LeBron can't win it alone? Neither could MJ, Bird or Magic

In the 7 years that Lebron has been with the Cavaliers, he has only had one teammate outright selected to play in an all-star game.

That was Zydrunas Ilgauskus in 2005.

Mo Williams was selected as a second alternate replacement in 2009 though (Ray Allen was the first alternate replacement).

Once it gets down to PLAYOFF basketball, I have a hard time saying that the Cavs can beat Orlando, LA, or even Boston in 7, without Lebron consistently going into the basketball equivalent of God-mode (see 2007 playoffs vs. Detroit). There really is no solid 2nd option on offense for the Cavs that strikes any sort of fear in opposing defenses. And unless Cleveland made some nice moves this offseason, and into the near future, I can only see their play declining as some of their good players are beginning to get up there in age (Jamison, Ilgauskus, O'Neal).

I think if Lebron could have gotten a legit second option on the Cavs, he would've stayed there and had a very good chance at winning a championship. However, with the roster Lebron left this offseason, I can't in good conscience say they could take out the best teams unless those teams somehow fell off or Cleveland got blessed with an all-star caliber player to complement James.

Every year the media overestimates the Cavs playoff hopes because they want to believe that is the year Lebron transcends into legendary status. It's not that easy though.

 

Why are we even making this comparison? Kobe didn't win a title without a hall-of-fame teammate until he was 30. The two players aren't in the same situation.

 

Kobe made the plays on that team. Horry stood in the corner benefited from it. Ur point?

 

Kobe the closer? This is the guy who shot 6-24 in game 7 of the Finals, right? The guy that was being compared to John Starks during the fourth quarter of that game?

 

My point, because obviously you can't even remember your own post from the previous page, is that Kobe did not make "almost all the BIG shots." Robert Horry made a ton of big shots. Brian Shaw made a ton of big shots. Derek Fisher made a lot of big shots.

 

Ok. Who on that Orlando team "struck fear" as a second option? Lmao. You guys are getting ridiculous

 

Did you watch the whole playoffs or just game 7?

 

There were a "ton" big shots from everybody. But Kobe either hit or made the play for most of them. With Kobe making the play, would Derek Fisher even open?

 

LeBron is the most overrated NBA player in the history of the world.

 

God, I came into this thread basically trashing LeBron and now I'm defending him. This is my last post in this thread.

LeBron totally pussied out by going to Miami. I don't think there's anyone who would argue that. But let's not belittle what he's accomplished to this point in his career. What he's done through age 25 is amazing. The fact that his team had done as well as they have, despite not having overwhelming talent or an even decent coach, is in my opinion a reflection of LeBron's tremendous ability. I think it's unfair to compare him to Bird, Magic or Jordan, because he hasn't been put in a similar situation. His teammates simply were not as good as those guys' teammates were.

There are so many good reasons to hate on LeBron, I just find it weird that some of you guys are adopting the arguments you're using.

 

I watched the entire playoffs. Kobe was great in the middle two rounds. He was not great in the Finals, except for the third quarter of game 5 (during which his team actually fell further behind). If Kobe is the closer you say he is, shouldn't he have played better in the Finals than he did in the other rounds?

 

well, agree to disagree. MJs situation was very much like Lebrons. the Bulls were built by MJ and PJ. Lebron didnt have the patience to do it in his hometown(near hometown watever). he listened to everyone else saying Cleveland is crap. what if hakeem did the same? houston is not exactly the nicest place to live. esp. in the 80's. we had Transco Tower, the Heights and Richmond strip. oh yeah and Astroworld but i think he was too tall to ride the rides. Lebron had everythng in place to be the GOAT but he walked away from it. i dont like that he ditched his hometown. i dont like that he joined the superfriends. who approves of this? KG? KG wishes he did it sooner? KG is a douchebag. why should anyone respect wat he says? Lebron doesnt care about basketball as much as being a celebrity. that's the only difference in his situation and MJ Bird Magic and Hakeem (left out again by media)

 

Look at that "clutch" play by Kobe, standing around watching Fisher hit a big shot off an inbounds pass from someone else. Fisher doesn't look very open to me, by the way.

 

I'm not sure what you are trying to argue by asking that. I'm postulating on what type of roster Lebron would need around him to win a championship in the current NBA. Personally, I don't think anyone on Orlando strikes fear for opposing defenses, but they are virtually across the board better than the Cavs at every nearly every position. Yet, Orlando still stands no chance against the Lakers.

 

I agree that KG is a douchebag, but his opinion on this probably did mean a lot to Lebron. KG was arguably the best power forward in the league for most of his career, but was stuck on crappy teams. If he had gone to college for two years and been drafted #1 by the Spurs in 1997, would we be calling him the best PF ever instead of Duncan?

 

KG is not from Minny.
his teams were crap b/c
A. he was being paid an outrageous amount
B. Marbury was/is psycho
C. the scandal with Joe Smith(?) being paid under the table and them losing their draft picks for years. if i recall correctly. my memory isnt good.

and KGs teams werent all bad. nor was KG being groomed to take MJs throne.
Stern's britney spears is/was Lebron. and i actually respect the guy (pukes) for walking away from that whole preset but superfriends?? no.

 

You haven't seen the Jeremy Lin threads lately, have you?

 

First off, there no reason the Cavs should've lost to Orlando that year. Orlando was in the same boat as Cleveland. One star, with a bunch of role players. So that's no longer an excuse. The Cavs went into that series as the favorites too. But you seem to think they had the better team, sound like a excuse to me

 

You picked one shot. I could post pics of multiple shots Kobe hit...no argument

 

They did have the better team. They won the series.