Bill Simmons

I really enjoy reading this guy on espn.com. He usually makes sense and also makes me laugh. Here is a sample, regarding Michael Jordan.

My favorite MJ stat of all time: From November 1990 through June 1998, the Bulls never lost three games in a row with Jordan. My second-favorite MJ stat of all time: In his final three Chicago seasons, in a 31-month stretch that started November '95 and ended June '98, he played in 310 of a possible 310 games. My third-favorite MJ stat of all time: He averaged 30.1 points in the regular season and 33.4 points in the playoffs. That's really all you needed to know about the guy. Warrior. Impossibly competitive. Got better when it mattered.

You know how I feel about Jordan. Best combination of unearthly talent married to focus and willpower that I've ever seen in a team sport. Simmons' few sentences captured it all pretty succintly.

Here he is on Kevin Durant.

Let's leave out the historical possibilities this time around. (You know, like the fact that he's already at 5,000 career points, that no forward has ever averaged 30 points a game three times and he might do it 10 or 12, that he might have a 37 PPG or a 55-45-95 shooting percentage season lurking in him, etc.) Just look at this particular season. How is Durant not our No. 2 choice for MVP?
The young Zombies have quietly climbed to 30-21 and third in the league in defensive field goal percentage. Durant goes into every game knowing two things: (1) There's a decent chance nobody else on my team will make more than five baskets tonight; and (2) If I suck, we almost definitely will lose. They're 17-8 in their past 25 games; he has scored at least 25 in every game, racked up 29-plus points in all but three and averaged 32.4 PPG (first in NBA in that span), 7.8 RPG, 52.3 FG percent, 88.6 FT percent (third) and 51.9 3FG percent (first, minimum 50 attempts). His plus/minus in those 25 games is plus-194, second only to LeBron. His team is improbably headed for 48-50 wins in a loaded Western Conference, with a top four that's 21, 21, 23 and 20 years old, without anyone averaging even 6.4 rebounds or 1.1 blocks a game. And Durant has scored nearly as many points as his best two teammates combined. I could go on and on. Other than LeBron/Cleveland, Durant means more to that team than anyone else means to any other 2010 team. You can't tell me differently.

This is great information and the kind of stuff that's right up my alley. I'll take some credit for Durant. I could tell the first time I watched him as a freshman that he would be a superstar.

S