Kevin Durant: ‘Kobe Bryant would tell you the difference between him in ’06 and ’09 was the addition of Pau Gasol’

Daman Rangoola: Individual excellence. At every facet of the game – and the height you’ve achieved is perhaps the highest anybody ever has. Kobe Bryant is my favorite player ever – the diff between him in 05-06 vs 08-09 as an example is he imprinted his personality on every single player. Kevin Durant: Ima be real, bean would tell u the difference between him in 06 and him 09 was the addition of pau Gasol and having a chance to really chase a chip.
Source: Twitter @KDTrey5

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Jorge Sierra @hoopshype
Kobe was one the youngest players in NBA Finals history.
(He’s right behind teammate Andrew Bynum in the all-time ranking). pic.twitter.com/AMOlDugeSZ – 5:01 PM

StatMuse @statmuse
Shooting efficiency on tightly contested shots vs the Celtics defense:
43.4 eFG% — KD
47.1 eFG% — Giannis
51.1 eFG% — Jimmy
85.6 eFG% — Steph pic.twitter.com/IPAOPeQm13 – 4:45 PM

Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
📅 On this day in 2017, the @Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant scored 39 points in a title-clinching win over the Cavaliers in Game 5 of the Finals.
Durant, who was named Finals MVP, is one of only four players in NBA history to average at least 35 PPG, 5 RPG, and 5 APG in a Finals. pic.twitter.com/D2PQmvmW6H – 1:01 PM

Dave Mason @DeuceMason
Late to the party but really enjoyed the KD-Letterman chat on Netflix. – 1:18 AM

Chris Biderman @TheWarriorsWire
The first Golden State Warriors team with Kevin Durant was listed among The Ringer’s top five NBA teams of the decade. warriorswire.usatoday.com/2020/06/18/war… – 6:00 PM

Tommy Beer @TommyBeer
Kevin Durant’s per-game averages in Boston’s four-game sweep of the Nets in the first round:
26.3 points
5.8 rebs
1.8 made 3PT’s
42.8% eFG%
Steph Curry’s per-game averages over the first four games vs. Boston in the NBA Finals:
34.3 points
6.3 rebs
6.3 made 3PT’s
63.3% eFG% – 11:00 AM

Micah Adams @MicahAdams13
Steph doing this without really any help offensively against the same defense that swept Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will stir up an all-time narrative maelstrom that will reverberate well into the summer. – 10:41 AM

StatMuse @statmuse
Players averaging 30 PPG on 50/45% shooting in a Finals series:
— Michael Jordan in 1991
— Kevin Durant in 2017
— Steph Curry in 2022 pic.twitter.com/LECg4xR176 – 10:33 AM

StatMuse @statmuse
In four games vs the Celtics
KD Steph
26.3 PPG 34.3 PPG
38.6 FG% 50.0 FG%
33.3 3P% 49.0 3P% pic.twitter.com/qaS3wuKwnq – 10:28 AM

Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
Stephen Curry last night:
✅ 43 PTS
✅ 10 REB
✅ 7-14 3P
Curry is just the third player in NBA Finals history to record at least 40p/10r with five 3P made.
He joins Kevin Durant (2018) and LeBron James (2020). pic.twitter.com/yscvmeWbmG – 10:01 AM

Nate Duncan @NateDuncanNBA
Stephen Curry thru 4 games vs Boston: 34p/6r/4a 66% TS 34% usg.
Kevin Durant thru 4 games vs Boston: 26p/6r/6a, 53% TS 32% usg. – 1:55 AM

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
43 points – 10 rebounds – 4 assists in a Finals win…
Rick Barry vs. Philadelphia 1967
Jerry West vs. Boston 1965
Shaquille O’Neal vs Indiana 2000
Kevin Durant at Cleveland 2018
STEPHEN CURRY at BOSTON 2022
Only Durant, Baylor and Havlicek ever had 43-10 in a Finals road game. – 1:55 AM

Dan Favale @danfavale
players to total 125+ pts with a 65+ ts% through the first four games of the nba finals (via @stathead, since 1983):
— kevin durant, 2017 (137 pts, 66.2 ts%
— steph curry, 2022 (137 pts, 66.4 ts%)
the end pic.twitter.com/sTZN1lArgJ – 11:56 PM

Monte Poole @MontePooleNBCS
Per Warriors: Steph is the 11th player in NBA history with at least 50 30-point postseason games. His 13 such games in The Finals ties Kobe Bryant for 8th all time. – 10:50 PM

Marc J. Spears @MarcJSpears
Warriors say Stephen Curry is the 11th player in NBA history to score 30 points in at least 50 postseason games. It marks his 13th career 30-point game in the NBA Finals, matching Kobe Bryant for the eighth-most in Finals history. pic.twitter.com/9zZdKX66U3 – 10:47 PM

Monte Poole @MontePooleNBCS
Warriors’ 30-something core is out to buck a lot of NBA history:
-KG’s last chip? He was 32
-Kobe’? He was 31
-LeBron’s last full-season chip? 31
-Magic was 28, Larry 29, Isiah 29
-Exceptions: MJ (35), Timmy 37 – 8:50 PM

Adam Spolane @AdamSpolane
Michael Jordan had a chance to pair LaMelo Ball with Mike D’Antoni and instead chose the guy Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving couldn’t wait to get rid of – 6:30 PM

Will Barton @WillTheThrillB5
It’s my love for my mother that make me gentle when I care for you. Happy birthday KB. My first ever WHY…the beautiful, legendary, & strong. I love you MA. Biggest 🐐 I’ve ever known. – 11:38 AM

More on this storyline

Incognito Holiday: How do you study the game and not know the improvements kobe made to his game to be a championship player after shaq? Kevin Durant: Lol Kobe was already a championship player man cut it out -via Twitter @KDTrey5 / June 13, 2022

Barry from Brooklyn: Even with all of this Shaq doesn’t win those rings without Kobe Shaquille O’Neal: No person can win without another star big dummy how many would magic have without kareem how many would kenny smith have without hakeem wtf u talking about i hate dumb ass people enjoy my stats and stf up. -via Twitter @SHAQ / June 13, 2022

“I’ve just got to be more complete,” said Strus, aware that the shelf life of Heat 3-point specialists can be limited, as exemplified by the Heat tenures of Jason Kapono, James Jones, even Wayne Ellington. “Obviously teams are going to force me to make plays inside the arc. So I’ve got to get better there. And I think I’ve taken leaps and bounds as a player in this league. -via South Florida Sun-Sentinel / June 12, 2022