LeBron can't win it alone? Neither could MJ, Bird or Magic

The Cavs lost because they couldn't stop Dwight Howard. That's not Lebron's job, so it wasn't his fault they lost the series. If you look at that series and the Finals, the difference is not Kobe's play vs. Lebron's play. It is Dwight's play vs. Dwight's play. He destroyed the Cavs and was subpar against the Lakers. Are you going to credit Kobe with that?

 

That doesn't change the fact that your original statement:

was flat out wrong. At least now you've backtracked from that somewhat.

 

First, I don't know why people keep mentioning HOFers or the lack of on Lebron's Cleveland team. They were the best team TWO YEARS in a row. They were able to swept through two rounds of the playoffs by double digits EVERY GAME. It's not about individual players. It's about the team result. If you could do those things as a team, you are a GREAT TEAM and definitely a contender, no matter how you slice it.

Second, it doesn't matter if Magic, Bird, or Jordan had great players on their teams. They did not demand those players to win. They did not collude to form a single team. It just happened. To imply that they would have done the same thing if they were in Lebron's situation was an argument from conjecture, not from facts.

Like Bill Simmons pointed out, everyone who have played pickup ball would hate the guys who group the best players into one team and care nothing about real competition.

 

If ur the so called "best player in the league" then theres no way Dwight Howard is the difference maker that series. Last time i checked, Dwight didnt have any HOF's playing with him either. How sure didnt have any problems making his team better

 

lebron is more talented than kobe no doubt. but kobe's will and work ethic is what got the lakers championships. you guys are arguing that Kobe had a better team than lebron so kobe got his rings but what about Hakeem? are we going to start saying that Horry, Elie, Maxwell, Smith are reasons to invalidate Dream's importance in the play-offs?

Lebron's team lost b/c their coach was incompetent. /argument

EDIT: nm ur arguing semantics. i'll stay outta that one.

 

You do realize Chicago was a terrible franchise before MJ got there? They had the 2nd worst record in the league before drafting MJ and never had done anything prior to him.

Cleveland with Lebron was similar except they actually had teams that could have won it all. 1989 and 1992.

 

I certainly stick by my words. Kobe hit the big shots on that team...If not, he assisted on plenty

 

LeBron tried, he couldn't get any big name free agents to come to Cleveland. Cleveland is not a city that anyone is interested in. Imagine Lebron, Bosh, and Wade talking. Ok, u guys come to Clev and Wade saying are u crazy, S. Beach vs. Clev. LOL!!! Toronto with snow and 50% taxes aren't in the conversation.

So Lebron is staring at same team going out in the 2nd round or earlier. The gave Varejo $50 mln, get real. Dude is a $5mlm yr player. U sign Shaq and toss Ilgauskas.. Ferry didn't help his case with several bad decisions. A chance for Amare and he blew it. Bad news...

 

Kind of like how Kobe Bryant would never allow Chauncey Billups to be the difference maker in a playoff series?

 

Do you have any numbers to actually back this up?

 

Are you saying Kobe doesn't have great players surrounding him? Remember that he's been to the Finals before and lost, twice, with good teams. Nobody wins it alone. I don't think you're giving Hakeem's teammates enough credit. He had the perfect role players surrounding him, just like MJ.

I don't think anyone is trying to downplay Kobe's importance in the playoffs but compared to Lebron, Kobe's team are much more talented.

 

Yeah, okay....

 

Just like implying that MJ definitely wouldn't have done the same is conjecture. He never had the chance. If MJ had been a free agent in 1989 and could have joined two other all-star players in NY or some other major market, maybe he would have. I agree that he wouldn't have joined a rival, but neither did Lebron. He has never played against Wade or Bosh in the playoffs before.

MJ's comment about Lebron's move was essentially worthless because he said "in hindsight" he wouldn't have joined Magic and Bird. Well, of course with the knowledge that he was going to win six championships anyway he wouldn't have done it.

 

So, ur saying that lebron needs wade and bosh to win? he cant recruit anyone else? South Beach is irrelevant. the players are actually "at home" only a certain number of games. they can live anywhere they want. a number of players claim residency in houston.

and dont say mgmt mistreated lbj b/c they wiped his ass for him.
MJ had it bad in Chicago vs mgmt. Lebron got what he asked for in Cleveland. problem was he never thought the coach was relevant b/c his ego was too big. (yeah thats not a fact and i dont know if that really happened but i am pretty dam sure if he requested Mike Brown be fired Brown wouldve been gone.)

 

Stupidest sh** in this thread so far.

Pippen is great because he wanted to be great. Jordan was a great role model but please. If he had that effect, all the guys he played with would have been hall of famers.

Whippin into shape?? Were did you see that bull sh**??? This is classic madeup nonsense by people who arn't old enough to see or remember what happened on those teams.

A teammate can make another teammate better, but can't make him a hall of famer.

 

Exactly. The top players want helps, but not help others. They are building-around. Thus, James King never be in the same level of MJ, Magic and bird. Moses is a top 5 centers and won everything. Did people consider him as the same level of MJ, Magic and Bird? No. Jabar was even better than Moses. Did people consider him as good as Magic? No.

The king and bosh are immature with no fire. The biggest winner is Wade. He will be the closer. Even the king had more points/assist, people may remember that it's wade team.

 

Sorry I disagree. Guys in your own draft class are your rivals. Would MJ had joined Hakeem or Barkley or Stockton?

 

The writer seem to ignore the fact that Larry, Magic, and Michael were drafted by their teams.

Wade was drafted by the Heat. It was Wade that carried the Heat to championship with Shaq, and it was Wade who lured LeBron. What Shaq, Michael, Larry, and Magic did was outshine the other superstar they played with. There was no doubt it was their team, this isnt the case with LBJ. Even if he avgs more point and assists, if its Wade who carries them in the final seconds of a close game, it will be Wade who will be elevated. What ever King moniker LeBron had is out the door once he decided he could share the crown.

 

Cleveland got down on one knee and proposed marriage, and he decides to throw a pie in their face. Then while he's at it he launches pies on missiles to hit every other NBA city too.

He's destroyed the basic premise of the league. Now it's Globetrotters vs the Generals.

 

Pathetic reason for an NBA superstar to commit to a franchise. Why not do the talking by bringing in a premiere player? What's the best they can do? Bring in old and retiring veterans that had no where else to go in their career? Jamison? Please. Butler/Jamison/Arenas couldn't get anywhere as a trio in the East. That's a bold and sad statement alone. People like to bring up his 18/7 stats or whatever he was averaging, but he has no impact on the games. That's like comparing Al Jefferson's numbers to Tim Ducans and then suggesting that they are equal because Jefferson once averaged 22/10-ish. If you think failing to bring in talent is OK as long as they beg/put up posters/billboards/commercials, then you may want to head back to school. Ignorance.

I'm not even going to argue this stupid topic again, but the most obvious hating comes from Kobe fanboys/trolls. They would love LeBron to stay in CLE and play with that aged roster and Mo Williams. They would love for LeBron to average 30/8/8 on 50% FG in the regular season and then fail in the playoffs so they can criticize him. Now they're afraid that he'll finally win so it's natural for the hate to come out.

Bottomline: CLE is not the same as BOS, CHI, LA, NY or any of those markets. NO STAR in their prime/right mind would want to play for Cleveland. The comparison to stars of the past playing for huge markets (and world class cities) is a farce and requires a bit of stupidity.

Lakers line-up:
Gasol, Artest, Odom, Bynum

Out of those four, who would you trade for Mo Williams? None. Who would you trade for Jamison? I'd say none.

If you put LeBron on that LAL team, it would be better than the current HEAT team of "divas". I don't really like LeBron's dominating of the ball too much, but he's a triple-double talent. And he's very efficient at it.

When Kobe was out, how well/poor did the Lakers play? If there was no Kobe, how many games would this Lakers team win? I'd argue 50. They have the size/length/talent/coach.

This LAL team is still the most stacked team in the league. Kobe fanboys/trolls need to stop with the stupidity and acknowledge the fact that superstars do need help to win. If they can recall, Kobe was throwing one of the most famous fits in NBA history just a few years ago.