
Allen. The SuperSonics had one playoff appearance in the five years leading
up to Durant’s rookie year.
從他們第一、二名的選秀順位便知道，這兩支球隊都是極欲尋找一個屬於他們
的看板球星的球隊。在LBJ初到騎士之初，騎士隊已經錯過了連續五年的季後賽。
而除了LBJ，另外的小小希望也已到來，那就是Zydrunas Ilgauskas和Ricky Davis。
而同樣的，選中KD的超音速隊也希望能找到一個看板球星來彌補RAY ALLEN的離開
而此時超音速隊也在過去五年中只進了一年季後賽。
In KD’s rookie year (2007-08), he scored about as many points as the second
and third leading scorers on the team combined. But unlike LeBron, Durant
would get some help over the next couple years as two more high draft picks,
Russell Westbrook and James Harden, contributed to a turnaround in what
became the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise.
在KD的菜鳥年，他得到的分數是球隊上第二得分點和第三得分點加起來的分數。
但與LBJ不同的是，KD在接下來的幾年得到了Russel Westbrook和James Harden
兩個強力隊友，進而帶給球隊轉機。
球隊 LBJ和DURANT菜鳥年該隊的勝率 繼菜鳥年後的勝率
騎士 0.42 0.5 → 0.6 → 0.6 → 0.55
雷霆 0.25 0.29 → 0.6 → 0.68 → 0.7
Although LeBron had significantly more success in his rookie year than
Durant, neither LeBron’s Cavs nor Durant’s Thunder made the playoffs for
the first two years that both players were in the league. However, there was
immediate hope that there would eventually be a turnaround. Both won NBA
Rookie of the Year honors. Scoring titles, All Star appearances, and a host
of other accolades followed in their first five years.
由上表可知，雖然儘管LBJ在他的菜鳥年顯著的比KD成功，騎士和雷霆
都沒能在LBJ和KD在隊上的前兩年闖進季後賽。然而，卻存在著一個最
終將成為轉機的希望，那就是兩人都贏得了Rookie of the years的殊
榮、得分王的頭銜、全明星賽出場資格以及在他們各自生涯的前五年成
為許多其他的榮譽的得主。
As if those trends don’t mirror each other enough, take a look at the
regular season numbers they put up in their first five years:
如果這些趨勢不能足夠反映對方相似性，一起來看看在前五年的常規賽
他們創造的數據：
Per game statistics LeBron James Kevin Durant
Points 27.3 26.3
Rebounds 6.9 6.6
Assists 6.6 2.8
Steals 1.8 1.2
Blocks 0.8 1.0
FG percentage .467 .468
FT percentage .728 .878
Games played 390 380
The only significant differences are in assists (LeBron has the edge) and
free throw percentage (Durant has the edge)…everything else is nearly
identical. Going to advanced statistics helps differentiate a little bit
more, but one beats the other in categories you would expect them to (LeBron
in PER, Durant in eFG% and TS%). As a measure of the extraordinary beginning
to their careers, only 24 players have a career PER above Durant’s 22.6.
Eight had higher than LeBron’s PER (25.2).
唯一顯著的差距便是他們的助攻(LBJ6.6>KD2.8)和罰球命中率(KD.878>LBJ.728)
其他的數據是非常相似的。如果再檢視更進一步的統計資料，對區分兩者的差別
幫助不大，但在某些項目上誰比較強是可以預期的(ex：LBJ的效率值，KD的eFG值
和真實命中率值)。經過對兩人卓越生涯的初期衡量下，只有24名球員的per值超過
KD的22.6，而8名球員超過LBJ的25.2。
Go to their playoff records and again, not much difference. Neither won a
championship—but to put it in perspective, Jordan was not a champion until
his seventh year in the league. LeBron made it to the Finals once and
Conference finals twice. Durant has advanced one round deeper into the
playoffs each year starting his third year in the league. Both had their own
jaw-dropping playoff performances, as well. And like their regular season
numbers, playoff stats are remarkably similar:
再來看看他們的季後賽成績，再一次的發現，兩人並無太大差別。
兩人都沒有得過冠軍─但是從另一觀點來看，Jordan也是在他的第
七年才拿到冠軍。
LBJ進過總決賽一次、準決賽兩次。KD則是越打越深入接近冠軍賽。
兩人都有讓人瞠目結舌的季後賽成績，而同樣地，他們的季後賽成績
也很相似：
Playoff per game statistics LeBron James Kevin Durant
Points 27.5 28.1
Rebounds 8.0 7.7
Assists 7.3 3.2
Steals 1.6 1.1
Blocks 0.8 1.2
FG percentage .433 .465
FT percentage .742 .854
Games played 46 43
But here, LeBron has the edge with a top-five playoff performance of all time
in his first five years in the league. So, with all of this in mind, who was
better? Stats and awards point to a wash but there are some unquantifiable
differences that help provide a marginal separation.
所以，誰是更好的？雖然統計和獎項已經看初一些端倪，但我們還可以
透過一些無法量化的差異，進一步分辨清楚。
LeBron James was an athletic monster who proved he could get to the rim at
will and was a gifted facilitator. Durant, on the other hand, was a pure
shooter whose length creates tough offensive mismatches. Defensively, LeBron
was more polished than Durant even though the rebounding, steals, and blocks
suggest equality. For one, defensive rating and defensive win shares both
favor LeBron.
LBJ是一個運動的怪物，總是證明了他能隨心所欲的進到籃下，是一個
極具天賦的進攻者。KD，在另一方面，是一個純粹的射手，以身高創造
強硬的進攻錯位。在防守端，LBJ比KD更精練儘管籃板，抄截和火鍋數據
上很相似。
Durant is definitely the better pure shooter but LeBron’s overall game gives
him the slight edge. And strictly in terms of performance, the then-Cavs star
made more happen with less surrounding pieces. Kevin Durant needed Westbrook
and Harden to make the playoffs. LeBron, in his first year making the
playoffs had the help of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden, Donyell Marshall,
and Larry Hughes. So even though the Western conference is more competitive
than the East, Durant had the luxury of playing with a host of other scorers
and defensively-minded players. Bottom line: if your franchise needs a player
and LeBron James and Kevin Durant are on the draft board, they would be taken
in the same order that they were on their respective draft days.
KD顯然是更好的純射手但LBJ的整體比賽能力讓LBJ得到稍微的領先。
並嚴格從表現方面來看，LBJ算是由自己的能力帶領騎士進入季後賽，
KD則需要RW和JH的幫忙才能進入季后賽。LBJ在他的第一年，隊友是
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden, Donyell Marshall,and Larry Hughes。
因此，即使普遍來說西區比較競爭，但KD卻擁有豪華陣容的隊友。
後記：如果你是GM，需要一個球員，LBJ和KD你會先選誰。
(此文是說仍然是LBJ NO.1 KD NO.2)