LeBron James

[KI4MVP]

May never have the resume Jordan had, but he is the most talented basketball player ever.

I mean that chase down block would be an all-time career number 1 play for ANYONE else. Including Jordan.

For Lebron, it's just another page in the story.

Hated it when he said it but he's right, he spoils us.

The block was great, you're overrating it though. For example, using your own criteria you posted later, this play in an NBA finals was better

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GSz0fN6ZHE

 

[Flight479]

Game 6 ECF against Celtics for me.

LeBron's entire legacy was on line. He was being mocked so much for being a choker and what not. Not to mention the talk of breaking up their big three of LeBron, DWade and Bosh. Can't think of a player who had to play a game where so much was on line and was under so much pressure. Bill Simmons' article regarding that game always gives me goosebumps. The only disappointing thing is, that game wasn't while playing in the Cavs jersey!

http://grantland.com/features/the-consequences-caring/

Agreed. By far his best and most important performance. Spurs 2013 Gm 7 is up there too.

 

[The Red Viper]

His head is almost at ring height and the crazy part was, he made it look so fucking effortless.

 

[The Red Viper]

Regarding Jordan v/s LeBron, I don't think he is at the level of Jordan "YET". But he still has so much left in his tank and I am sure by the time he hangs his boots, he will be as good as Jordan. In terms of ability and skill-level, there is no basketball player in the history of the game you could say was definitely better than LeBron. But what Jordan has that LeBron still doesn't is a legacy, which is totally understandable because LeBron is still playing and has at least five to six years left in him to expand his resume.

My problem with the whole Jordan v/s LeBron or with any Jordan v/s "Others" debate is when people just flatout refuse that anyone could be as good as Jordan. Be it LeBron or Magic or Bird or Kareem or Russell etc. Make no mistake, Michael Jordan was great and IMO, is the greatest basketball player of all time. But people view him like he is untouchable and in a league of his own which is just disrespecting what the likes of other greats like Magic, LeBron, Bird, Kareem, Russell, Kobe, Duncan, Wilt or Shaq etc have achieved. Jordan was the greatest offensive weapon this league has ever seen alongside Shaq and Wilt. While the other greats like LeBron, Bird, Magic or Russell may not have the offensive fire-power of a Jordan, what matters is they impacted the game as well as Jordan did. Just because they didn't score as many doesn't mean, they were any less.

 

[Jimmy Rustler]

Agreed. By far his best and most important performance. Spurs 2013 Gm 7 is up there too.

Yes, that Spurs game, he was hitting everything. He had an amazing stat line too, forgot what it was though.

Even the jumper to make it a 2 possession game at the end. Ice cold and pretty much sealed the deal.

 

[Kouki]

reallt in terms of chasedown blocks, that was one of his "easier" ones in terms of difficulty. could see it coming from halfcourt and he had time to slow down and time it just right. of course the moment/timing makes it an extra special play, and lebron makes everything look easy, but he's had much more impressive chasedowns in terms of "holy crap i can't believe he just did that"

 

[gaitano]

Unlike most mass media hoopla, here is a decently fair and balanced article on how LeBron's career is evolving as he grows older:
The King’s Burden: Saving the Cavs Has Changed LeBron James

Although nothing I haven't already read from some of the savvy RCFers here, it is a worthy read and a good summary.
The author, Kirk Goldsberry, is a former professor from U.Michigan and Harvard.

 

[secund2nun]

The bulls won 55 games without Jordan (replaced him with a D-league player) and were one bad call away from making the ECF against a beatable Knicks team that they swept in the RS. Jordan was a part of a great system. Lebron is the system.

 

[Damien O'Connel]

reallt in terms of chasedown blocks, that was one of his "easier" ones in terms of difficulty. could see it coming from halfcourt and he had time to slow down and time it just right. of course the moment/timing makes it an extra special play, and lebron makes everything look easy, but he's had much more impressive chasedowns in terms of "holy crap i can't believe he just did that"

What other player did it more than 2-3 times their entire career?

The fact that you can even say that about the block speaks volumes. I will still argue, no other player could make that play.

He caught up to Derrick fucking Rose like it was nothing.

 

[The Edge]

Agreed. By far his best and most important performance. Spurs 2013 Gm 7 is up there too.

Spurs game 7? Never saw it, must have been another team than the Cavs.

 

[The Edge]

Yes, that Spurs game, he was hitting everything. He had an amazing stat line too, forgot what it was though.

Even the jumper to make it a 2 possession game at the end. Ice cold and pretty much sealed the deal.

Some of you rooks need to start an all heat thread and get that weak stuff outta here. Or you can talk about LBJ when he quit on Cleveland because he had his bags packed for North Cuba. In that case he is better than Jordan, at laying down.

 

[Kouki]

What other player did it more than 2-3 times their entire career?

The fact that you can even say that about the block speaks volumes. I will still argue, no other player could make that play.

He caught up to Derrick fucking Rose like it was nothing.

Yeah, I'm not trying to take away anything from LeBron, at all. Rather, me saying that it was a rather ordinary chasedown block for him speaks volumes about his capability, like you said. Hell, Fred/AC had a chasedown counter in his last stint as a Cav.

Also Delly deserves props, I'm positive he had the awareness at the time that LeBron was coming in for that play, and did what he needed to do to slow Rose down a tick.

 

[The Oi]

About great achievements, I consider LeBron's greatest achievement that he took that 2007 team to the Finals. Sure we were swept by SAS, but really, that Cavs team? Any other player capable of doing that?

Hell, the closest MJ came to that was taking Lola Bunny to a W over the Toon Stars.

Iverson's finals supporting cast was equally brutal.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

The bulls won 55 games without Jordan (replaced him with a D-league player) and were one bad call away from making the ECF against a beatable Knicks team that they swept in the RS.

As fantastic as MJ was, that's a powerful point. MJ didn't win a title until his 7th season, and the team he had around him after that was better than any team LBJ ever had. By way of perspective, the Bulls teams of that era included at least one (Pippen) and sometimes two (add Rodman) other HOF players in addition to MJ, all in their absolute prime. And unlike the Miami Big 3 era, the non-HOF talent on those Bulls teams was still good enough to win 55 games after MJ left.

By way of comparison, if you had taken the Cavs team of that MJ era, which included no HOF players, and added just LBJ....Cavs would have been the better team by a decent margin. Or imagine taking any of the teams that won at least 55 games this year (other than the Cavs, obviously), and just adding LBJ to their roster.

LBJ is probably never going to be considered the GOAT because of the "count the rings" argument. But I think if you really look at what he's had around him compared to what MJ and even Russell had, that's probably doing him a disservice. I think he's right up there in that conversation, right now.

 

[Marbles]

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