I didn't say the Russy/Rose bit. I'm also not underselling Gordon. I am telling it like it was-- he was the best young SG in the country, averaging 25 before his wrist injury, ending up with 22 for the season. At age 22. Today, any player averaging 22 PPG by age 22 is penciled in for countless ASGs and is labeled as having franchise potential.

Also, he was absolutely better than pre-Rockets Harden. Not at shooting the 3, and not at keeping his wrist and knee straight. But in pretty much every other facet of the game. Seeing as how Gordon feasted on first units (while also defending!) at age 22, I'm 100% confident he also would've won sixth man in relief of Durant and Russy if their positions were switched. That's obviously a hypothetical, but again, before the knee gave out, I'm pretty confident OKC would've dealt Harden for Gordon straight up. Gordon was better in high school, better in college, and better to date in the pros.

If you want to hold the injuries against him, that's totally fair game. But to say people viewed him as a Jamal Crawford type before the ensuing wrist and knee injuries is revisionist history based on the fact that he never reached full potential due to injury.