Huh? Aren't you just pulling this theory of your out of your ass?FYI, Pau Gasol is another superstar, in fact a lot of the media nowadays generally acknowledge him as the league's best big man. At the very worst, he'll be the 3rd best big man in the league right now. Do you see Kobe complaining that Pau is just too good to be his teammate? Kobe is a lot of things, however he's someone who always puts winning first, even above his own body. He didn't run Shaq out because he wanted to be "the man", its because Shaq was always injured and was dragging the team down. He couldn't stand the guy loafing around and goofing off and getting injured on company time. Of course ego played a part in it as well, but he probably saw Shaq as a lazy bum. And what the hell is so great about not wanting another great player on your team? Are we supposed to celebrate guys who'd rather be the big fish in a small pond then be a small fish in the sea? Is the fact that you'd rather let pride get in the way of winning supposed to be something to cheer about? How can you have that "insatiable competitive lust and absolute desire for winning" yet somehow have qualms about having teammates who are too good? LOL good job! Let's celebrate players who'd rather score double digits on a losing team than sacrifice their stats for the win. Finally LOL at LBJ riding anyone's coattails. He's the best player on the Heat, and somehow he's riding coattails? LOL since when did your best player carry the lightest load on the team?
Take a step back, re-read your own words, and realize how stupid you sound. He puts winning first so he turns a championship caliber team into a team that can't even reach the semi-finals? "Puts winning first" is your argument? Seriously?
LOL Lebron was the MVP last season, but he is going to riding coattail?? Im not a fan of lebron, but you cant say he is going to ride coattails. The only one riding coattail from the Big 3 is Bosh.
i don't think goodbug gets that. for you to ride someone's coattails, you have to be a lesser player. dwayne wade PUBLICLY ADMITTED LEBRON IS THE MOST DOMINANT PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE. wade has never been considered by ANYONE to be better than lebron. they might have been on par a few years ago, but lebron has clearly surpassed him by another level the past 2 years. goodbug can argue lebron may have it "easier" and that's a legit argument. bron and wade are 2 of the top 3 players in the L. but shaq and kobe were 2 of the top 3 players in the L and BARELY squeaked by the blazers (and needed luck) to win their first championship. but lebron isn't riding anybody's coattails. when you're widely recognized as the best player in the L, it doesn't matter where you play, you're the best player. it's that simple. i don't care if people think he chose the "easy" way out. that doesn't change the fact that he's the best player in the L. it doesn't diminish his skills or anything.
I never demand LeBron to win it by himself, that's unfair. But if he joined Bulls for example, he's got enough talent/ stars around him, and he's the indisputable man in the team. Without LeBron, the heat can still easily win a round in east, a good chance to win 2 rounds this year. Definitely a contender down the road with 1-2 good MLE addition. That's riding coat tail in my book. And LeBron was, and will be a lesser player in playoff when it counts. The former was what had happen, the latter is about to happen.
man, you are just afraid when lebron racks up those rings, he'll surpass your kobe bryant. he already has surpassed him as the best player. soon, he'll surpass him for the better career. you can say lebron is riding coattails, don't mind a coattail rider get those MVPs and final MVPs. while wade and bosh won't sniff any MVP awards, or be in the rankings even.
KG is arguably the best player of his era when you consider his impact on both sides of the court. Too bad he won't be remembered that way since he had Hakeem like help, as opposed to the help Shaq, Kobe and Duncan had. This is exactly why I don't fault LeBron for his decision. Neither does KG, and I actually respect a persons opinion if they were in that situation. Not playing with a loaded deck like Magic.
Garnett is not even in the discussion for best player of his era. After Jordan retired from the Bulls, the best players in the league were Duncan and Shaq. And "Hakeem like help"? You seriously underrate Cassell, Sprewell, and Szczerbiak. Who cares what KG thinks? This is a guy who gets on his hands and knees to taunt opposing players. This is someone you respect? And Magic played the hand he was dealt. Lebron left to find an easier game.
Garnett was arguably as good as Duncan. If he had been drafted by a veteran team with David Robinson as his sidekick, we would likely be calling him the greatest PF ever today. Cassell and Sprewell played with KG for two years, the second of which was destroyed by Sprewell's contract issues ("i've gotta feed my family"). I'm not saying I respect KG as a player or a person, but I respect his opinion on a situation that he has personally been through. Magic never had to suffer through years of playing with inferior teammates.
Sounds kind of farfetched to me. You're overlooking the fact that Duncan came into the league as a polished rookie with 4 years of college experience while Garnett came into the league as a raw kid fresh out of high school. If Garnett came into the league in 97-98 as a rookie out of high school, the Spurs don't win their titles in 99 or 2003. Ok? What's your point? Sprewell did have contract issues. Does that change the fact that Garnett had a good supporting cast? Garnett and Lebron weren't in the same situation. Lebron had a voice in all Cavalier business, including personnel decisiosn. Garnett didn't. Absolutely wrong. Considering the fact that you've been around since 1999, I'm shocked that you can be so ignorant about the NBA. In the mid-80's, who on the Lakers was better than Magic?
LOL, LeBron had chance to be greater than Kobe. But his decision excluded himself from the conversation already. Try surpass Wade to be the man first. And don't forget, Wade will always have one more ring than him.
a lot of players have more rings than lebron. what's your point? answer this question: out of the 3 players, who do you think has the highest chance of getting MVP, and finals MVP if they win the finals?
Of course Wade. He's going to score more, and he's going to close out the game. BTW, Wade had way better stats than LeBron against Celtics.
so wade > lebron >>>> kobe since kobe's stats were much inferior v. the celtics? . gotcha guess we will hae to see. you're probably the 5% who think wade is the better player and will be the man on the heat. b/c every media outlet still thinks lebron is gonna be the heat's best player and the MVP candidate.
Kobe didn't have the best stats. But Kobe commanded double team and allowed a big man to be effective and got the wins. Wade had no big man so he had more room to operate LeBron had a big man but made him ineffective and he's ineffective himself. Kobe > Wade >> LeBron, at least the former 2 proved they knew how to use a big man. LeBron on the other hand, couldn't coexist with a post player. So you now want to talk about media? The consensus is LeBron taking the easy way out and his legacy is forever tainted. Magic, Bird, Jordan all went out of way to belittle him. So they are all afraid of being surpassed by LeBron in your opinion right? LOL
Wow goodbug didn't think your analysis would get worse. Wade >> lebron? Ok Gasol had his worst offensive series in the playoffs versus the celtics so Kobe didn't make his life easier. Kobe's struggles actually made it tougher. The lakers won with DEFENSE. It's fine for people to think lebron is taking the easy way out. But it's not like wade will be a top 3 playe for the entire 6 years. Lebron will be the mainstay all 6 years and will most likely be the best player in the league all those 6 years. Wade is 29 and suffered a drop off in production last year and also had some injuries. His top 3 days most likely will last 2 more years at most. But I'm going to stop.
You're right about 99, but by 2003, KG was an all-league player. I don't see any reason that team couldn't have won a championship with KG. My point is that you use Cassell and Sprewell as evidence of KG's good supporting cast, but Cassell and Sprewell were only there for two of KG's 12 years in Minnesota. Also, Cassell only played 59 games the second year and Sprewell was mentally checked out because of his contract situation. It's been debated in other threads whether or not Lebron really had much of a say in the Cavs' decisions. Apparently, he really wanted Amare at the trade deadline last year and the team refused to pull the trigger because they didn't want to give up JJ Hickson (who barely ended up playing in the playoffs anyway). By "inferior" I didn't mean that Magic was not the best player on his team. Clearly he was. I meant that his teammates were not garbage. They were not inferior to the supporting casts of every other star player in the league. He had teammates that made all-NBA teams five times in his career. He had another teammate in the top 10 for MVP voting 9 times in his career, with three different teammates of his receiving MVP votes during his career. KG and Lebron unarguably had supporting casts that were not as good as the star players in the league that have won championships. KG had one teammate that made an all-NBA team one season in Minnesota. Lebron has never had an all-NBA teammate. Kobe Bryant has played with an all-NBA teammate ten times in his career. That number is five times for Tim Duncan and 11 times for Shaq.
His chance to be greater ended with his "sore" elbow excuse against Boston. Right then and there, it was a forgone conclusion that he'll never be anything more than a highlight film.
