No matter what Lebron does, he will always be #2. Jordan is 6-0 in the Finals, Lebron got swept in the Finals twice, I think. They way Lebron plays, flopping around is hard to put him #1. Unless King James scores so many points ahead of #2 and wins a few more championships then I will book him #1.
This is wrong. Not only can he make the playoffs, but he made the Finals with a group of terrible players. You don't remember LeBron dragging a group of misfits in 2006 to the Finals? They got swept by San Antonio, but that's to be expected. Saying he'll never be Jordan or on Jordan's level is one thing. Saying that he couldn't make the playoffs by himself, is another thing entirely.
What are u talking about, in 2006 it was Dwyane Wade's Heat VS Dirk's Mavs. I do remember Lebron winning 2006 FIBA bronze medal. In 2019 Lebron's Lakers won less than 40 games and did not make the playoffs.
To clarify, I meant the '06-'07 season. You're hellbent on this "LeBron with no other stars = no playoffs" angle. He made the playoffs every year from 2006-2010, always with a bad supporting cast. Did you only start watching basketball when LeBron joined the Heat, or something? Sheesh. It's like everyone forgot he started in Cleveland and had a bad roster every year before he bolted for Miami.
Honestly it doesn't matter who's ranked #1 or #2. That being said, I just think we are slightly underrating LeBron while slightly overrating MJ. Out of the 6 Finals appearances, how many of Jordan's teams were the underdogs going into the series? Out of the 10 Finals appearances, how many of LeBron's teams were the FAVORITES going into the series? As much as we bring up his teams' failure in the Finals, LeBron's team has been more of the underdog than the favorite. I only bring this up because it's easy to dismiss the number of times LeBron has failed to win a championship but when you step back and look at it objectively it's easy to see why he really lost those 6 times. 2007 against the Spurs. The Cavs had no business being in the Finals this season but LeBron went atomic on the Pistons and willed them to the Finals. 2014 against the Spurs. Sure Miami's Big 3 was still on the roster but that Spurs team was on a f*cking mission after losing the championship in seven games the year prior. 2015 against the Warriors. First year back in Cleveland and he took them to the Finals against a 67-win Warrior team 2017 against the Warriors. Again, lost to a 67-win Warrior team with mercenary-for-hire Durant. 2018 against the Warriors. Lost to a 58-win Warrior team that basically won the championship after the WCF was over "Well if he's the best player in NBA history, he should have went undefeated like MJ" I mean, if you're going to make an illogical argument like that then, yea, it's hard to beat a perfect record. But Jordan, the player, wouldn't have been Jordan, the champion, without Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr and Jon Paxson hitting clutch shots, etc. Just look at the coaching gap between Jordan's teams and LeBron's. There have been five coaches over the 10 Finals appearances in LeBron's career: Mike Brown, David Blatt, Tyronn Lue, Erik Spoelstra, and Frank Vogel. How many of those coaches would make you say "Yea he'll go into the Basketball Hall of Fame one day because he was a badass coach"? Maybe Spoelstra and that's it. I haven't even touched on the supporting cast subject yet. All of this coming from a guy that idolized Jordan growing up. My first memories of watching NBA basketball were of the Bulls beating the Lakers in the FInals.
I am no LeBron fan, and I am a certified Lakers hater. But to be fair, the reason why they had no chance of making the playoffs was because he was injured in the first place. The Lakers were 20-14 before Lebron went down. That winning percentage (.588) would make them a fringe team fighting for a playoffs spot in an extremely competitive West had him been healthy. The 8th seed Clippers and the 7th seed Spurs were 48-34 (.585). I mean, look at that team. Their second best player was Ingram who also missed a ton of games himself. I wouldn't say not making the playoffs was LeBron's fault. He had a chance to drag that dreadful team to the playoffs in a dogfight West if he was not injured.
I believe the 95 Rockets/Dream is still the only team to have defeated four 57+ win teams to win it all.
Meh, when I take a look at the accomplishments and peaks of Jordan, Russell, Kareem, Magic, and Bird I like them all over LeBron. LeBron has longevity over all of them, even Kareem, but he doesn't have as many or more MVPs than those guys. LeBron isn't the scorer or defender that Jordan was; rebounder or defender and leader that Russell was; scorer, rebounder or defender that Kareem was; rebounder and playmaker that Magic was; or scorer, rebounder and passer that Bird was. I know that's a very simple argument, very arguable, and maybe even easily refuted. But he doesn't have the MVPs or championships of any of them except Bird who he'll pass soon unless the Heat manage to flip the script and upset the Lakers in the Finals.
Right. He manufactured his legacy through joining other superstars, not through destroying them. Fans nowadays don't care about competition but this is a large part of greatness. MJ dominated everybody at the highest level. Lebrons need outplayed alot of times
Nah I watched his whole career throughout all the flopping, travelling, choking, quitting and losing all the new fans seem to be not aware of. My view on him peaked in the Piston's series. Then it's the same story same drama over and over everywhere he goes it's like cancer. In Cleveland oh they lost cause Lebron didn't have enough help, in Miami oh they lost cause Lebron didn't have enough help, in Cleveland again oh they lost cause Lebron didn't have enough help, in Lakers oh they lost cause Lebron didn't have enough help. Everyone he played with have failed him. When occasionally they do win it's wow Lebron did it again, so great!
as much i dislike Kobe, and i do think james is more talented than Wade, james is still in his prime, while those other two guys mostl ikely have some games past their primes that just didnt have it on them. Ill take Kobe and Wade over james every single day of the week. Both multiple nba champions, even with their flaws.
2020 LAL 30; 12-20; 2-8; 6 L 2020 OKC 17; 4-15; 1-9; 4 W 2019 GSW 23; 11-25; 6-15; 6 L 2018 GSW 32; 12-29; 2-13; 5 L 2017 SAS 10; 2-11; 2-9; 6 L 2016 GSW 35; 12-23; 3-7; 7 L Total: 24.5 pt; 43%; 26%; 5.7 TO; 1-5 This year's OKC game and 2017 SAS game were real stinkers. The interesting thing is, the Rockets aren't very good at elimination games. They either beat their opponents in less than 7 games or they got eliminated.
Harden has a history of performing really well in Game 1s and tapers off as the series go on. It's really odd.
One theory is that teams adjust. The Rockets' offense is too predictable (totally Harden dependent), and rarely adjust. It's not very difficult to game plan against them (Harden). We could beat the inferior teams. But against better teams, we just fizzled out. Another theory is that small ball take a lot of energy on defense. The role players get fatigued as the series go on. When they can't hit shots with tired legs, it's easy to double Harden and the Rockets offense is dead.
I wonder what Morey's explanation would be for Harden's decrease in production because if Daryl's numbers align with these theories and we're not changing/adapting....I don't know if we'll ever win a championship with Harden. Maybe that's why he went out and got Paul to alleviate some of that pressure from Harden (almost worked too) but what now?
I am not optimistic that this team will win a championship any time soon. We simply don't have enough talent to beat the better teams. With a cheap owner and no draft picks, I don't see how we can improve over teams like the Lakers, the Clippers, the Nuggets, and the healthy Warriors. And Harden has yet shown that he could elevate his game in crucial playoffs moments carrying the team on his shoulder.
