Talent almost always wins in the NBA, and LeBron and the Heat have the most talent. Call me strange, but I would rather see David beat Goliath, not have Goliath engineer a trade to an army with 2 other Goliaths and then rip David limb from limb.
FALSE. Cuban has always tried to buy a ring. Dallas has a higher payroll by a measly $24 million. http://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm
what does payroll have to do with talent? wasn't/isn't Rashard Lewis one of the highest paid players in the NBA? Outside of Dirk, the Mavs have no one near as talented as Bosh, Wade, and LBJ. Granted their bench is deeper than Miami's but as long as those 3 are healthy, it'll be tough to beat that team.
My post was a reply to the David v Goliath reference. It's no secret that Cuban has to tried to buy a championship for a very long time. Get that underdog nonsense out of here.
You are wrong. The Mavs are indeed underdogs, though not huge. http://www.betvega.com/odds-to-win-nba-championship/ I'm not a Mavs fan, and I agree they have a huge payroll. But rooting for LeBron is like rooting for the Yankees. Low payoff for your investment. If they win, it's like "satisfactory job." If they lose, it's like "how the f did you screw that up?"
This makes no sense at all. They needed both of them to beat Boston. Your statement makes it seem like Miami would have won if LeBron didn't play. Newsflash last year Wade got beat by Boston in the 1st round last year just like Bron got beat by Boston last year.
Yeah, this article had something for everyone with an opinion about James. It was so fair and balanced because it inserted a few tidbits about his arrogance. Smh. I would have thought that James wrote the piece himself except for the fact that the author used proper English grammar.
You just don't get. People love sports not just because of the competition or the respective sport. It not just because someone has superhuman strength, is blazing fast, or more athletic than one's entire family. People love sports because it is people rising above to do something great. It gives someone a hero that they can aspire to. That is what kids to do to athletes. It is what sports fans do to cinderellas that come out of no where. The drama, the mystique, the show that sports provides is the ability to hope and to believe that anything is possible on that court or field. Sometimes those with all the advantages don't win. Sometimes it just cannot be explained by all the stats and probabilities. It allows people to escape the world where things don't work that way. Sports give people that bond, that relationship. No matter what you or anyway says, when Lebron, Wade & Bosh joined together. They destroyed that bond. Ripped it apart. It is the equivalent to two parents getting a divorce after being together for 8 years after a whirlwind romance as kids that turned into a shotgun wedding. The kids are never same. The trust and bond is forever broken. And when in this case it is broken for one person to join the next hottest thing walking down the street en route become super successful, it just adds to the feeling of being betrayed. Lebron can never get that back. It is gone forever. No matter how much he wins or what he accomplishes. He destroyed the mystique, the escape, the pull that drives many fans to love this sport. Especially as a Rocket fan, you don't get that, then I just don't know what else to tell you.
LA has more talent than Miami (Kobe/Gasol/Bynum/Odom/Artest...and at least Fisher can make his shots). Boston arguably has more talent than Miami (4 all-stars, Baby/Green).
That's why he said almost always. The Mavs beating LA was David beating Goliath, which made it fun to watch. For the same reason, I'll be rooting for the Mavs - Miami is clearly Goliath in this case. But it's not like it's the grizzlies out there. Dallas has Dirk, who may be playing better than anyone his postseason (even if not as well rounded as Lebron), and a formidable supporting cast - nonetheless still the underdog. I personally don't care for what Lebron, Wade and Bosh did. It's similar to previous superstar teams but the way they went about it was much worse, especially Lebron. Not just The Decision, but the way he treated he Cleveland franchise was just ridiculous. They k eW for a long time what their plan was, yet Lebron had the nerve to keep Cleveland guessing, to not let them know his choice until some live special. It's just ultimate selfishness and betrayal to a franchise. But that's his right. Bias aside, I can't see Lebron ever having kobe's career, and Kobe is a step below Jordan, so Lebron is clearly below Jordan. Also, tothe person who implied Lebron is a better defender than MJ needs a refresher - MJ was a dominant defender, all the time.
The Lakers have a more balanced team but definitely not more talent. The other 4 people you named have made a total of 5 all star games in 40 plus seasons. Chris Bosh alone has more than that. The NBA is not a depth league and that's why Kobe/Shaq ran through the league with just them and a bunch of role players.
Yup, what gmoney said. Even our frugal GM Morey has said that superstars are radically underpaid in the NBA. Without a salary cap, LeBron would probably be getting $35 million/year and Wade $25 million. All of the Celtics are making fair market value, while the only Laker making below value is Kobe, who probably deserves $25 million. Jordan made over $30 million in each of his last 2 Bulls seasons. With inflation, that's a salary of around $40 million today.
LA had Horry, Grant (older), Rice, Harper, Fisher, Fox surrounding Fox. VERY good contributing role players. LA does have more talent. Bron = Kobe Wade > Gasol, but not by much. Bosh = Odom Then LA still has Bynum, Artest and a better bench. ASG appearances don't mean jack when comparing guys from different conferences. Odom is an All-Star if he is starting in the East. As far as depth, it's overrated when it comes to your 9-12 players, but not your top 8, and especially not when you have 2 bench dudes starting like Miami.
Lakers Kobe - top 2 at his position Gasol - top 3 at his position Bynum - top 2 or 3 at his position Odom - top 2 six man, top 10 pf ....dropoff Artest - above avg at position. top 5 defensive perimeter player Heat Lebron - top player at position/league Wade - top 2 at his position Bosh - top 5 at his position .... huge dropoff Anthony - good defensive player, average at position The Lakers have 4 players ATLEAST in the top 3 in their respectives positions. Odom may not be a top 5 pf, but he is definitely one of, if not the best 6th man in the league. Add on to that, Artest who is still one of the best defenders at the sf position and you got a team loaded with talent. Conversely the Heat have 3 players at or near the top of their positions (I consider Bosh the leagues 5th best pf, tho others may disagree). But from there, its a huge droppoff to Joel Anthony as their next best player. Miller and Haslem would normally have been rated higher but since either barely played or have been severely limited due to injuries, their performances this year has been well below avg...
This is absolutely ridiculous. I am huge Kobe supporter but even I know that Lebron is better than Kobe right now. Kobe couldn't even attack the basket against the Mavs. He also can't play 40+ minutes per game like Lebron can. Wade is >>>Gasol. All the love Gasol gets is ridiculous. He is a big man that has never even had a 20/10 season. A guy that was only a one time all star before he got to the Lakers and only 4 times over his 10 year career. A guy that has only made one 2nd all nba team in his career and never been an mvp candidate. Don't get me wrong Pau is a really good player but not close to superstar level. Wade is so much better than Gasol ever was. Also, saying Bosh is equal to LO is just as ridiculous. Both of these guys were the leading man on teams before they got to their current ones and Bosh out performed Odom by a lot. 1-3 the Heat are better than the Lakers. You really don't appreciate how big a deal it is to put 2 25-30 point scorers on the bench and have a 3rd guy that can put up 24 consistently. Not to mention that they are all great or solid defenders. You like to bring up the Celtics but all those guys were nearing the end of their prime. When the Celtics got together they were no longer at the point where all of them could play 40 min a game in the playoffs. You honestly think if you put 27 year old KG, 27 year old Pierce, and 29 year old Allen on the same team they walk away with only one ring?
That is a very interesting way to list things. If you break things up into positions like there is a clear line then i can probably agree with you on that. However, it makes a lot more sense to go PGs/Wings/Big Men. Kobe/Lebron/Pierce/Durant/Melo/Wade etc. all deserve to be considered in the same group and so do Howard/Pau/Aldridge/Duncan/Randolph/KG etc. The way you list things also ignores that Lebron/Wade are top 5 players while Pau and Bynum aren't even in the top 15. The Heat are so top heavy that makes up for a lot of their weakness below. When you factor in that those 3 can be on the court 42 of the 48 minutes it makes it even worse. If they weren't so young things would be a lot more even but none of those 5 Lakers could play the same amount of minutes the Heat 3 can.
See the post above this one. You are really discounting LAs talent. There are 12 members on a team, not 3.* Who knows. I don't see what the number of rings a young Celtics trio would have possibly gotten has anything to do with the topic. You and others are trying to make it appear like the Heat are the most stacked team we have ever seen when they arguably aren't the most talented team this season. And considering it's their first yr together, what sense does it make to compare them to other hypothetical trios? Bird/McHale/Parish played a whole decade together and "only" got 3. These guys haven't even made it past season one and HATERS are coming up with all kinda bs, as if this trio is even better than that 80s Celtics one.*
