Take Draymond and Klay and replace them with just a slightly above average defensive big and shooting wing. Take out Kerr and the emphasis on ball movement he instituted when he became coach and replace him with a league average coach. Do the Warriors win a single ring if both of those things happen? No. Two examples I want to bring up about the generally consensus GOAT: 1. In 1987-88, Michael Jordan had one of the most statistically dominant seasons in NBA history and by many metrics, the most statistically dominant seasons of his career with Doug Collins as his coach and a baby rookie Pippen. The Bulls won only 50 games and got beat in five games by the Pistons that season in the second round despite Jordan putting up 27/9/5/2/1 in that series. Three of the Pistons' four wins were by double digits. Jorrdan's No. 2 leading scorer was Sam Vincent. 2. In 93-94 with no Jordan, but a stellar supporting cast and an all-time great coach, the Bulls won 55 games and pushed the eventual Eastern Conference champion Knicks to seven games. By all accounts, the 93-94 team was a superior basketball team and had a better season than the Bulls did seven years prior with the GOAT. The point I'm making here is that supporting cast, running mates, team camaraderie and coaching matter. Some guys luck into that. Others don't. The guys who don't get that support early in their careers shouldn't be faulted when they look elsewhere to win. Does it help your legacy when you can win where you started? Sure. But it shouldn't totally damn a player's legacy if they have to leave to win titles. Statistically, both regular season and postseason, Lebron was better than both by a mile. By the eye test even without the numbers to back it up, I think anyone who watched them play would say he contributed more to his teams winning games than any player since Jordan. Real talk, though. Duncan and Dream were more offensively skilled, but Shaq was the most dominant of the three. I hate to say that, because I adore Hakeem and he's my favorite all-time athlete. But Shaq was the most dominant player of his era in between Jordan and Lebron and the most dominant big man since Wilt. Hakeem and Duncan were more versatile and had fewer holes in their games, but you insert Shaq into any lineup from the mid-90s to the mid 2000s and he made those teams instant contenders, and he proved it time and time again. They're more impressive from a "they did it with less" standpoint, but in terms of opponent, Lebron's title with the Cavs over the Durant/Curry Warriors is one of the greatest single rings in NBA history. It's all about narrative. You're spinning things the way you want to spin them. It's "Shaq and Gasol went to Kobe," not "Kobe whined enough that Shaq got dealt and LA lucked into a deal with Gasol" or "Curry couldn't get it done against Lebron, so he needed Durant to come in and save him the next two years to get those two rings." You can flip the narrative however you want, but production is production. By any statistical measurement, Lebron is closer to Jordan than Curry is to Lebron. Personally, I don't think the latter is even a conversation worth having. Is Jordan the clear No. 1 for me? Sure, but the gap is not so massive that there isn't a case to be made for Lebron, especially when you factor in his absurd longevity. But there just isn't a case to be made for Curry to be anywhere on Lebron's level. We're just going to have to agree to disagree on this.
It’s crazy. Not doing anything illegal I suppose either. So if he is not doing anything illegal Philly/ Nets are trying to get some value out of him in whatever way they can. Between a rock and a hard place to the extreme.
Durant, Kyrie and Ben Simmons (along with Kawhi, Harden, and AD) are going to be the focal point for the owners during the next CBA. It's absolutely insane that all 3 ended up on the same team (four if you throw in Harden).
KD has made sure this is so toxic along with Kyrie that when push comes to shove they have to get rid of both of them regardless of the trade value. They have already done too much damage. There is still an active team that they have, with or without these players, that will play next season. Both are incapable of being part of their future plans regardless of what they get for them. Nets are going to want to get away from this poison as soon as possible. The offers are never going to get magically better. The die is cast.
I'm not trying to defend KD, but when Hollinger speaks of a guy showing up only looking to get his numbers, barely playing defense and constantly missing games with soreness all while making teammates feel uncomfortable, It's tough not to conjure up images of 2022 LeBron James
The real GOAT just died and took his 11 championship trophies to the promised land ..... As great as MJ was, he's not in Bill Russell's league ..... same can be said of Lebron in the comparison to MJ - He's definitely the best player in this current era but he can't hold MJ's sack. Russell>MJ>Lebron
Arguing is irrelevant. Those three are irrefutably all time greats. Wilt was a better player than Russ, but not more of a winner. Through most of the ‘80s Magic and Bird AND Dream were > MJ. You never heard any leave-wide laments that the Rox picked wrong, only the Portland Bowies. From ‘93 - ‘97 Dream was > than MJ. MJ was HISTORICALLY fortunate to have been able to avoid those Rockets teams. And Kareem? Just maybe > than all of’m.
So, I don't want the guy but one of the best trade packages available might surprisingly be with us. Any team Brooklyn trades Durant to will only yield picks in the 20s. Any team except the Rockets as the Rockets can trade them back their own picks and pick swaps from the Harden trade. One of the biggest issues with a trade is they want picks but also want to get enough good players back to stay good because they don't own their own picks. Trading with us would be the only way to get back valuable picks. It would cost us one of Smith or Green at this point along with Gordon and filler unless we sign someone to a one year to make the money work and they trade in Jan. Also not sure what we do after we get him. Not sure who would be available to come here to play with him or if it's even worth it trusting playing with KD. I don't know. Just an interesting thought.
Trading Green or Smith along with their picks back would be crazy. Even for Barnes or Brown. If all of their assets along with Jaygup or Garuba and the bucks pick can get us Brown or Barnes, go for it.
No. In head to head matchups .... Bill was better. I'm old enough to remember those games, generally the only game televised over a months span would be those marquee matchups.
Lebron and curry are not similar, to compare them is completely insulting to lebron. Curry won 3 rings vs lebron? Cool! If you switch them and it's lebron, durant, klay, green, and iggy for curry and those cavs? How do you think those series go? Do the curry cavs even stay within 20 points in a single game? How people just completely ignore context to support their own absurd narratives is just wild
Great post. I have no dog in this fight but this quote peaked my interest. “Real talk, though. Duncan and Dream were more offensively skilled, but Shaq was the most dominant of the three. I hate to say that, because I adore Hakeem and he's my favorite all-time athlete.” What do you base this off of? Eye test? Career stats? Championships? While his style was more physically imposing, I would also notate the lack of talent at the center position, Olajuwon vs Shaq’s era. If you look at simply stats, you could argue that their impact was almost identical. If you want talk about defensive impact, hands down Olajuwon was more “dominant”. I’ll go back to eating popcorn.
KD went to the team that beat him. He is capable of changing his opinion about people. Kyrie will play out his contract year to ensure his contract is good next year. He did it in Boston despite working behind the scenes to go elsewhere (ie not being happy in Boston). Nets can meet KD half way by firing Nash and go from there. A malcontent star elsewhere in the league can improve offers mid-season - something Nets know first hand.. It sure would be nice for us if Nets bite the bullet and trade those guys for a penny on the dollar though. We'll have to retire Harden's jersey for it.
This sounds a whole lot like what Rocket fans hoped for before Harden went bonkers. The superstar has all the control. The Nets are ****ed.
I, too, am old enough, and remember them quite differently from you. But, that’s ok. Russell could, and did, minimize the oversized effect Chamberlain had on games making the 4-on-4 fall the Cs way.
