Michael Beasley < Kevin Durant

After going to the Texas Tech - Kansas State basketball game and seeing him live, in person, there is no doubt about it - Michael Beasley is an absolute beast.  He has as many skills as any other player in NCAA Division I basketball and has single handily made the Kansas State Wildcats contenders in the Big XII.

But when the question of whether or not Beasley is better than Kevin Durant, what Complete Sports posed a few weeks ago, my answer does not take any numerical statistics into account.  The most important stat to me is maturity, and for Beasley that his lack of it.  As the Washington Post reported last March, Michael Beasley's immaturity is really no secret.  He jumped from high school to high school five times in only four years, and he just assumes he will make it to the National Basketball Association because of his skills; but the NBA should never be considered a given.  Though Beasley and Durant's numbers from their freshman year are almost completely identical thus far, Beasley needs to realize that is time to grow up and stop doing petty things that get him in trouble both on and off the court.  Against Texas Tech, on Wednesday, there is no doubt that Michael Beasley was frustrated and played nowhere near his 'A' game, but still managed to score 22 points and grab 15 rebounds.  The problem was that Beasley was noticeably frustrated and did nothing but complain the entire game; if he did that in the NBA, he wouldn't be playing or very long.

Michael Beasley has all of the talent to be a superstar in the NBA, but now he needs to gain the maturity level too - before it's too late.  If Beasley continues with his immature behavior it won't be long before he is kicked to the curb like so many other young stars.