A couple of weeks ago I ask a couple of my boyz who was better Melo or Durant? The fact that the response I got was a 50/50 split is why I knew it was make a good debate. In the London Olympics the two took turns being the leading scorer for USA each draining 10 3pters in 1 game. This could be a debate all in itself as to which one is the better shooter. I think they both prove they are the best 2 elite shooters, scorers, and offensive players in the NBA. Kevin Durant has led the league in scoring the last 3 seasons topping out at 30.1 in 2010. Carmelo Anthony has been long viewed as the best pure scorer in the league topping out at 28.9 in 2007 with his sweet shooting stroke and his bully-ball post-up game. I would give the edge to Durant when it comes to shooting because he owns a better shooting % (49.6 to 43.0 for Melo), 3pt% (38.7 to 33.5 for Melo), and FT% (86 to 80.4 for Melo). I give the edge to Melo when it comes to low-post game as Durant has yet to develop any kind of post game. They both lack Defense and could benefit by improving on that size of the ball. This is another reason this topic is so debatable because they both excel in the same areas and struggle defensively. But the reason I give Durant the edge overall and think he is the better player is because he has proven that he is clutch and can be counted on when the pressure is on. The most recent prof of this is the Gold Metal game against Spain when he dropped 30 pts and forced the Spain coaching staff to go to a trick defense box-in-1 to try and stop him. This even with the likes of Lebron James and Kobe Bryant on the court with him. He single handedly kept USA in the league in that game hitting big shot after big shot. More prof of Durant's clutch-jean is when he scored 17 pts in the 4th quarter of game 1 in the NBA finals, 18pts in the last 7 mins of game 4 in the Western Conference Finals, and hitting the game winning 3 against the Lakers all in this years playoff. Melo meanwhile struggled with his shot going 3-9 in the first real test team USA faced, and have only made it pass the first round of the playoffs once. I think you got to go with any player that proves capable of stepping up big and making plays when the game is on the line and in the most crucial of games. This is why I say Kevin Durant is the better player and after thinking thru my argument, I'm not sure it's as close as it first seemed.
