Paul Pierce has not been bashful about sharing his distaste for Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors for most of the NBA season. But following Golden State’s Game 3 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the recently retired star gave credit where he felt it was due.
Paul Pierce agrees with Dwight Howard pic.twitter.com/Jfqn21AXMn
— Vincent Frank (@VincentFrankNFL) June 8, 2017
“What we’re witnessing right here is the changing of the guard. I mean, Kevin Durant, he scores 14 points in the fourth quarter, when it mattered most, on one of the biggest stages in all of basketball. … On the road, against LeBron James. I mean, what more can you ask for from, in my eyes, the new best player in the NBA?”
Dwight Howard said pretty much the same thing on Wednesday before the game.
Durant has certainly been a star through the finals. His performance at the end of Game 3 was otherworldly. With that said, LeBron has been spectacular himself, it’s his team that’s significantly lagged behind.
Take a close look at the plus/minus numbers for every @cavs starter not named @KingJames in Game 3. #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/RkJSh7wkKi
— Sportsnaut (@Sportsnaut) June 8, 2017
With that said, LeBron has significantly more NBA miles on his body and is nearly four years older than Durant. So, it’s natural that, at some point, LeBron may be passing the torch. If that’s the case, the 2017 finals against Durant seems like a natural time.