By Jason Wojciechowski on May 1, 2008 at 10:26 PM
Time for the Player A, Player B game.
Player A's rookie stat line:
72 games, 71 starts, 37.5 minutes, 19.2 points on .414 shooting (15.2 shots per game), .318 on 4.1 threes, .747 on 7.2 free throws, 1.1 steals, 1.1 blocks, 3.5 turnovers, 3.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 18 wins.
Player B's rookie stat line:
80 games, 80 starts, 34.6 minutes, 20.3 points on .430 shooting (17.1 shots per game), .288 on 2.6 threes, .873 on 5.6 free throws, 1.0 steals, 0.9 blocks, 2.9 turnovers, 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 20 wins.
One of those has been a sixth man (albeit a very good one) for the last five years. The other is supposed to save basketball. Yes, Player A is Jerry Stackhouse and Player B is Kevin Durant.
To be fair, I left out one key piece of information: Stackhouse turned 21 his first year in the league, while Durant turned 19 just before the season started.