10 Reasons Kevin Durant Will Win More Rings Than LeBron

LeBron James and Kevin Durant are the two best basketball players in the world, but except for the rings they've purchased by themselves in jewelry stores, both of their hands remain devoid of any bling until the end of the 2012 NBA Finals. 

Here are 10 reasons that Durant will finish with more rings than LeBron, even if the Miami Heat give LeBron a head start this year. 

Before moving forward, let me give you a quick caveat as well. This article is in no way intended to bash LeBron, even if I am arguing against his success in the future. I have nothing but respect for his game and will continue to hope he succeeds, just as I do with all who are unjustifiably hated. 

Without further ado, here are the 10 reasons for Durant's future superiority in the seemingly all-important title department. 

Kevin Durant Is Just Younger

Let's start off with the most obvious reason of all: The 23-year-old Kevin Durant is simply younger than the 27-year-old LeBron James. 

Basketball is a young man's game and the fresher legs afford the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar more opportunity to ply his trade for a longer time. In how many other professions is hitting 30 a sign that you're old? 

James has yet to win a title, but he's also been on this planet for about four years longer than Durant. To be fair though, both have such otherworldly basketball games that I hesitate to say "on this planet" for fear of time spent on Krypton. 

Durant has the inherent advantage in this competition because he has a four-year window to win a title before he even catches up to where King James is now. 

Rest of "Big 3" Is Younger as Well

Both the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Miami Heat have managed to build what we love to call "Big 3's," although in the case of the former team, it's more of a "Big 4" thanks to the presence of Serge Ibaka. 

By pairing up the homegrown talent in Dwyane Wade with two huge free-agent signings in LeBron James and Chris Bosh, the Heat put together one of the most impressive trios in the history of this sport. Conversely, Sam Presti drafted one great player after another to form a trio of his own: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. 

Make no mistake about it. These two teams live and die by the performances of those trios. 

Fortunately for Durant, the one that he's a part of is significantly younger than the James gang. It won't be too long (relatively) before Bosh or Wade are ready to walk away from the game, seeing as they're 28 and 30, respectively. That makes those two the oldest of the six players in question. 

For the Thunder, Durant is actually the oldest member of the trio. Westbrook is 23 with a birthday later in the year and Harden is only 22. Plus, Ibaka is 22 as well. 

Presence of Russell Westbrook

Although it's usually the presence of a dominant big man that ensures the ability to form a potential dynasty, the NBA seems to be trending towards the little men. 

The league is currently built around the floor generals and it's quite difficult to succeed without an elite point guard on the roster. Enter Russell Westbrook. 

In just his fourth season out of UCLA, Westbrook managed to average 23.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists with a sensational PER of 23.00. As he's done every season since he entered the league after he was picked fourth overall in the 2008 NBA draft, Westbrook has improved. 

Despite the strides that he's made in almost every facet of the game, the athletic point guard is still nowhere near from improving his game. If the anger with which he slams the ball home is any indication, Westbrook isn't ready to quell that improvement yet. 

Westbrook is locked up as a member of the Thunder for the long term while LeBron James and the Miami Heat are still trying to figure out if they can upgrade from Mario Chalmers. 

Presence of Serge Ibaka

Just like with Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka gives the Oklahoma City Thunder another huge long-term advantage over the Miami Heat thanks to his unique combination of skills. 

As Michael Jordan and countless others have discussed after winning a title, defense wins championships. While that's a bit of a misleading statement, the old adage still holds merit. 

Ibaka is kind of good at defense. He not only led the league in blocks per game this season, but also finished first in the block percentage category, one that is much less heralded but much more telling of a player's skill in that area. 

At only 22-years-old, Ibaka just put together a season that saw him finish as the runner-up in the Defensive Player of the Year voting, and much like the other studs on his team, he's nowhere near his ceiling. 

Ibaka gives the Thunder possibly the only true shot-blocking big man in the league with the skills to hit the pick-and-pop jumper consistently. As was the case with Westbrook, that's something that LeBron James and the Miami Heat simply don't have. 

Sam Presti's Skill at Building a Team

Moving to the front office, the mind of Sam Presti gives the Oklahoma City Thunder yet another advantage. 

Presti has been able to maneuver the 20-62 Seattle SuperSonics into the juggernaut that is the Thunder thanks to his recognition of talent and ability to put together a roster than can stick. We should have seen this coming when he was the driving force in the acquisition of Tony Parker for the San Antonio Spurs. 

Since Presti took over in 2007, the Thunder have drafted the following current contributors to their team: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and James Harden. 

This team is clearly good enough to win right now and it's scary to think about what will happen if Presti finds a diamond in the rough in an upcoming draft. 

Conversely, the Miami Heat have drafted the following standouts for their own team since 2007: Dexter Pittman. 

Game Depends Less on Athleticism

Now it's time to move on from the roster surrounding Kevin Durant and discuss his actual game. 

Durant has led the league in scoring for each of the past three seasons thanks to the variety of ways he finds to put the ball to the basket. With his lanky 6'9" frame that has to be closer to 7'0" than 6'9", Durant can drive past his defender and dunk with ferocity, hit difficult runners in the paint or drain shots from the outside. 

As impressive as those three methods of scoring may be, I'm selling Durant short because his repertoire is by no means limited to just those strategies. 

While athleticism definitely factors into Durant's offensive prowess, his entire game is not predicated upon athleticism. As he ages and the springs he has in his legs instead of muscles start to tighten up, Durant won't decline as much as other players will. 

He has too much pure skill for that to happen. Too much finesse, if you will. 

With LeBron James, the same cannot be said. LeBron's offensive game depends on his status as an athletic freak and that athleticism won't last forever. 

Less Scrutiny

LeBron James has had to face constant scrutiny throughout his entire career, ever since he was labeled "The Chosen One" while he was still putting up ridiculous numbers in high school. That scrutiny has only intensified since "The Decision" and might not ever slow down. 

Kevin Durant, on the other hand, has had to deal with some scrutiny because he plays in an area where every single move is completely dissected and subsequently overanalyzed to death. But he has become a fan favorite and hasn't been subject to the same level of criticism as LeBron. 

The younger small forward has made all the right moves in the media and thus hasn't been plagued by potential insecurity and the feeling that everything he does isn't good enough. In fact, everything he does has been good enough. 

Whether LeBron will ever admit it outright or not, the scrutiny has taken its toll on him at times. Without it, Durant is in a much better place to succeed. 

Continued Development

Can anybody actually imagine LeBron James getting that much better at this point in his career?

After developing a solid post game and posting almost unheard of efficiency numbers, LeBron clearly established himself as the best basketball player in the world this season. He almost set the record for single-season PER, was the clear MVP and dominated the entire regular season (and playoffs thus far) like no other in quite some time.

However, if LeBron hasn't reached his ceiling, he's pretty damn close.

Durant on the other hand is the obvious No. 2 in the world but has yet to peak. With three scoring titles in the bag already, Durant could extend his dominance if he developed the post game that LeBron added to his arsenal this offseason. 

Moreover, he isn't the facilitator or defender that LeBron is. Personally, I feel as though the Miami Heat forward should have been the Defensive Player of the Year for the 2011-2012 season thanks to his versatility on the more gritty end of the court. Additionally, he's the best passing forward in the league by a wide margin. 

Durant is improving in both of those areas but he could get a lot better. And he's already the second-best player in the world. 

Aging Elite in the West

The Western Conference has been dominated by three teams ever since Michael Jordan hit his fatal jumper over Bryon Russell to beat the Utah Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals. However, the inescapable clutches of Father Time is putting an end to the dynastic clutches of those three powerhouses.

Starting with the stretch of dominance by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal in early 2000s, the Los Angeles Lakers have represented the West in the Finals seven times since 1998. With Kobe Bryant quickly aging and developing into an even more inefficient shot-jacker, that doesn't appear likely to happen again, barring a major shakeup in personnel.

The Dallas Mavericks are the most recent champions from the West and also appeared in the Finals in 2006, when they lost to the Miami Heat. However, Dirk Nowitzki isn't quite as dominant and the entire roster seems to be over the hill.

Finally, we have the San Antonio Spurs, who overcame Father Time to win 20-straight games this year and nearly advanced to their fifth Finals appearance since Jordan's final shot as a Chicago Bull. Would anyone bet on them doing it again, especially if Tim Duncan retires?

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the first team other than those three to advance to the Finals from the conference since '98 and, pending any sudden outbursts from the other up-and-comers out West, they'll continue to do so for a while. 

Advantage After This Season

This is a hypothetical reason because the Oklahoma City Thunder haven't beaten the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. Yet. 

However, a little over a week from now, I fully expect for Kevin Durant to be holding up the Larry O'Brien Trophy as LeBron James prepares for an entire summer of unjustified vitriol yet again. 

The Thunder have the better team and have faced a much tougher gauntlet of competition thus far. This isn't the place for a complete breakdown and prediction of the 2012 NBA Finals, but I do expect for Oklahoma City to go home victorious. 

And of course, that would mean Durant 1, LeBron 0.