James is finally getting a close up look at what Tmac had to face when his team played Pistons in the playoffs. Actually James has better supporting cast than Tmac ever did in Orlando and in spite of that it was a 7 game series when pistons faced Magic. James is a great player and will get better but sometimes we forget how gifted our own Tmac is.
I'm getting very sick of "King" James. He's an excellent player - no doubt about it. But why the hell is he already accorded the mystique of an NBA legend? Take Nike's "We are witnesses" commercials. Witnesses...to....what? To James getting his ass handed to him by Cleveland? To James struggling to lead a fairly decent complementary roster to 50 wins in a terrible conference? To one of several SG/SF's to average really good #'s? James is an elite, contemporary NBA player. He's also very young. But how does that distinguish him from, say, Amare Stoudamire? Do we really know he's better than Dwayne Wade? Or Dwight Howard? The hype surrounding James is out of control. He's not Michael Jordan. He's a very good player. Maybe, some day, he'll deserve it. But right now - his accomplishments do not merit the accolades.
I agree the hype can get out of control. But then, when you consider he's 21 years old and already arguably the best player in the league, that says a lot. Just saying "he's a very good player" kind of understates what he's doing. I don't think there's been a better 21 year old player in the history of the league.
the fact that you only named one player, whom many consider the best ever, speaks mountains in itself for the talent of Lebron.
Actually, I don't think he's necessarily the only one. My reply was meant to demonstrate the "falsity" of the prior post. I did not say my list was exclusive. But that name came to mind in, oh... .0005 seconds.
I think James at 21 is only slightly better than Jordan was at 21 because of his court vision and shooting. Only Just.
Look, the hype that LeBron is getting is merited only if he really is the next Michael Jordan. If he wins 6 titles...he deserves it. If he's an iota less than that he's overrated. IF he's a great player, a Hakeem Olajuwon, who wins 2 titles...he's overrated. If he's a Larry Bird...he's overrated. If he's a Shaq...he's overrated. You really can say, with any degree of confidence, that he'll be better than all those players? Because the level of hype he's receiving right now implies he'll be better than all of those guys. I'll just say it: he won't. Odds are, he's not a Shaq or Hakeem, even. Maybe I'll be wrong. But I'd take a 50/50 bet on that. I repeat: LeBron is tremendously overrated. That does not mean untalented.
Not really a fair comparison. That Pistons didn't have Rasheed Wallace, a developed Prince (although, he did breakout during the series) and the supporting cast wasn't as strong. It did feature Cliff Robinson, Damon Jones, and our very own Jon Barry. Either way, James does have a supporting cast, just not a champioship supporting cast. Ferry got him a team to get him to the playoffs, now needs to make one where they could be an elite team.
Lebron James is a very special player. Maybe the future No.1. But right now he is overhyped. It is media's fault, especially ESPN. BTW, I'd like to see him quit biting his finger nails in public, it is very disgusting, very nasty.
Danny Ferry try his best to get Lebron a team(Big Z, Hughes, Marshall, Gooden all are decent players) into the playoffs. Now, is Lebron's turn to prove where he belongs. But if Lebron still felt he didnt have enough help and the management didnt do enough to help him and sign with other teams like New York, Chicago, La etc. I will lose all my respects for him. To me, Lebron failed to lead the team to the playoffs in the first 2 seasons, was his own failure but i can accept it as James still very young and inexperience. Now he has a decent team, if he still felt the organisation didnt do enough to help him to get deep in the playoffs, is his fault. Being the ONE, as advertised, he should lead the team deep into the playoffs but not crying he doesnt have enough help!
I don't know if you guys realize this, but both Big Z is shooting under 40% and Larry Hughes is shooting 30% during the playoffs. His help has been pretty crappy. T-Mac played a very different team, and I don't think anyone's denying he was a great player. You guys just hate on him way too much...look at his stats, he's been the only one doing anything against the Pistons, who triple team him.
LBJ is overhyped but not overrated. If Danny Ferry came to me with a deal to trade T-Mac for LBJ straight up I wouldn't think twice about pulling the trigger. There is nothing about the kid I don't like, I like his size, power, athleticism, speed, team play, unselfishness and maturity. After its all said and done, LBJ will be the 2nd greatest player to ever play the game and I wouldn't care if he bit his toe nails.
