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，两人都未得到NBA冠军。然而，两人却都在
这小段时间内证明了，尽管手上没有戒指，他们仍然能够在生涯内登上
NBA的巅峰。
正当我们尽兴于LBJ和KD的表现所带来的娱乐时，这两位球星同时也一直
被人们拿来讨论说，到底谁是最伟大的NBA球员，而这很有可能持续直到
他们的生涯结束。
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:
所以到底该如何比较这两位球员呢？坦白的说，从统计数据上来看，他们
两人的数据是出奇的相似。以下是两人生涯前五年的比较，且皆从１９岁
起开始：
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刚进联盟时，便被誉为下一个伟大的传奇。以高中篮球员成为Sports Illustrated
的封面人物，LBJ被认为是一名不下Kobe和Jordan的球员。然而反观Durant，
有许多分析球评质疑KD是否适合做一个职业球员。因为在LBJ高中毕业的时候，
就拥有能闯荡NBA的身体素直，但是Durant的体格是否适合却是被画上问号的。
许多议论便开始围绕着这位在大一就得到２００７年度最佳大学球员的身上。
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.
从他们第一、二名的选秀顺位便知道，这两支球队都是极欲寻找一个属于他们
的看板球星的球队。在LBJ初到骑士之初，骑士队已经错过了连续五年的季后赛。
而除了LBJ，另外的小小希望也已到来，那就是Zydrunas Ilgauskas和Ricky Davis。
而同样的，选中KD的超音速队也希望能找到一个看板球星来弥补RAY ALLEN的离开
而此时超音速队也在过去五年中只进了一年季后赛。
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的菜鸟年，他得到的分数是球队上第二得分点和第三得分点加起来的分数。
但与LBJ不同的是，KD在接下来的几年得到了Russel Westbrook和James Harden
两个强力队友，进而带给球队转机。
球队 LBJ和DURANT菜鸟年该队的胜率 继菜鸟年后的胜率
骑士 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，虽然尽管LBJ在他的菜鸟年显著的比KD成功，骑士和雷霆
都没能在LBJ和KD在队上的前两年闯进季后赛。然而，却存在着一个最
终将成为转机的希望，那就是两人都赢得了Rookie of the years的殊
荣、得分王的头衔、全明星赛出场资格以及在他们各自生涯的前五年成
为许多其他的荣誉的得主。
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:
如果这些趋势不能足够反映对方相似性，一起来看看在前五年的常规赛
他们创造的数据：
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).
唯一显著的差距便是他们的助攻(LBJ6.6>KD2.8)和罚球命中率(KD.878>LBJ.728)
其他的数据是非常相似的。如果再检视更进一步的统计资料，对区分两者的差别
帮助不大，但在某些项目上谁比较强是可以预期的(ex：LBJ的效率值，KD的eFG值
和真实命中率值)。经过对两人卓越生涯的初期衡量下，只有24名球员的per值超过
KD的22.6，而8名球员超过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:
再来看看他们的季后赛成绩，再一次的发现，两人并无太大差别。
两人都没有得过冠军─但是从另一观点来看，Jordan也是在他的第
七年才拿到冠军。
LBJ进过总决赛一次、准决赛两次。KD则是越打越深入接近冠军赛。
两人都有让人瞠目结舌的季后赛成绩，而同样地，他们的季后赛成绩
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，谁是更好的？虽然统计和奖项已经看初一些端倪，但我们还可以
透过一些无法量化的差异，进一步分辨清楚。
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是一个运动的怪物，总是证明了他能随心所欲的进到篮下，是一个
极具天赋的进攻者。KD，在另一方面，是一个纯粹的射手，以身高创造
强硬的进攻错位。在防守端，LBJ比KD更精练尽管篮板，抄截和火锅数据
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显然是更好的纯射手但LBJ的整体比赛能力让LBJ得到稍微的领先。
并严格从表现方面来看，LBJ算是由自己的能力带领骑士进入季后赛，
KD则需要RW和JH的帮忙才能进入季后赛。LBJ在他的第一年，队友是
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden, Donyell Marshall,and Larry Hughes。
因此，即使普遍来说西区比较竞争，但KD却拥有豪华阵容的队友。
后记：如果你是GM，需要一个球员，LBJ和KD你会先选谁。
(此文是说仍然是LBJ NO.1 KD NO.2)