Will Kevin Durant Ever Be as Marketable as LeBron James?

Kevin Durant clearly receives less negative coverage than LeBron James, and he is often held up as an example of what James isn't.

One guy ditched his former team on a national TV special, while the other guy quietly re-signed with his small-market team. 

But LeBron James has become something of a uniquely famous phenomenon through being so hated. He is also a fascinating figure thanks to his fruitless championship quest. 

In a way, James became Michael Jordan for a generation that loves to analyze and criticize. LBJ couldn't outdo MJ's six titles, so he went a different route: achieving that level of famous with a mix of brilliance, infamy and humiliation.

So, can Durant replace James as a cultural figure the old-fashioned "winning" way? I'm not so sure. For one thing, his actual game doesn't exactly capture the imagination. Henry Abbott of ESPN touched on this when he wrote of Durant's Game 1 fourth-quarter points explosion:

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A 17-point quarter is a 68-point pace for an entire game. 

And yet, if I'm honest, if there were no stat sheet, I'd have guessed Durant had about 25 for the game. 

That's how it goes when I watch the NBA's best scorer. He always has more points than I think he does. Every time I notice him on offense, he's doing something professional, unfussy and slick. But often he's so professional, unfussy and slick that the bucket is scored before anything about the play has really registered.

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Apart from his stoic game, KD is an enjoyable public presence.

He plays flag football and summer pickup. There is something natural and endearing about his interviews and quotes. He is the kind of guy who tweets that he "lowkey" misses Seattle in the right way at the right time. 

Is that enough for Durant to vault his jersey sales past "No. 8"?

My guess is that he will need to suffer some bumps on the road to superstardom. Fans have little to latch onto, despite him being the perfect franchise player.

This theme worked well for athletes back in the era of fans assuming Tiger Woods' unflinching fidelity, but today, Durant might need some failures to eclipse LeBron as a cultural force.