Discussions like this are always subjective. For instance I don't know much about players before 1990 so I don't even consider them in these types of discussions. I'm sure Oscar Robertson, Wilt, Bird, Moses Malone, Jerry West, etc. have to be in there somewhere, but that's just me listening to other people or looking at stats- It's not based on what I saw with my own eyes. I'm also only considering players whose careers are basically done, their best years are behind them, or they are just so good that they have already done enough to make the list. I think Lebron and KD can be included in that category at this point. Lebron can never jump over the guys I have in front of him, he can only fall to new players at this point. So If I'm building a team, I'm drafting in this order. Yeah, I have Gary Payton way high but he is one of the most under rated players of all time in my opinion. I also value defense which many people do not. 1. MJ 2. Kobe 3. Dream 4. Duncan 5. Lebron 6. Shaq 7. Karl Malone 8. Kevin Durant 9. Magic 10. Barkley 11. Gary Payton
Kuzma shoving LeBron into his defender to play some defense had me rolling , he had to give this old man a push.
It's hard not to relish in LeBron's misery on this one, but what I find to be hilarious isn't their failure but LBJ's ignorance that it was impending. Look, if LBJ came out and said that this was a rebuild and reboot season, and that their only goal was to build the foundations for a good team next year I wouldn't bat an eye. His insistence that this team even had a chance is what's comical. Instead of building chemistry and character he threw his whole team under the bus. So glad he didn't come here and make us choose between him and Harden. You know that's what it would have come to if he chose us.
For the ppl that accuse me of trollin, here's my prediction offseason prediction about Lebron & Lakers:
He's top 3 all time at worst. At this point in his career, he clearly placed more importance on where he wanted to live and business opportunities over purely winning. Now, that being said, there's always a chance they might nab Davis or someone else this summer. But LeBron will be 35 next year, and he is clearly slowing down, so just getting AD may not be enough.
[Shannon] LeBron's gonna have to wear this L. This one fits. This is an Extra Large. This one fits LeBron here. He wants to be efficient. Harden says, "I don't care what my FG% is. As long as we win, I'm good." LeBron, 27/8/6... that's not it. You need to get to that 40.
Got some free time at work today and decided to look at LeBron's 2nd stint in Cleveland. Note: What I'm posting is pretty much common knowledge but I think it looks more meaningful with a dash of stats applied. The table below comprise of data, specifically ELO ratings, for teams that made it to the Conference Semis over the past 4 seasons (e.g. LeBron's 2nd stint). The values I pulled came from FiveThirtyEight.com and you can read about their version of the ELO rating here. At a high level, this is what it comes down to: The narrative that a lot of critics like to use against LeBron is that he's coasted through the East over the past decade and, by doing so, gave himself (and his team) better odds to get to the Finals. I don't think anyone can argue against that considering what the East has been, collectively, over the past 20 years if you take out LeBron's teams. But let's take a look if the metrics matches/correlates with the narrative. Below is a table that includes the ELO rating for that particular team ENTERING THE CONFERENCE SEMIS. I decided to only look at the Final Four for each conference because these were the teams that would have been, more or less, LeBron would have faced in order to win a championship. I then took a quick average among all the teams (sans Lebron's) to get an idea what level of competition LeBron faced when the playoffs arrived. Remember, these ELO ratings are values pulled right before the start of the Conference Semifinals. There are a few observations here: 1. If you use the first table as a guide, you can see that there have been ZERO teams out West that were below 1600, aka Playoff caliber, that advanced to the Conference Semis. However, looking out East out of the 16 participants in the past year (including LeBron's), there were SIX that fell below that 1600 mark, 2 of which were LeBron teams. 2. In terms of title contention, the West featured SEVEN teams that had ELO ratings 1700 or higher. Conversely, the highest-rated team that LeBron COULD have faced out East was last year's Sixers team, at 1655 ELO rating. 3. The teams that LeBron ultimately faced in the Conference Finals are actually pretty subpar compared to the bloodbath out west: 17/18: Boston 1582 ELO rating 16/17: Boston 1618 15/16: Toronto 1599 14/15: Atlanta 1592 Now people will rightfully bring up the 3-1 comeback in 15/16 as an argument against the data and I have no issues with that. Reason being is because EVERYTHING had to fall into place for that comeback to occur (Draymon's suspension being a primary reason). This doesn't take away from the fact that, as the data shows you, LeBron's run the past 4 years were against a bunch of teams that would have been borderline playoff material if they were in the West.
At this rate, LeBron is going to fade away like Shaq instead of leave being celebrated like MJ and Kobe. LeBron should have stayed a Cav his whole career in my opinion.
How does he try too hard to be a role model? He spends MILLIONS building schools and sending kids to college, I don't think you understand that. If you believe he should shut his trap when it comes to politics sure, let's agree there cause he's not the brightest politically and children take his word for gospel, but beyond that he's a hell of a man with a beautiful family and kids. Jordan doesn't even tip his damn caddy when he golfs 5 times a week.
Horrible look for Bron these past few weeks. Kinda his fault. He goes to LAL and tries to be win now when that team is clearly not even close to being a good team. They'll be good MAYBE in 2 seasons when they slowly tool up the roster with trades and FA pickups. Kinda ruined it by wanting it all his first year smh.
Totally his fault. He had the chance to join literally every contender or potential contender, and he decided to go to L.A for his brand or whatever...and if that's not enough, he wanted to trade the starting five for Davis and now he's b****ing cause the guys are not playing their ass off to help him having a respectable season...lol, he's getting what he deserves here, i'm not a Lebron hater, in fact i'm a fan of the player, i reconize how good he is, but if he really wanted to compete he just made a bad a decision and now he's paying for it...especially cause it can get even worse, there's a good chance he ends up being forgotten in few months if in free agency they can't get a superstar.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26142781/5-5-lakers-fix-this 5. Fact or fiction: LeBron's Lakers tenure ultimately will negatively affect his legacy. Herring: Fiction. James has already far surpassed the typical aging curve. He'd never really been hurt before this. He's still incredible -- and will likely find himself back in the postseason -- he's just probably not the best player in the world anymore. The situation in Los Angeles will continue to get an unbelievable amount of attention because of the market, and because LeBron has always been viewed as a savior of sorts. But at some point, players age. If that's finally what's happening in James' case, it seems silly to hold that against him despite everything else he has accomplished. Arnovitz: Fiction. When James' legacy is examined in the distant future, the three championships and eight consecutive NBA Finals appearances are indelible, as is his cultural import as a figure who redefined the terms of self-determination for the professional athlete in North America. The Lakers chapter, should it end as ignobly as this season, will be a historical footnote. MacMahon: Fiction. His three championship rings will still be shiny. He's got a good chance of retiring as the NBA's all-time leading scorer. We can keep wasting breath on the Jordan vs. LeBron GOAT debate, but no matter what happens in L.A., LeBron's legacy as one of the very best to ever play the game is secure. Marks: Fact for Lakers fans, but fiction for the rest of the world. We learned how hard it is to build a competitive roster by what happened with the Lakers. It's easy to cast blame on James for the failures of this season. After five straight lottery appearances, James was supposed to be the savior and duplicate what he did in Cleveland. While many could criticize the roster in Cleveland, the pieces fit and players had defined roles -- unlike this current team. Pelton: More fact than fiction. I don't think LeBron's legacy will be tarnished by what happens with the Lakers, which would soon become a footnote. After all, how often are Kobe Bryant's post-Achilles injury seasons considered in his historical resume? At the same time, if the Lakers are unable to build a contending team, James will have missed the opportunity to do so elsewhere and add another title or two to his GOAT candidacy. That's the possible negative effect.
It was always going to be a win-win for LeBron. Get the Lakers into the playoffs and he would have been anointed the savior of the franchise. Get the Lakers one or two young stars during his tenure so that they have those players to build around after he retires will endear him to everyone in LA. Continue to lose for the duration of his contract? "Well he was going to slow down eventually so we shouldn't have expected too much"
This dude's got the right stuff. LOVED hearing his competitive spirit come out. Also, straight-talk, no bullshit.
