LeBron James

[And1]

Have you ever looked at the complete roster of the first year of the big 3 in Miami? Carlos Arroyo was a starter That roster sucked outside of the Big 3. After the first year, Wade was never healthy again and Bosh was injured for a good chunk of the 2nd and 3rd rounds of 2012. This is why lebron had to do so much heavy lifting.



2010 Bulls would destroy this years Hawks IMO and so would 2010-2012 celtics.



Can't call inexperience with OKC considering they schooled the Sours that year. OKC lost because Lebron owns Durant. Going into the Finals, everyone had Thunder beating the Heat.

This...

 

[And1]

Exactly bball. You can't make excuses for everyone but Miami. For some reason people like to act like it was always smooth sailing for them. They won two titles and played in 4 Finals with extremely flawed teams. 2011 was the last year Wade was in his prime. He hasd his moments in the 2012 playoffs (2nd round,Finals), but that was it. For the talk of Bosh being underrated, he tended to be a ghost in the playoffs. He was huge against Boston in that game 7 in 2012, the Finals against OKC, and he had that huge rebound against San Antonio. But he was also HORRIBLE against the Pacers and Spurs. One of the biggest reasons the Spurs took Miami to 7 games was because Bosh got absolutely lit up like a Christmas tree by Duncan. And he scored a scorching ZERO points in the biggest game of his career up to that point. LeBron with a team of Chamlers, Birdman, Miller, and Allen was the one that brought the Heat out of that hole in the 4th quarter of game 6 in 2013. People always for get that.

Great post. Spot on

 

[The Oi]

Lol... why don't you tell us what you really think?

K.

I think posters who dislike three posts in a row that are objective and correct followed by posting garbage, wrong opinions are deserving of that type of reply.

The only worse kind of poster are the ones who dislike a series of posts without posting anything at all. So I'll give him that credit.

 

[Bballguy4]

Some of us have access to information that you don't. And the idea that we weren't able to forgive him is ridiculous, especially since it has no relevance to this argument. LeBron tried to get Blatt fired. It happened. The front office told him no and made some trades to improve the team. At that point, LeBron started buying in and playing harder.

LBJ is playing the same as he was before the trades, the only difference is that he was hobbled early on before the 2 weeks rest.

 

[Bballguy4]

Exactly bball. You can't make excuses for everyone but Miami. For some reason people like to act like it was always smooth sailing for them. They won two titles and played in 4 Finals with extremely flawed teams. 2011 was the last year Wade was in his prime. He hasd his moments in the 2012 playoffs (2nd round,Finals), but that was it. For the talk of Bosh being underrated, he tended to be a ghost in the playoffs. He was huge against Boston in that game 7 in 2012, the Finals against OKC, and he had that huge rebound against San Antonio. But he was also HORRIBLE against the Pacers and Spurs. One of the biggest reasons the Spurs took Miami to 7 games was because Bosh got absolutely lit up like a Christmas tree by Duncan. And he scored a scorching ZERO points in the biggest game of his career up to that point. LeBron with a team of Chamlers, Birdman, Miller, and Allen was the one that brought the Heat out of that hole in the 4th quarter of game 6 in 2013. People always for get that.

Bosh only had one great series and that was the 2010-2011 vs Bulls. He always sucked vs the Pacers.

 

[Gus Zing]

Except there's no evidence he ever tried to do that except baseless speculation by people who never forgave him for leaving and wanted him to deliver us the moon overnight.

It's funny that Lebron James, one of the most powerful guys in the NBA who is almost always able to make things happen when he wants to, is so totally incompetent at 'getting coaches fired'. Maybe it's because he has a short attention span with it -- after a couple of weeks of 'trying to get them fired' he always seems to turn around and propel them to the top of the league. Lack of focus and effort on his part!

Like I said earlier, I really doubt LeBron went to the front office and told them to fire Blatt directly. I am assuming he didn't want him and would have preferred a more experience coach. But there is a difference between not wanting someone and then pushing for him to be fired. Eitherway, its all in the past really. What matters is, the team is set now!

I don't know if he "phoned in" those games. He wasn't exactly right in terms of health, and sure, I think he was at times either pouting, or making a resistance stance against Blatt that was very unprofessional. So LB definitely deserves accountability.

There's no denying LB didn't handle himself well at all to start the year. And it's not exactly a "secret" he made it known just about to everyone he didn't want Blatt to be the coach of this team.

And if anyone knows anything about LB, when there's something he does like, or doesn't, he will try to orchestrate it to get it done his way.

But gladly, he's changed his tune, got healthy, we made the trades we did, and the rest is history.

Here is my only issue with the "We have a source so take it as fact or take a hike crowd"

I see people mention that they are privy to more information than others. I see people saying that because the source/poster said it must be true.

The problem is when there is added speculation to it and people take that as fact.

For instance,
"I dont think he was nearly as injured as he was letting on"
"He probably only played hard because the Royal Family was in attendance"
"He probably only played hard because Kobe was smack talking him"
"He probably took his vacation in hopes that it would be a death nail in Blatt."
"Him being in Miami to receive treatment must mean he doesnt care about his team"

etc etc etc from the reliable source.
http://realcavsfans.com/community/index.php?threads/lebron-james.44411/page-373

Maybe LeBron did want Blatt fired. But where is the evidence that he was sabotaging, i.e, throwing games on the court.

That is my main issue. Magic Johnson got Paul Westhead fired. So I'm not against believing that LeBron wanted him out.

Its that so much alluding and speculating that LeBron was tanking games was accepted as fact around here.

Even after wins when people were excited after seeing LeBron dominate there were some still talking about LeBron in sabotage mode.

I respect a lot of people here. So fine, I'll accept it as fact that LeBron openly wanted Blatt fired. Its the he was sabotaging games on purpose stuff that I just dont buy yet. Because there was no substance to it. Just speculation.

 

[castor777]

I don't really have any issue at all with people thinking LeBron wanted Blatt fired. I just think going by and saying things are "fact" is usually a bit ignorant unless you were in the room at the time LeBron stated he wanted him gone. If you weren't, then it's just speculation as to how things went down or heresay - neither of which should be taken as fact and instead with a bit of salt.

My belief in the whole thing is that LeBron came back to Cleveland and was pretty much orchestrating everything with his return. At last he left Miami where he didn't have everything given to him and was back to the place that let him run the show. No matter what happened, he new he had a team of young guys and a city that would universally surround him and be united at all times (and how fitting the Nike ad showed exactly this). In short, he felt he was running the show and things would go entirely his way. Yet, here's a rookie head coach that had his own game plan and egos collided a lot with each other early on. Whether LeBron tried to get him fired and failed, or just realizing the team wasn't benefitting from the power struggle, things changed and they moved on. And now here we are, heading into the post season as true title contenders we hoped they'd be.

No facts at all there, just my own speculation.

 

[godfather]

Here is my only issue with the "We have a source so take it as fact or take a hike crowd"

I see people mention that they are privy to more information than others. I see people saying that because the source/poster said it must be true.

The problem is when there is added speculation to it and people take that as fact.

For instance,
"I dont think he was nearly as injured as he was letting on"
"He probably only played hard because the Royal Family was in attendance"
"He probably only played hard because Kobe was smack talking him"
"He probably took his vacation in hopes that it would be a death nail in Blatt."
"Him being in Miami to receive treatment must mean he doesnt care about his team"

etc etc etc from the reliable source.
http://realcavsfans.com/community/index.php?threads/lebron-james.44411/page-373

Maybe LeBron did want Blatt fired. But where is the evidence that he was sabotaging, i.e, throwing games on the court.

That is my main issue. Magic Johnson got Paul Westhead fired. So I'm not against believing that LeBron wanted him out.

Its that so much alluding and speculating that LeBron was tanking games was accepted as fact around here.

Even after wins when people were excited after seeing LeBron dominate there were some still talking about LeBron in sabotage mode.

I respect a lot of people here. So fine, I'll accept it as fact that LeBron openly wanted Blatt fired. Its the he was sabotaging games on purpose stuff that I just dont buy yet. Because there was no substance to it. Just speculation.

I don't think I said he was sabotaging games on purpose? I do agree, in a sense of what you're saying. It's really hard to sit here and say that a guy is trying to sabotage the team. I have no idea if he was trying to do that.

I was just speaking, it's not exactly a secret, or private information that LB didn't want Blatt here. Windy mention this on his radio show the other day. You can find I am sure plenty of articles about this dated back around November to December.

Was he sabotaging game plans, and trying to undermine Blatt? I don't know, I have no idea.

I don't think he was conducting himself the best of ways. Obviously, I think he was hurt, and not healthy to start the year. I just go by my own eyes, and see a guy I've watched basically his entire career. I can tell when he's not moving fluidly, or his explosion was clearly not the same. That's a guy playing dinged up.

Whatever happen is history to me. He's obviously engaged in the team, and committed to winning games. Taking on the leadership role very well. I don't think I, or anyone ever really questioned LB's commitment to wanting to win.

Does he act spoiled at times, and like things to be catered to him specifically? Probably, that's not like a new relevation, that a superstar is trying to use his power to his benefit.

I think the only thing I really question LB on, early in the year, is that he needed to be a better leader. He has been, so I got not issues at all with him.

I just wanted to add, whether LB really tried getting him fired, or not, which I personally believed he did, isn't the only point. There was obvious "friction" and a circus of media speculation going on about this. And I think LB could have easily squashed this, publicly by backing up his first time head coach, and let the storm blow over. But he didn't.

So, even if we don't have any actual "facts" it's not hard to determine, the muteness of LB seem evident that yeah, he did want him gone. Or at the very least he was very unhappy with him, and wanted it known too.

To me, that was bad on his part. It was creating a lot of chaos, but luckily that's all over with.

 

[Chris]

Team is cruising into the playoffs with a solid shot at a title and we're debating about whether or not LeBron was trying to get Blatt fired. Who. Cares.

 

[mrbeaks]

Team is cruising into the playoffs with a solid shot at a title and we're debating about whether or not LeBron was trying to get Blatt fired. Who. Cares.

Especially after Windhorst's comments from his radio show yesterday. LeBron clearly loves his new teammates, and, as we saw against Memphis last Wednesday, the team has completely bought in to Blatt and each other. Mark Jackson ain't walking through that door, and thank god for that.

We're going to see that Memphis effort once the playoffs start. It won't always be that level of near-perfection, but at least it's not going to be blah like we saw last night against Brooklyn.

 

[Flight479]

LeBron plays for his teammates that he loves. He doesn't play for Blatt. I wonder if he's ever played hard for a coach throughout his career. All I know is from here on out LeBron will make his decision on truly trusting Blatt. The regular season is one thing but the playoffs is where Blatt will need to show the world (and LeBron) he's forreal. First things first. Play Moz!

 

[Frank Reynolds]

Lebron has pulled rank on Blatt because there's one thing Dave does that makes LBJ turned off.

Blatt thinks all of his prior coaching experience means something, and James knows that Dave hasn't even coached in a series yet.

Blatt has only ever coached in single elimination euro tournaments.

I think all the players like Dave as a guy. I don't think they wholly trust his gameplan more than they trust their own talent and James experience.

Blatt can kiss James ass all he wants, he needs to fucking coach him. In order for that to happen, Dave needs to check his European bags at the door. He can say that being a coach who's experienced adversity helped prepare him mentally; that's fine but you haven't proven anything yet and that's the real facts, not that you coached eight hundred games and won sixteen euro titles. That doesn't mean anything to us, welcome TO THE NBA AND USA.

LeBron will ice his Princeton ass right out the door. I'm one of Blatts bigger fans, but I see where the tension is. Blatt will get himself fired, Bron doesn't even have to ask for it.

In order for this to work, Dave has to humble himself, but who knows maybe he's a chess player when he gets multiple opportunities to get several cracks at the opponent.

 

[Baseline Runner]

^ I think the sentiment that he isn't as good is simply based on him not playing the same style. Previously it was a dominating style due to using his freak athleticism, not it is mostly due to skill and smarts.

Jordan was a better and a more successful player in his early thirties when he had to rely on his craftiness and turnaround jump shot than in his twenties when his athleticism was off the charts. I'll take championships and 68 wins a year over somewhat better stats and more highlight reel plays.

 

[Mr. Blonde]

Bosh only had one great series and that was the 2010-2011 vs Bulls. He always sucked vs the Pacers.

Bosh was/is a great player who sacrificed for the team. He never hid like lebron in 2011 vs. The mavs.

 

[Tazoz]

Lebron has pulled rank on Blatt because there's one thing Dave does that makes LBJ turned off.

Blatt thinks all of his prior coaching experience means something, and James knows that Dave hasn't even coached in a series yet.

Blatt has only ever coached in single elimination euro tournaments.

I think all the players like Dave as a guy. I don't think they wholly trust his gameplan more than they trust their own talent and James experience.

Blatt can kiss James ass all he wants, he needs to fucking coach him. In order for that to happen, Dave needs to check his European bags at the door. He can say that being a coach who's experienced adversity helped prepare him mentally; that's fine but you haven't proven anything yet and that's the real facts, not that you coached eight hundred games and won sixteen euro titles. That doesn't mean anything to us, welcome TO THE NBA AND USA.

LeBron will ice his Princeton ass right out the door. I'm one of Blatts bigger fans, but I see where the tension is. Blatt will get himself fired, Bron doesn't even have to ask for it.

In order for this to work, Dave has to humble himself, but who knows maybe he's a chess player when he gets multiple opportunities to get several cracks at the opponent.

Ok, let me get this straight. For months now the team has been playing excellent basketball using the coaches system and winning a large amount of games. However, Lebron now randomly decided that he needs to show his coach whose boss because he believes that his coach has never played in playoffs and he has so he knows better what the team should do, despite the fact that Blatt played in multiple play off series throughout his career.

So Lebron is risking the great connection that has been building over months of work because of his ego and you feel that he is right to do so. How is that a good thing and even a rational take on the situation. Isn't it much more logical to just think that the players are cruising because they have a stretch of easy games and feel that they have secured their playoff spot. Blatt is not taking things overly serious because his mind is likewise already in the playoffs.

Personally I think that all the drama around Lebron is a media constructed narrative and that despite everything, he is perfectly coachable and probably quite friendly to Blatt and happy Blatt is his coach. Because after all Lebron is a professional player and understands it is the coaches job to coach and the players job is to play basketball.