Yes, yes he does. He has every asset for the formula known as GOAT. He'll need to acomplish much more than a finals appearence, an mvp and a few franchise records.
Actually, LeBron delivered a wide open three point look to Delonte West, who missed. That shot would have won the game. He also tipped the ball to Mo Williams on the ensuing jump ball who nearly made the shot. You've got to be kidding if you really believe LeBron missing a couple of free throws down the stretch was why the Cavs lost that game.
Ok. Thanks for addressing something that was not even in the post I typed. I said Kobe has a more refined, polished offensive game. In the particular play I mentioned I'm sure Kobe would have pulled up for the short jumper which he sticks at an astonishingly good rate. Lebron does not have a midrange game in his arsenal like Kobe does. Sorry you worked so hard on that. Next time just read the post your are replying to and save yourself some time. Have a great day!
Kevin Willis lived in the weight room and thanks to that he had a much more developed physique than Wilt did. Of course, there is also the huge factor about Willis having such short arms which is ideal for a strong bench press. I have no idea what Shaq benched but for a guy of 330lb+ pounds to bench 400lb is not that surprising although still impressive considering Shaq's long arms. The difference between 400lb and 500lb is immense and I don't believe Wilt did that. He didn't have the build nor the advantage of modern sport science to help him. I had a look at the World Bench Press records and nobody EVER benched 500lb until the 50's. Nobody broke 600lb until 1967. I highly, highly doubt Wilt Chamberlain was one of the strongest bench pressers in the world when he didn't even train for it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bench_press_world_records
Don't you know? Those free throws invalidates everything Lebron has demonstrated his entire career. Kobe wins.
Sorry to hurt your feelings there, Mr. Sensitive. But you'll notice I addressed your statement a little more directly in the subsequent post.
No problem. Of course, you still didn't address anything I said but I can see that's a pattern with you so I won't bring it up anymore.
Ariza helped his team steal the game with that late steal. Oodm helped his team steal the game with a big block late. Gasol helped his team steal the game by grabbing an offensive board and sinking 2 FT's, and by getting a key charge call. Fisher helped his team steal the game by nailing his late tre and actually hitting 5 of his last 6 shots. Did you not notice any of that? Look at the play-by-play of the last 5 minutes of that game. Every point came off Lebron scoring or creating for someone. Yeah, he missed a big FT...but he still got a big and 1 to put his team up by 2 with like 25 secs left. It's not his fault floppy head gave Lewis some room on a 3-pointer, or that West missed a wide-open game winning shot...the same thing that made Paxson and Kerr heroes...
He wrote an addendum in the next post that addressed their jump shooting percentage in the last 5 minutes of the game (at least I think that is what stat he was showing). And according to it, they both have very similar numbers there too.
Again, where did I talk of shooting percentages? I said Kobe has a more varied offensive game and that he would not have made the same mistake Lebron made by trying to force his way to the rim when a short, wide open jumper was available.
You did say though that: Which I believe he refuted with the fact that Lebron shoots .6% less on jumpshots in the final 5 minutes of the game than Kobe. Now clearly, Kobe has a better mid-range game overall, but you make it sound like Lebron didn't pull up for the jumpshot because he doesn't hit it at the same "astonishingly good rate" that Kobe does, when quite the opposite is true for the final 5 minutes of the game.
I don't have the info on the specific games (and I'm too lazy at the moment to dig it up), but the article with stats on game winning shots over the past few years is <a href="http://82games.com/gamewinningshots.htm">here</a>.
Hmmm... interesting. Obviously "Superman" belongs in that list of speculation as well. Normally you would say, "how could steroids help a basketball player? It won't help them put the ball in the basket?" Well now we see the importance of strength in this era of basketball. Just being a good shooter isn't enough anymore as it used to be.
The biggest item of doubt for me is that he has stayed remarkably healthy throughout his entire career, and it is generally known that steroids tend to increase the susceptibility of athletes to injuries. One would imagine it would be especially true for a physically demanding contact sport like basketball, and for someone who plays as physical as LeBron does. But still, in this day and age it has to be a valid suspicion. That said, Wilt Chamberlain was a freak of nature himself, and he didn't need steroids to do what he did.
As great an athlete as LeBron is, those of you dismissing Wilt's athleticism are doing him a great disservice. He was a shot put champion, a high jump champion, ran the intermediate distances, playing volleyball, running marathons, etc. As an overall athlete, he was a freak of nature every bit as much as LeBron, if not more... what makes it even more amazing is that he did it all in a 7'1" 280 lbs. frame. As an overall athlete, I don't know of too many people in the NBA that could match him - even today. Some guys have the strength, but not the endurance. Others are strong, but can't jump. Wilt was the entire package. LeBron is in the same class. He's not the greatest leaper (isn't his vertical "only" around 39 inches?) in the NBA, he isn't the strongest, he's not the biggest, may not even be the fastest, but he sure as hell puts all of that together better than probably anyone else. Wilt was much the same in an even larger package. I still say the 500+ lbs. bench press is a bit nuts, though... I'm not sure I believe that one. lol.
Apparently West has a pretty inflated ego. Kobe insisted he play in L.A. Kobe brought Kobe to L.A. As for Lebron being the best, he's definitely very good. But to me, he is closer to T-mac then he is to Jordan or Kobe. The tell-tale sign is artistry. You look at the way Lebron goes to the rim or gets by his defender - it's all explosiveness and power. There's no finesse. He never dribbles and jukes a guy. He never fakes one way then goes another. He doesn't score of intelligence or slickness. There's never any artistry. No wonder he hasn't participated in a dunk contest. Nope - Lebron takes it strong every time to the whole, and goes for the foul. It's effective because he is such a supreme athlete. But I think unless he develops more basketball game, and it will be tougher because he's bigger than Kobe and Jordan, he is not going to be the GOAT.
Ok. Thanks for disagreeing with me then agreeing with me. Stay tuned for next week when I say Dream had a better offensive arsenal than Shaq and someone posts each guy's career field goal % to prove me wrong.
I can agree with everything, you said, but... Lebron has nothing of T-Mac in him. Lebron is a winner and a clutch performer. I believe a big reason why the Cavs got to the finals 2 years ago (who really had no business being there) and are 66 win team, now is because of LBJ. King James isn't as skilled scoring as MJ or Kobe, but I will say he is at least a better passer than Kobe with much better court vision. Also, with him being bigger he could always play multiple position from point guard to power forward. With LeBron, I believe he could help a struggling team get over the hump faster than Kobe on that same merit.
