To be honest though, its been an eastern conference cakewalk for him. Cakewalk in the sense that's how good lebron is with respect to the rest of the east but also a clear reflection of how his teams face against the rest of the league. The raptors probably wouldn't have beaten the blazers (as much as I like them)
I don't wanna hear "he was tired". He's simply not capable of switching gears the same way Kobe, Hakeem or MJ did when needed. Lebron is a stat sheet player. But when it's time for him to do it himself he disappears too many times. I blame the media & the highlight watching casual fan for even mentioning this guy among the top 5 conversation. Disgusting
[rquoter]Let's not it get twisted on this front: LeBron James will end his career as one of the 10 greatest players ever. But forget passing Jordan. If you go 2-5 in the NBA Finals, and you stay at two rings (caveat: there are seasons ahead to change that) can we really put him comfortably ahead of Magic, Shaq, Duncan, perhaps even Kobe? Being, say, the sixth- or seventh-greatest player of all time is a thing to be utterly celebrated. It's also, for this one particular guy, a striking disappointment. That's the thing about LeBron: He can be both worth celebrating and a striking disappointment. http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/lebron-losing-cool-as-career-of-finals-frustration-mounts/[/rquoter]
Lebron's in that weird area where Wilt Chamberlain is. Everyone agrees that physically, they were the best. But they don't have that extra gear. that MJ, Kobe type psycho competitiveness.
Any of those guys played against a 67, then 73-win championship team? MJ failed miserably multiple times against the Pistons, and the Celtics before finally got over the hump, and he had Pippen & Rodman. Kobe couldn't win anything without Shaq, or Gasol. In my book, James is already a top 5 all-time great, maybe the greatest. Other than Wilt, I don't think anyone come close, in terms of the impact to a game, take almost any team to final, or conference final.
Oh yeah man he's the best ever dude. He had to run to Miami to win his rings. Look what he did last night when it mattered? 7 turnovers and he has 23 through 4 games. Greatest ever dude
Doesn't just complain but WHINES after calls. Never shows up in crunch-time situations. Has always fled to or manufactured all-star filled teams. Fake tough, gets physical with smaller players but not those his size or larger. Pads stats rather than tries to win games. Diva.
enough with the excuses ffs. Its like...cool. You went to Miami to win a title, and the year you lost you bolted to Cleveland. That was his choice. They have a good team, enough with the no help bullcrap.
You probably just started watching basketball when lebron got drafted. I don't like Kobe but i'de the mamba over lebron any day. MJ is above those 2 so....
If you swapped Kobe with Lebron, Kobe would do worst while Lebron would do as well or even better. Lebron carried lottery teams to the Finals. If Kobe were there instead, those teams would be 2nd round playoff teams at best.
Yeah, the Lakers were nothing special between when Shaq was traded away and Gasol was traded for, and that was with Phil Jax as coach for most of it. I really can't see Kobe elevating the collection of scrubs in Cleveland that James did prior to him going to Miami.
Dude, this is before Lebron won his first two championships He has become a better more versatile player since then Kerr would probably say different today Going back getting 5 year old quotes as if they are relevant today and ignoring everything since then is pretty lame
The last time Kobe played a game in the NBA Finals he went 6-24 and was drawing comparisons to John Starks 1994 nightmare from the broadcasting team. Is that the type of gear you're looking for Lebron to switch to?
This comparison would work a little better if Lebron were not a former scoring champ who has finished in the top three in scoring nine times, or if Pippen had even once finished in the top seven in scoring.
I mean, Kerr was right that there were striking similarities between James and Pippen, in terms of his defensive prowess and his point-forward abilities. It's just that there are striking similarities between James and Jordan, too, in terms of their scoring prowess and James' ability to carry teams when needed. There are also striking similarities between James and Magic Johnson, in terms of his ability to pass, set the tempo and rack up triple-doubles. All of these players were generational talents in their own ways and James can be compared to any of them, or none of them, as you wish. To me, he's easily a top-five player of all-time and, at his best, as good as anyone who's ever played the game.
i'm not really sure what this means. are you just conflating jump shooting with isolation scoring? lebron has the 5th highest scoring average in playoff history. behind the logo, who may or may not be ahead if you adjusted for pace, and michael jordan, allen iverson, and kevin durant - 3 of the all-time greatest scorers, guys for whom scoring was their primary weapon. the guy has been an amazing isolation scoring. and has done it late in games in a ton of playoff games. while the east has been weak, how many teams from the west would have beaten any of lebron's teams that lost in the finals, except obviously the 2007 team? 3 of those teams he faced beat the thunder to get to the finals, and lebron has traditionally done well against the thunder. and the other year the warriors beat the rockets. outside of maybe this year's spurs and thunder, both of whom cleveland matches up with much better than GS and could certainly have won a series against, i don't see lebron's teams being any worse than 2nd in the league, or at least in a group that could be 2nd best. you can't always have the best team just by having the best player with solid teammates. even mj in 1990 and 1995 proved he could have pretty good teams around him and it not be enough if everybody wasn't lined up properly in terms of their talent and their spot along their career arc. that article is kind of funny. for one, are people still really clinging to kobe being better than lebron? then the whole piece seems to center around the lebron/green spat showing what a weak player or bad leader lebron is. apparently this is the first shoving/jawing match in nba history involving a good player and means green is in lebron's head. something tells me if lebron does nothing, it shows he doesn't have the fight and the will to lead a team when they need it or shows he's intimidated by green. and then lebron didn't have a great 4th quarter but steph did. first, it must be nice to take the first 3 games of the finals off and then when you have a good game, it shows what a great player you are. and lebron not having a great 4th? yeah, you know who else has done that? every great player in nba history. michael jordan probably less than anybody else, and then a whole bunch of all-time great who have had less-than-spectacular 4th quarters in big games. there presumably is a reason that magic/bird/duncan/shaq didn't win a title every year, despite generally playing on teams that ranged from good to loaded.
Selective memory fans We can't really fault them. LeBron has actually played better in the Finals than Kobe. Also, I'd like to wage, how replacing Lebron with MJ or Kobe helps the Heat or Cavs beat an all-time great Spurs teams, as well as two all-time great Warriors' teams. I know people, like to think MJ was made of magic, the same with Kobe, but they are beating a team that is much better than theirs on their own. Even with their best teams, MJ and Kobe could still struggle and realistically lose a series against a team, like the Warriors or 2013-14 Spurs. Those would be about the best teams, either player went against in the Finals. Remember, in MJs case, he never magically beat a team, like the Celtics, Lakers, or Pistons at their absolute best. 65+ win team that everyone believed was a champion. That's why I feel the Rockets, especially Hakeem Olajuwon is so underrated, because no one, even the greatest players in the NBA, can beat elite 60+ win teams with an inferior squad.
