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You looking at the Chair MAN!
Number may not tell the whole story ,but they never lie either.Comment
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Re: The LeBron James Thread
Red is my new favorite poster
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Re: The LeBron James Thread
Who in the bloody hell cares what Michael Jordan did or didn't do? He's Michael Jordan. He is one ******* player who's prime is well over a decade past and we're still getting this competition lecture from, quite honestly, a group of fans that can't live down the fact that the high watermark of their childhood is past.
You and your kind want to make it seem like Jordan A.) wasn't constantly bitching about the lack of help on his squads before he eventually won an NBA Championship including the swing man All-Star B.) trusted his front office completely with their personnel moves and C.) never went out to try and get help for his teams.
You get this argument only because you have hindsight, as does Jordan. He can say all he wants that "I was such a competitor that I'd never team up with those guys", but he's saying that from a golf course with a cigar between his lips and six NBA Championships. Yeah. Awesome. You conquered the world. If you're a Bulls fan, you seem to be forgetting that Jordan acted just as terribly as the 'petulant children' stars of today. You also seem to be forgetting that Michael Jordan didn't conquer Showtime or the Celtics. This whole bluster line of LeBron connecting to your expectations that he should've stayed in Cleveland to show his competitiveness like Jordan is riddled with errors because your basis of comparison PROVES that staying isn't going to win rings, only individual accolades and sponsorship deals.
The Cavs were making moves? Yes. Overpaying for the likes of Anderson Varejao, Daniel Gibson and Jamario Moon while trading away a major expiring contract in Zydrunas Ilgauskas for an aging and overpaid Antawn Jamison JUST BEFORE the biggest offseason of free agency is making great moves. Oh, they wanted to bring in Trevor Ariza. Oh, they brought in Shaq.
Next thing I'll hear is that Ed Nealy or Brad Sellers would've been difference makers.
Jordan capitalized on the fact that the Lakers and Celtics were old and the stars of his age were not in as well designed situations. The quality of top teams went down, coinciding with Jordan's rise to NBA Champion. In the NBA of LeBron James? The Lakers are still poised for a few more seasons, the Celtics are aging but have arguably the best point guard in the NBA and loads of space when said veterans call it quits, the Magic have the best center in the league and he's younger, and the Heat just got Wade and Bosh. Oh, this isn't counting the likely three headed monster in New York of Anthony/Stoudemire/Paul. He's not just going against loaded squads with a mediocre supporting cast; he's going against players who and teams with NBA Finals experience.
James made a choice to compete. His terms of competition, however, aren't going to be dictated by some mythical entity who is but a footnote in NBA history. He's not talking in three-peats. He's talking in terms of five or six or seven or eight titles. What you guys don't get is that this move wasn't to chase Jordan; it's to chase the greatest TEAMS to ever play the game. Or are you going to start talking about how Russell's Celtics aren't the benchmark of a team as NBA Champions? The only way to do it is either band together or get drafted into it.Comment
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Re: The LeBron James Thread
This was a nice post with the exception of this paragraph.
To say the NBA was weak during Jordan's championship reign is, frankly, just false. Aging Lakers and Celtics is all you came up with? What about Malone and Stockton? Kevin Johnson/Charles Barkley's Suns? Hakeem and the Rockets? Shaq's Magic? Clyde's Blazers? Hello? Did you watch the NBA in the 90s?
Then after using "aging Lakers and Celtics" as a knock on Jordan, you come back and say the aging Celtics of today are much better than the top teams of Jordan's era. The Celtics are probably (this is an estimate) the oldest team in the league. The Big 3 are still good but none of them are even near as good as they were when they won it all. And Rondo the best PG in the league? Rondo is top 5-ish, but nobody can objectively say he's better than Chris Paul or Deron Williams. The Celtics are good, but certainly not all-time good. And then you went and said cap space after the Big 3 leave will keep the Celtics a top team.
Are you serious? Cap space? Reach much? Every team in the league has "cap space" when their highest paid players leave. NYK had cap space last year. Are they better than Malone's Jazz? No. Cap space gives potential, but pieces still have to fall into the lap of the team with the cap space for them to become a contender.
The Lakers are good, too. Great even. But they're aging as well. In 2-3 years Kobe and Pau will be over the hill, and the young Lakers like Bynum will have to step up. This would've been LeBron's time to rise, just like Jordan. Remember that Jordan knocked off the 1991 Lakers in a similar situation. But no, apparently Jordan only won championships because the league was weak.
The Magic. You said they are a top team because they have "the best center in the league". In every era and year a team has "the best center in the league". Maybe it's Shaq with the Magic, maybe it's Hakeem with the Rockets. It doesn't matter. There's a best center and he belongs to a team. Meaning if that's the only reason the Magic are worth mentioning, they're weakening your argument.
The Heat with only Wade/Bosh are a 3rd-5th seed lock every year, assuming they can secure a defensive presence inside and some role players. But again, they don't compare to any of the teams I listed up top.
The Knicks scenario is another reach, so I won't even touch that.
Nice post, but this paragraph and the idea that Jordan didn't play great teams are both bunk.Comment
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Re: The LeBron James Thread
So Magic and Bird were in their prime when Jordan came along?Comment
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