LeBron James

I can't help but wonder how much it must suck to be a LeBron James hater after games like yesterday. I mean, there are - and will always be - glorified LBJ critics; people that won't admit that, no matter what he does, it'll never be enough for them.

But the guy who many critics argue relies on high-level help (because the suggestion that one man alone could Superman his way through opposing 15-man rosters each night wouldn't be absurd) lifted his team from the bottom of a bottomless well to win that game yesterday.

WHILE the best 2 players on his team not named LeBron James sat and cheered from the bench. It's just absurd.

Couple that with the realization that that performance wasn't even in his top 5 in the Playoffs and you've got to wonder: what's left to hate about?

It almost becomes too transparent if you aren't paying him his dues anymore. I mean the guy is going to be told that he's not the MVP of this league for yet another year and yet he continues to exemplify greatness when greatness is the only prerequisite.

One has to wonder if the Harden's and Westbrook's of the world ever sit back and think: "Man, I should really give trophy this to LBJ. He could put up my numbers, AND win games, AND do it with more efficiency if he really wanted to in the regular season."

It's just a wonderful blessing that we are given to be able to follow a team headlined by a player who - in my mind - will go down at the end of his career unquestionably as the greatest to ever play the game.

I can't believe people think Lebron is declining. lol I think Lebron could get better because he might develop his 3 point shot and postup game. When Lebron gets older I will expect him to be a postup player and jump shooter. The best has yet to come from Lebron.

I am officially sold on him be the best, period.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

WitnessMoBoobie said:

I am officially sold on him be the best, period.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

And he's doing this in a league that has zone and more advance defensive strategies.

JMoneyYourHoney said:

Having a really hard time deciding who the 2nd best player in the East is between Giannis, Butler and George. They all have their points.

Click to expand...

It really could be any of those guys. But don't forget about John Wall. He's one of the best athletes in the NBA, an incredible passer, and one of the only two way players at the point guard position. The Ringer had a stat today that out of the eight point guards in the All Star game this year, only Wall was in the top half of the league in defending isolations and pick-and-rolls. He can switch onto bigger players too with his absurd 6-9 wingspan. And he's finally developed a reliable jumper.

MrHoops said:

I can't believe people think Lebron is declining. lol I think Lebron could get better because he might develop his 3 point shot and postup game. When Lebron gets older I will expect him to be a postup player and jump shooter. The best has yet to come from Lebron.

Click to expand...

Yeah me too i am like giggling in my corner while nobody is listening^^

Lebron has of course already lost a considerable amount of raw athletism compared to his younger years. But his Mental Game is so far ahead of anybody in the NBA.. maybe in NBA History that it easilly compensates for the small amount of less athletism.

Lebron is way to smart and way too obsessed and with getting better to simply stand pat as he ages further.

I totally expect Lebron to come back every summer he loses a bit of raw athletism with an adaptation that will ensure he will stay just as deadly. He is that Obsessed..
He will come into Training Camp with a more refined Post Game or a Deadly Mid Range Game or Suddenly Shoots 45% from Three.. and maybe all of those just in consecutive seasons..

Alot of people even around here have really weird expectations on how Lebron will age..
Its because most people dont see beyond the athletic freak.. They dont see that he is also one of the most skilled Players to ever play. Even with average Athletism he would have still become a Hofmer on Skill and Mentallity alone..
They think he will age like Steve Francis or any guy reliant on athletism..

We dont have a 1 to 1 comparison for him to see how he ages.. the closest in terms of Bodytype and obsession with Body Maintance would be Karl Malone.
He was a MVP Canidate at 38.. averaged 20/9/4 at 39
he aged extremly well because he stayed strong and fit even as he aged.. and he developed his Mid Range and Post Game really well.

I see no reason why Lebron cant age simillarly. He also has his 3pt Shot and Passing.
I dont think his per 36 Numbers will ever drop too far below what they are now.. the only drop in Stats will come once somebody starts to play him less Minutes eventually..

Lebron knows he has to have epic last 6-8 years to cement him next to the Ghost he is chasing and have a good shot at overtaking him. He wont just give in to aging. Yes father time is undeafated but i fully expect Lebron to beat the crap out of father time before Lebron is at last defeated^^

priceFTW said:

Why isn't there a statue in front of the Q already? He took the bench and beat the Pacers.

27 straight playoff series with a road win for, an all-time record by quite a bit.

Westbrook and James are the only players to have 40/10/10 in playoffs games (Westbrook last night of course). If you also want to limit it to players who shot over 50%, then it's just James.

Also, loved that little stutter-step drive left he had working all game long. He has been more creative st the rim this year than any year before because he needs to be since he can't just dunk everything. I remember when Jordan came out and said a few years ago that the secret to guarding James is making him go left. LeBron prefers going left a lot of the time and goes left and finishes as well as anyone.

Click to expand...

that was always an idiotic scouting of Lebron by Jordan. Anyone that watches Lebron enough would see he prefers going left on jumpers and most drives outside of dunks. Also, is naturally left handed in normal, everyday, life.

Is LeBron ambidextrous?

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/78312478-157.html

Tyrone Slothrop said:

And arguing from a pure production standpoint, Gasol was right there with Kobe for the other two. Now, I'm not saying that Gasol was good or as dangerous as Kobe, just that Kobe had a lot of help. He's a great player. Imo, top 15, but he could be the most overrated (in the truest sense of the word) basketball player, ever. The Jordan comparisons were baseless.

Click to expand...

Kobe Bryant was clearly, and easily, the best basketball player on those teams. That's not even a serious debate.

Gasol was not "right there" with Kobe, at all. He was barely relevant in Memphis before he got to LA. An all-star? Yeah. He was good, but he wasn't a premier talent in the league by any means.

Gasol was great, but news flash, name me an all-time great that has won multiples titles without other great players?

It's not like anyone is going to list Gasol as the top-20 basketball player of all-time. Nor will he make the list of greatest players of his own generation.

And as for the Jordan comparisons. I don't think anyone seriously suggested he was Jordan, but the style of play was very similar.

Kobe's game mirrored Jordan's a lot. So by that alone the comparisons were going to be made.

Kobe is an all-time great. I don't really like him. And he's no threat to LeBron.

Like I said, he's clearly IMO the second greatest player of this generation. He's truly an all-time great, and should be recognized as that and respected as one. Kobe's career is legendary and a lot of all-time greats would easily trade their career for his.

But, he's clearly a distant second to LeBron James. That's how good LeBron is.

godfather said:

Like I said, he's clearly IMO the second greatest player of this generation. He's truly an all-time great, and should be recognized as that and respected as one. Kobe's career is legendary and a lot of all-time greats would easily trade their career for his.

But, he's clearly a distant second to LeBron James. That's how good LeBron is.

Click to expand...

A lot of people would put Duncan above Kobe and/or LeBron.

godfather said:

Kobe Bryant was clearly, and easily, the best basketball player on those teams. That's not even a serious debate.

Gasol was not "right there" with Kobe, at all. He was barely relevant in Memphis before he got to LA. An all-star? Yeah. He was good, but he wasn't a premier talent in the league by any means.

Gasol was great, but news flash, name me an all-time great that has won multiples titles without other great players?

It's not like anyone is going to list Gasol as the top-20 basketball player of all-time. Nor will he make the list of greatest players of his own generation.

And as for the Jordan comparisons. I don't think anyone seriously suggested he was Jordan, but the style of play was very similar.

Kobe's game mirrored Jordan's a lot. So by that alone the comparisons were going to be made.

Kobe is an all-time great. I don't really like him. And he's no threat to LeBron.

Like I said, he's clearly IMO the second greatest player of this generation. He's truly an all-time great, and should be recognized as that and respected as one. Kobe's career is legendary and a lot of all-time greats would easily trade their career for his.

But, he's clearly a distant second to LeBron James. That's how good LeBron is.

Click to expand...

Kobe was nothing more than a kid that was brought up to be a basketball player who emulated his game after Jordan. There was no Kobe Bryant. There was Jordan lite. That's it. He was a cheap imitation of MJ. There was no uniqueness to his game.

And for that, he will never be great.

godfather said:

Kobe Bryant was clearly, and easily, the best basketball player on those teams. That's not even a serious debate.

Gasol was not "right there" with Kobe, at all. He was barely relevant in Memphis before he got to LA. An all-star? Yeah. He was good, but he wasn't a premier talent in the league by any means.

Gasol was great, but news flash, name me an all-time great that has won multiples titles without other great players?

It's not like anyone is going to list Gasol as the top-20 basketball player of all-time. Nor will he make the list of greatest players of his own generation.

And as for the Jordan comparisons. I don't think anyone seriously suggested he was Jordan, but the style of play was very similar.

Kobe's game mirrored Jordan's a lot. So by that alone the comparisons were going to be made.

Kobe is an all-time great. I don't really like him. And he's no threat to LeBron.

Like I said, he's clearly IMO the second greatest player of this generation. He's truly an all-time great, and should be recognized as that and respected as one. Kobe's career is legendary and a lot of all-time greats would easily trade their career for his.

But, he's clearly a distant second to LeBron James. That's how good LeBron is.

Click to expand...

Good post, my only nitpick is that Tim Duncan was in the same generation and is clearly a better player than Kobe.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

JMoneyYourHoney said:

A lot of people would put Duncan above Kobe and/or LeBron.

Click to expand...

I think a lot people do that because they love Tim Duncan. He's quiet, humble, and make no mistake, he's great, too. And Kobe is the exact opposite. He's an asshole. I don't disagree, he is one, I never cared for him either. But the guy is still great.

I think Kobe overall is the better of the two. Sure, Duncan's longevity is amazing, but did anyone really feel Duncan can single handily just dominate a game like Kobe?

Defensively Duncan, maybe, but I don't think defensively one guy can dominate a game given you are still relied on others, too.

Man Called X said:

Kobe was nothing more than a kid that was brought up to be a basketball player who emulated his game after Jordan. There was no Kobe Bryant. There was Jordan lite. That's it. He was a cheap imitation of MJ. There was no uniqueness to his game.

And for that, he will never be great.

Click to expand...

Come on, X, Kobe will never be great? I don't disagree he emulated his game a lot like Jordan's, but you so did a lottttt of players at that time and they weren't one fifth as good as Kobe.

There's no need to even bring Kobe up regardless. No one even compares him anymore to LeBron. LeBron is widely seen worldwide by critics, opposing fans, etc, as the better of the two. Only the few faithful bias Laker fans hold on to this delusion Kobe was better.

The only argument they have, which is faulty is championship rings. But LeBron has more MVP finals than Kobe already, so that puts a nail into that argument.

I think that is the more critical accomplishment if you're going to compare titles.

Being an MVP in a championship game even in football, and especially basketball I think validates your stature as an all-time great much more than just having championship rings.

And honestly, I think it's the greatest accomplishment you can have in sports. Finals MVP matters a thousand times more than regular season.

LeBron has 3, he has 4 league MVPs. His numbers are much better than Kobe's in just about every category.

No one that's being honest, can find one thing to point to that makes Kobe's career better. Nothing.

godfather said:

The only argument they have, which is faulty is championship rings. But LeBron has more MVP finals than Kobe already, so that puts a nail into that argument.

Click to expand...

Not to mention that LeBron's greatest performance in a losing effort (2015 Finals) is probably objectively better than any of Kobe's Finals performances.

godfather said:

Come on, X, Kobe will never be great? I don't disagree he emulated his game a lot like Jordan's, but you so did a lottttt of players at that time and they weren't one fifth as good as Kobe.

There's no need to even bring Kobe up regardless. No one even compares him anymore to LeBron. LeBron is widely seen worldwide by critics, opposing fans, etc, as the better of the two. Only the few faithful bias Laker fans hold on to this delusion Kobe was better.

The only argument they have, which is faulty is championship rings. But LeBron has more MVP finals than Kobe already, so that puts a nail into that argument.

I think that is the more critical accomplishment if you're going to compare titles.

Being an MVP in a championship game even in football, and especially basketball I think validates your stature as an all-time great much more than just having championship rings.

And honestly, I think it's the greatest accomplishment you can have in sports. Finals MVP matters a thousand times more than regular season.

LeBron has 3, he has 4 league MVPs. His numbers are much better than Kobe's in just about every category.

No one that's being honest, can find one thing to point to that makes Kobe's career better. Nothing.

Click to expand...

To me, a great player has to leave his mark on the game. There's gotta be something about him that stands out above his peers. There's nothing signature Kobe Bryant, there is "Did you see the MJ corner turnaround that Kobe does too?" He was a primadonna that threw a fit before he was ever drafted to scare off other teams.

Kobe was a good player. A damn good one, but there was nothing great about him.