It's the same in that both players are supposedly beloved by their fan bases and the reaction to each leaving by the media has been somewhat negative. And I'm not willing to just hand Golden State the title. They still lost two big men in Bogut and now Ezeli as well as Barnes, who even for as bad as he was in the Finals was still a key player at moments during the season. Getting Durant and David West for those three is still a better option, but it's not like I'm going to just give them the championship right now. We saw what happened with that this past season.

To me, the distinction between LeBron leaving for Miami and Durant leaving for GS is the historical comparisons commentators and fans make.

LeBron is spoken in terms of G.O.A.T. Is he better Jordan? Before The Decision, that was a real conversation. After The Decision, no, because no matter how many titles he won, he had to join a cast of all-stars to get them. Now that he's won a championship in Cleveland, beating an historically great team, that conversation's back open. If he wins a few more in Cleveland, beating a GSW team that on paper may be the most talented of all-time? Maybe he is. But that was the only way he could repair his reputation and get back into the conversation.

That's not an issue for Durant, because I don't think he's ever been a contender for G.O.A.T. I'm sure someone somewhere has argued he deserves consideration, but there's not a lot of talk like that. If he'd won a title in OKC, he still wouldn't be in the G.O.A.T. conversation. Leaving for GSW doesn't change that.

Ironically, I think Curry could get into the G.O.A.T. conversation after his contract is up in GS, if he leaves town and wins rings somewhere else. He's probably the greatest pure shooter in NBA history. If he can go elsewhere and win just as much as he did in GS, yeah, that'd be worth a couple offseasons of hot takes.

Dude, c'mon...

I didn't compare Curry and LeBron at all. In fact, I differentiated between them by saying LeBron is back in the conversation for greatest of all time, because he was able to win in Cleveland (i.e., he proved he didn't need Wade, Bosh, etc. to win his rings)....Curry hasn't done that yet, and he would have to leave Golden State's team of all-stars and win without that supporting cast to prove he's at that level.

Now, do I think he COULD POSSIBLY do that? Sure, it's possible. He's the only player to lead the NBA in 3s four consecutive seasons, and those four seasons rank #1, #2, #4, and #7 in NBA history. If he could put up those kinds of numbers on a different team and win, say, 3 more rings, then yes, I think he'd be in the conversation too.

But he isn't there yet.