Narrative of not having enough help for star players

I never heard of he is a completely crappy player because he won no rings.

It was because of his strip club issues, some of his minor drop in production in elimination playoff games, his way of showing up to practices late or out of shape to camps, all those things.

Reports of him being pampered by Daryl and Co.

Everyone knew he was the best Offensive player of his generation even when he was not putting his mind to it.

Problem was that the team was named Rockets and not Houston Hardens.

It was also very hard to talk about him, because he was either loved like a God or despised.

There was not much middle ground to cover. Always loved the grey areas among all the black and white.

 

Still, you put Lillard with Lebron in Cleveland in place of Kyrie, and I like their odds of beating the Warriors more than once.

 

I find this weird, because if one player wins a ring ... it validates his career, suddenly. Even though, he was always a great player. There are many great players who never won a ring, like Dan Marino, or like Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, George Gervin, Allen Iverson, and many other NBA greats. A championship is a franchise and team accomplishment, not a one player. I feel like Beal, AD, Dame, Harden, and Westbrook are all very talented players who will be remember for their endeavors in an all-time scope. If you put any NBA great on a G-League level team, they wouldn't win title, much less make the playoffs. It's a team effort, and most players know that. Even, with LeBron, do people not realize what the objective of the game is, because 9 times out of 10, the best team (or most talented team/given chemistry) wins. He actually realized that you need a great team to win, like a few others before and after him. LeBron realized he cannot win by himself, just as Allen Iverson said in his practice speech "..How the hell can I make my teammates?" I agree with both idea for the most part, you cannot physically make your teammates, better. You can put them in better situations to score on offense or help them on defensive switches . Most of the players in top 10-13 discussions, nowadays, are mostly there, because they were drafted or traded to great teams or teams that became great over time. Some careers would look a little different, just because of who drafted them.

Harden is a great example, is he invalidated as a great player, because he doesn't win one ring. To some, yes, but I think being on the best team is how one wins. It's especially rare in NBA history to have a team that was not at worst good or slightly above average without its superstars. I'd think a team who is a lottery team without their primary superstar is mediocre franchise or team to begin with. For example, the Cavs haven't had a winning season without LeBron, since the 1990s. The T-Wolves have had only one winning season, since KG's first stint with them. I hate that bad franchises keep getting rewarded for being terrible, consistently. If they cannot draft the right players, or keep their superstars. That's not the fault of the players.

I don't know why people mention parity in these arguments about the NBA. The NBA has rarely had parity in it. Name a time period, where it was fair and at least half of the leagues teams were viable threats to win a title. It doesn't happen, regardless of the league structure. I felt like it was had briefly across the league, during the 70s. Yet, the league was in terrible shape, product-wise. Even, conference wise, I'm not even sure it's been fulfill, very much, but I will say that the Western Conference has done a very good job for the last 25 years. They've had a number of years where the 8th seed has been pretty strong and potential playoff teams failed to make it with fairly decent or strong record. That's pretty good sign for some of the league, but the East for some reason can never replicate that. I feel that's because there are "worse franchise" and "Front offices" in the East.

 

I remember Kevin Garnett was viewed as a loser who could not take his team out of the first round... until he became part of the Big 3 in Boston.

 

It's not about Harden
but the Malones/BArkleys/Ewings/Etc

They are a Tier lower than they probably should be because they lack a ring

Rocket River

 

Imagine where Drexler would be without a ring
He is not mentioned enough NOW!

Rocket River

 

Didn't the NBA contemplate about a Season In tournament of sorts?

It is like having the World Cup and the Confederations Cup, the mini world championship so to speak.

I would be all for a secondary title, of course not trying to undermine the real title.

It would be another 'officially recognized' cup to win.