Pippen was not as good as McGrady. The man couldn't even create his own shot, for crying out loud. If you had the last shot in a close game, you wouldn't want the ball anywhere near Pippen.
It's a simple case of Pippen>McGrady on D, McGrady>Pippen on O. While they are completely different players, i was simply saying that Pippen was the best SF in the league during the Bulls runs, thus McGrady is in this version next to Kobe. And while i would prefer McGrady to take the last shot over Pippen any day of the week. He could create his own shot and actually made a game winning dunk for the Bulls in his one season leading the team, which won 55 games without a second scorer and got him serious consideration as MVP.
The thing that bugs me the most isn't necessarily the hype. It's the results of the hype. It's the "He's Lebron, so he's allowed to take an extra step for a game winning shot," and the "He's Lebron, so we'll help him become the league leader in 'and-ones'." It makes match-ups with Lebron an unfair uphill battle. And I feel that this is the root for many people's animosity towards him. He is indeed a tremendously gifted athlete with a very promsing future (to say the least), but it doesn't mean he deserves an unfair advantage.
His strength and body control have nothing to do with it, then? Clearly he makes shots after fouls that nobody else makes. Who's supposed to be the league leader, then?
Not sure it's that simple. Pippen could be good defensively because he didn't have to worry about carrying the entire team offensively. He was able to focus on defense. McGrady could be great defensively if he had this luxury; on the other hand Pippen could never equal McGrady offensively.
mcgrady was know for defense in toronto, while vince carried the offense. you're right, if mcgrady was asked to be the stopper, he can do it. one thing that I was very surprised with was his defensively ability. and speaking of that in this thread, mcgrady has shut down lebron a couple of times.
I know this is the case, T-Mac is an amazing & underrated defender and i realise that carrying the offense is a huge task for any player. But that being said, Hakeem, Jordan, Duncan and Kobe (just to name a few) have all been all Defensive first team yet still carried their teams offensively. I've seen McGrady's ability to shut a player down but his defensive intensity (not ability) is nowhere near as good as others mentioned and players are never remembered for what they could do, but for what they did do.
It seems like a lot posters here already think Lebron will be the greatest player ever play in the nba even though this is only his 3rd year in the league. Please wait till Lebron, at least, win ONE championship ring, then we will discuss is he the best. Alot of posters alreayd brought up some GREAT players achievements at the age of 21, like Magic won title at the age of 20, kobe won his first title with a lot help from shaq at the age of 21, hell even Michael Jordon won NCAA. Right now, Lebron averaged 31/7/7 and people are claiming he is the BEST ??? There is no denying, Lebron is the one of the top 5 players in the league but the BEST 21 years old??? Who knows some days, lebron will find his name in this list: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0605/gallery.nbaneverwon/content.1.html Of cos I hope Lebron will win a few rings to prove at least he is better than kobe
Man, weak logic. If I can get you away from Lebron's a$$ cheeks for just a moment you'll see numerous instances where: 1) those fouls weren't really any fouls. 2) those were ticky tacky fouls that refs wouldn't call if it were anyone other than Lebron. 3) Additionally, he gets more continuation calls where as other players wouldn't.
This thread made me realized, no matter how good you are, you will always have people who are "haters". I don't get it. I think LeBron James is one of the BEST NBA player right now. And he's still only 21? That's an amazing feat all by itself. So what if people call him "King James"? I think he derserve it. He's a warrior, and he tries everything possible to carry his team. And he's only 21. Jordan didn't even have this number at his age. We are all witnesses . Anyways to sum it up - let him be. He's over-rated... I don't really think so, but of course that is my own personal opinion. Diss him because he bites his nails? Come on. It's a habit! Even he said it is something he has been doing since he was a kid. If it doesn't affect his basketball game or isn't anything major - It doesn't bother me.
Man, championships are so overrated when evaluating a player. A player can be the best ever in a team sport without winning a championship. This isn't tennis or boxing or golf. Players don't win championships; teams do.
LeBron is just too good at too young of an age. Best ever? No. Best 21 year old in the world right now? Yes. Best in the NBA? Probably not, but you can argue it. He came up second in MVP voting and that's amazing at 21, he's done a lot of crazy things this year and i'm sure he'll surpass both Tracy McGrady AND Kobe Bryant eventually. I just hope T-Mac gets a couple rings in his career (meaning that Yao will too ) and at least one MVP award (give the other to Yao ). Stats don't tell everything, championships don't tell everything, and awards don't tell everything. It's everything about your game that matters. Intangibles, stats, awards, individual achievements, AND championships. Those reasons are only a part of why most people (myself included) consider Michael Jordan to be the best player ever. For the same reasons, Hakeem deserves that title too. Rober Horry has won more rings than LeBron, Kobe, and T-Mac combined, but is he anywhere near the player they are? The championships arguement when comparing two players shouldn't really count until you're talking about overall career achievements. Kobe couldn't get them without Shaq, Shaq couldn't/didn't get them without Kobe. I'm SURE if you put T-Mac on that team, they'd have won at least 3, if not more, championships, but whatever.
LeBron is lighting up the Pistons. SIT DOWN DAMON JONES YOU HIT ONE SHOT AND YOU START CELEBRATING LIKE YOU WON THE WORLD SERIES! DON'T YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOUR TWO TURNOVERS IN GAME 7 OF THE HEAT-PISTONS SERIES LAST YEAR COST THEM A SHOT IN THE FINALS?!?!?!?!
the pistons are figuring out just how good lebron is. cleveland might not win another game in this series but this young dude has been impressive.
Then who is supposed to be the leader in that category, then? Who's the real leader, why is it so hard to believe that a 6'8" 245 pound freak with great touch leads the league in and-ones? To me, I see him get hacked and finish where other players wouldn't even be able to get the ball to the basket. He drives hard, often, and has the strength to finish. Every superstar gets ticky tack fouls and continuations. There are other players with more free throw attempts, don't act like he's the only one.
Who SHOULD be? What kind of idiocy is that? If everyone lived in your world, the leader SHOULD BE LeBron. But I would rather have it be whomever it is if the game were officiated correctly. I don't, but you seem to like to put words into other people's mouths. Thas another gripe I and a lot of other people have with officiating in the NBA. They need to make more unbias calls. However, despite being such a Lebron brown-noser, I'm glad that you can admit that Lebron gets away with more than his fair share of calls.
I'm not going to argue any more, but I think it's ridiculous that you say LeBron wouldn't be leading that category if the refs didn't unfairly help him. It's obvious to me that he leads the category because he attacks the basket often and has the tools to finish better than anyone in the league. But I'm just an ass-kisser, so he must have an unfair advantage, that MUST be why.
