by John Louie Ramos

Created on: April 20, 2010   Last Updated: April 22, 2010

Coming off a successful and celebrated freshmen season with the University of Texas, Kevin Wayne Durant entered the 2007 NBA draft as a player fulfilling a genuine-prophecy - to rise atop the upper echelons of basketball supremacy.

Durant, who stands at 6-foot-9, was selected by the then Seattle Supersonics for the second overall draft pick. In his NBA debut, Durant showed a glimpse of what he is capable of. He scored 18 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and 3 steals.

Durant easily won the NBA Rookie of the Year award courtesy of his 20.3 PPG average.

In the 2008-2009 season, the Seattle Supersonics relocated and changed its name to Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant was to lead a young OKC team. Durant did not disappoint; he amassed a 25.3 points per game average toppled with improved rebound, assists, steals and field goal percentage numbers.

Although, the OKC Thunder did not reach the playoffs. Durant's individual brilliance was given comparison to the James and the Bryants of the era.

Some analysts and experts even declared that he can even surpass Michael Jordan as the greatest player of all time. Examining Jordan's physique, he isn't a Durant type of player nor Durant isn't a Jordan type of player.

Jordan is a shooting guard while Durant is a natural small forward. They're like apples and oranges.

Jordan has six championships, Durant has none. On the other hand, Durant is just in his third year in the NBA and Durant isn't surrounded by great role players such as Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc, Steve Kerr or John Paxon.

This season 2009-2010 season, Durant surprisingly won the NBA Scoring champion despite the much publicized duel between James and Bryant, making him the youngest player to ever received the award.

Durant is young at 21, in spite of it, he already won the hearts of NBA fans worldwide. This year he's averaging 30.1 PPG, 7.6 RPG and 1.4 SPG.

When Jordan was 21, he's a rookie averaging 28.5 PPG and on a 51.5% shooting clip. He also easily won the NBA Rookie of the Year award.

Scrutinizing both their numbers. I would say that Durant is off to greater heights. But sometimes numbers do lie. Legacy wise, Jordan has created a massive following. He was the face of basketball during his time.

Skill wise, I would give it to Jordan. Jordan has so many weapons and he is a much more complete player than Durant. Durant although isn't that skilled capitalizes on his advantages.

I believe that it's still very early to compare Durant to Jordan. At this stage, I'm assured that Jordan has Durant's numbers. An overview of their whole playing career must be analyzed in order to determine who among the two is better.

Hence, I also believe that Durant has what it takes to be the next Michael Jordan.

It's just a matter of fulfilling his destiny.

Learn more about this author, John Louie Ramos.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.