Yao Ming's Foot -- Answer me this one question as honestly as you can: Do you really think that Lebron James in the form he's been for any of the last five years or so, if he was in Kobe's stead, would not have been able to win a championship in Kobe's shoes in 2000-2002? Or even in 2009 and 2010? I'll give you a hint: He would have won all of them, and with more ease.
Jordan had Rodman for three of his titles. However, this line of thinking is stupid because it doesn't rate the caliber of teammate. During the 2000-2002 run, Shaq was as dominant a player as there ever was and he would have won with any top swingman in the league.
Of course they have As usual the attempted knock on Kobe is some sort of insane impossible standard. No player has ever faced more stacked level of defense in the Finals than Kobe. 04 Pistons 95.4 01 76ers 98.9 08 Celtics 98.9 02 Nets 99.5 09 Magic 101.9 00 Pacers 103.6 10 Celtics 103.8 I'd love to see the player that thrives against sub 100 defensive rating defenses in the playoffs.
Hasn't looked easy to me and thats with Bosh AND Wade AND dodging the top two teams in the Western Conference. Are we going to pretend that young Lebron James was the same defender that young Kobe was?
I'd love to see another "superstar" player that consistently shoots 40% against teams in the Finals, especially when he had an unstoppable giant shooting 60% for four of them. Kobe is one of the few players who has singlehandedly lost a Finals ('04) for his team because he was more concerned with winning a Finals MVP than winning a title.
04 Pistons 95.4 01 76ers 98.9 08 Celtics 98.9 02 Nets 99.5 09 Magic 101.9 00 Pacers 103.6 10 Celtics 103.8 vs 07 Spurs 99.9 (35% FG) 11 Mavericks 105.0
Kobe shot 35% and took twice as many shots as anyone on his team, especially egregious when he had a near-prime Shaq being guarded by a midget. He was completely frustrated by a 2nd year guy. You can try to spin it however you want, but you know as well as anyone here that that series was supposed to be a "formality" and Kobe blew it by being even more of a volume chucker than he normally is.
Did you ever look at the rest of the team as well? For how inefficient Kobe was he was still more efficient in the series than any other non Shaq shot attempt. You can't just magically give Shaq 50 shots especially when he is shooting less than 50% from the FT line and expect to win the game. Its amazing the lack of logic on display when it comes to slamming Kobe. It would be like if I said the Cavs could have won but ball hog LeBron decided to gun for the MVP and take more and more 35% shot attempts when he could have just passed to Drew Gooden who shot 50%.
The difference between 2004 and 2007 is that the Lakers were the heavy favorites to win the Finals (most people crowned them champs after 0.4) and the Cavs shouldn't have even made the playoffs with that roster. Kobe wasn't the best player on his team and had no business taking twice as many shots as Shaq when he couldn't throw a pea in the ocean. LeBron had very few options and had to try to do it on his own, the same way he miraculously beat, ahem, those Pistons.
I wish clippy was the Lakers coach in 04. Every shot must be taken by Shaq. No matter what the defense is doing. No matter that the big man is shooting less than 50% from the FT line. Lakers would have won for sure.
I can only speak for myself but I hated what the Heat did from the minute it happened. I wasn't sure if they would win it all this year but I had them as one of the three teams most likely to. I knew for sure that minus injuries or others players teaming up they would get a few over the course of the next 5-6 years.
It's official. You are the worst poster in Clutchfans history. Not even goodbug would have compared prime Shaq to Drew Gooden in an attempt to make excuses for Kobe.
i guess you never watched any Portland games when RA and Drexler were there. was any other guard being regarded as the GOAT? any other player? There's a reason why the title is "GOAT". Drexler was one of the best guards in the league maybe the 2nd best for a while but there was still some distance between MJ and no. 2. “It was the tremendous amount of respect that they had for each other,” Jackson said regarding why Pippen and Jordan’s relationship worked. “They both worked incredibly hard on their game, always putting in the extra work to be better players. They had an understanding of how to get a job accomplished and there was regular collaboration between the two of them that brought an incredible amount of success to that basketball team.” -Phil Jackson Everyday he took Jordan and stuck him with the worst players. Then took the other 4 starters and played them against Jordan. He pitted Jordan against Pippen every day, and that’s ultimately what made them both so fantastic. -Johnny Bach so you're right and wrong. MJ prolly wouldn't have done it on his own but the coaching staff made him do it. Except they lacked the Chris Bosh of their generation (top 5 big man in the league). And comparing Dwade or LBJ to Pippen is a slap in the face to either of those players because they are/were both comparable to being the MJ of this generation (talent-wise in comparison to the other players in the league). I can see where they are comparable as far as lacking a center and a great PG though. Bibby is still pretty good though.
There are no such things as tainted championships. LeBron was a free agent, he took less to sign with Miami, he went about the announcement in an extremely poor manner, so that's a knock on him, but other than that, I'm fine with him. I mean, we have the opportunity to watch who could wind up being one of the top 5 players of all time- in our lifetime. It's a great time to be a basketball fan. Anyone who doesn't enjoy watching Lebron, Dwayne, or Dirk is letting their prejudices get in the way of watching basketball played at its highest level. LeBron, Dwayne, and Dirk are the closest we may get to Magic, Michael, and Bird for a long time. Enjoy it while you can.
I'm so disappointed. I thought this thread would explain to me that the jeweler who makes NBA championship rings is from Cleveland and he intends to rub Lebron's ring on his taint.
