Yeah it is. He's top 10 but not top 5 in my book. 1. Jordan 2. Bird 3. Magic 4. Kareem 5. Duncan 6. Shaq I'd rank them all over LBJ.
Wade had so many stretches over the last few years where he didn't even show up in big playoff games bcs of his degrading knees and Lebron still carried them to the win. Bosh was a great role player and nothing more STOP mentioning him. Ray Allen was DEFINITELY in the twilight of his career. He didn't shoot nearly as well as he was known for before arriving in Miami. Lebron had some decent help in Miami but acting like he was playing with 2 other juggernaughts is far and away delusional.
This thread along with many other threads and posts on this forum proves the amount of green next to someone's username means jack. James is carrying the Cavs offensively while playing point forward very well - look how often he hits the open man. He is also averaging almost a triple double. My one concern is he doesn't seem to be the beastly finisher he was in the past but Iguodala is a great defender and there is almost always help behind him.
Pretty much everything Magic or Larry could do on the court, LeBron can do as good or better. And the primary criticism leveled at LeBron (he had help) can be leveled at them many times over. It's funny because Magic's legacy is burnished by one game where he jumped center and scored 38 points in the finals - meanwhile LeBron has had to be the primary low post threat (and scorer and ball handler and outside shooter and defensive stopper) for about a decade now all the way to the Finals more often than not. Weak east or not (and make no mistake, this year's east is super weak) - what he has done in terms of carrying his teams now is superhuman. Even Jordan arguably had a lesser burden with Pippen ot help on D.
Lebron haters are impossible to talk to, so I rarely do it anymore. All I'll say is as great as MJ was, and I certainly don't overlook that, he wouldn't have gotten this Cavs team close to a title. I'm that guy that used to say "there's no way Lebron will ever pass MJ" but I watch the games and I can't deny what Lebron has done consistently for the past 10 years. He's on his way to being the greatest basketball player that's ever played.
Compared to previous years, this year's EC was actually pretty strong. Since the KG/Pierce/Allen era, it's usually a 2 man race at the top year after year (LeBron's team + Bulls / Celtics), but we had at least 3 solid teams this year (Hawks, Cavs, Bulls) and 2 wannabe-solid-but-not-really teams in the Wiz and Raptors. That's not a bad yield.
No, the East was a joke this season. The Cavs and Bulls were solid(injuries aside), and the Hawks were a very good regular season ballclub. That's pretty much it for that conference. The Raptors were terrific in the first half of the season before fading down the stretch and completely flaming out in the playoffs. The Wizards followed a similar path as Toronto in the regular season before making a very impressive run in the playoffs, but let's be honest. There were never a threat to win the East or the title with that lineup. What's pathetic is that the East could be even worse next year. If Pierce retires, the Wizards won't be as good. The Hawks will likely still lack a superstar. The Bulls just fired Thibs, so who knows what'll happen there? And the Cavs have so many free agents, they could either be really good or a throwback to the teams a decade ago that had LeBron and hardly anyone else.
That Jordan had a MUCH lesser burden is not arguable. His team went to the Conference Finals without him. The Cavs without him would have trouble with a good college team.
So, LeBron averages 37/12/9 and is one of the only options on the floor if not the only REAL option on the floor. He's had 3 40+ point games, and everyone knows he's getting the ball, yet nobody can stop him, well only LeBron can stop himself by missing the shot (see game 4). When you give your teammates wide open shots and they still can't hit them, then that is no longer your fault. LeBron is drawing double and triple teams and dishing it to the wide open teammates to make shots, yet they miss consistently. The turning point imo is when the cavs didn't close out game 1 and had to go into OT. If they would have won it or shoot even lost game 1 without OT, Kyrie probably is still playing. Since that point of Kyrie's injury, LeBron has had to more than shoulder the load for his team. Mozgov has been neutralized by the plugging in of Iggy instead of Bogut, and Delly was a flash in the pan. JR and Iman have been streaky in the wrong direction. Thompson has been fighting it out on the offensive boards but he's just not enough on the offensive end. LeBron has gone to 6 finals appearances, 5 in a row including this one. He's brought 2 different teams to the finals (3 if you consider the 07 cavs team and the 2015 cavs team completely different since the only 2 players that are constant are Varejao and Lebron) and is without a doubt the best player on the planet. If him carrying this cavs team who is on it's last leg (literally) into a battle with a healthy, deep, and best record in the league Warriors team in the finals tarnishes his legacy, than by all means, TARNISH IT.
I think the East will be strong next year. Assuming everyone stays with their current team and is healthy, there are a bunch of teams with plenty of talent (Miami/Cleveland/Washington/Atlanta/Chicago/Indiana).
I said "compared to previous years," though. Obviously, you can't compare the EC to the WC, as the WC seems to be stacked every year (I bet OKC could have gone to the ECF against the Cavs this year, tbh), but in comparing EC year-by-year, the yield for this year seems better, just doing an eye test. I'm not sure about overall statistics. It's still top heavy for sure, but I think there's less disparity. Didn't John Wall get hurt during the ATL series? Honestly, I think Washington would be been a stronger opponent for CLE than ATL, had Wall been 100%. Not sure what happened to the Raptors, post-AS break or the Hawks in the playoffs, though. It's like Hawks flipped the off-switch at the start of the BKN series, and they never got out of it. Weird. As for next year, the Pacers should return to form, with a now-healthy Paul George. The Celtics should get better. The Hawks should improve (they probably won't get 60 again) and people might actually want to play there now. Wall and Beal have matured and gotten more playoff experience. I don't know...it's hard to bet against another LeBron-led team making the ECF / Finals, but I don't think the East is going to be completely terrible. BKN is in trouble, though.
LOL at this dumb thread premise. Hope OP is trolling. Lebron should win Finals MVP and will probably end up winning if the Cavs win or lose.
i actually agree, after thinking about it for 5.345978 seconds. so lebron's legacy wont be tarnished - he's right at where he belongs...
