The LeBron James Thread

[wwharton]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

are you sure?
I seem to recall there were some people asking for this... most rational basketball minds were not, but there were some people (who probably know as much about basketball as I know about underwater basket weaving) who were saying this.

Some people say a lot of things. MANY people didn't have that opinion but still felt there was a huge issue with his mental game. It doesn't make sense to lump the two groups together.

[24ct]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

If he ever "has" to do that again you can mark it down as series loss. It would be a bad omen for Miami. Teams don't generally win they need that much from 1 player. See Cle...

True.

Granted I'm talking CLE Lebron, MIA Wade (aka Flash) and TOR Bosh (numbers wise)

I know they'll probably never need to, but imagine if they could all put together their greatest individual performances on the same team. Just something to think about.

Solid point though.

[wwharton]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

True.

Granted I'm talking CLE Lebron, MIA Wade (aka Flash) and TOR Bosh (numbers wise)

I know they'll probably never need to, but imagine if they could all put together their greatest individual performances on the same team. Just something to think about.

Solid point though.

There aren't enough minutes in a game for that to be possible. They can't all be targets as much as when they were all the main focus on different teams.

[JerzeyReign]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Only Wade can't replicate his career numbers. Bosh takes the same amount of shots as his Toronto days - his issue is that he doesn't attack like he used to therefore his FTA are down. Also, with him outside that much he doesn't get those 1-2 offensive rebounds he'd get in Canada.

That 10-11 season will probably be the best "individual" seasons they'll have together.

[jeebs9]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

The way their offense is now. It's really hard to focus on one thing to beat them. If Wade and James are mixing jumpshots with timely takes to the basket. No one can stop them. That goes for Bosh too. But their ball movement this year has been crazy.

[jeebs9]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Nice Q&A with LeBron

I love the question about the Jordan Relationship.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9824909/lebron-james-michael-jordan-fear-failure-35-point-games-more-espn-magazine

[The 24th Letter]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Good read.

Loved this:

When people think about the killer instinct, they always think of MJ and Kobe. Do people underestimate your killer instinct? People say you have it but not like those two. Do you think you have it like they do?
Ahh. I'll just put it this way, man. There are different ways to hunt. I watch the Discovery Channel all the time, and you look at all these animals in the wild. And they all hunt a different way to feed their families. They all kill a different way. Lions do it strategically -- two females will lead, and then everybody else will come in. Hyenas will just go for it. There are different ways to kill, and I don't think people understand that. Everybody wants everybody to kill the same way. Everybody wants everybody to kill like MJ or kill like Kobe. Magic didn't kill the way they killed. Does that mean he didn't have a killer instinct? Kareem didn't either. But does that mean Kareem didn't have a killer instinct? The same with Bird. That doesn't mean you don't have a killer instinct. Tim Duncan don't kill like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, but I've played against Tim Duncan twice in the Finals and I know for sure he's got a killer instinct. So there are different ways to kill. MJ had a killer instinct for sure. But if people really think that MJ didn't talk to nobody and didn't smile on the court, they're crazy. They're crazy. I've seen him. I was watching a clip the other day of him blocking Charles Barkley, and they're laughing about the play -- on the floor. Right now, if I block Kevin Durant on the floor, or I block Carmelo Anthony and we laugh about it? Ahh, I'm going to get killed [laughing]. I'm telling you. But there are different ways of killing.

[DamnYanks2]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Great read, Lebron makes some great analogies there. He's right, there are different ways to kill. He probably saw his teamate on there too, if he was watching that special on ostriches like I was.

[DukeC]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Great read, Lebron makes some great analogies there. He's right, there are different ways to kill. He probably saw his teamate on there too, if he was watching that special on ostriches like I was.

You wrong for that!

[ojandpizza]

I'm glad LeBron doesn't want to get in to the ring chasing competition with those other guys. I don't he should be focusing on "I have to get 5 like Kobe, or 6 like Jordan, or more than Jordan".. It's good to see he doesn't have that thought process..

I've been saying here for awhile now that Jordan was always the best player I've ever watched and that LeBron is the best player I've watched since Jordan left... My opinion on that would be the same, whether Jordan finished with 1 ring or 20, and whether LeBron ended with 1 ring or 20...

Rings to me don't define how good of a basketball player somebody is.. To me they just solidify your "legacy" and give your more accolades... Jordan with the label "greatest of all time" does he have that title if he didn't win all those rings? Maybe or maybe not, but to me he would still have been, without question, the best basketball player I had ever saw put on a uniform. Same for LeBron now.

[ojandpizza]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Also in regards to the article, wanted to ask your guys opinion on something..

Would it have benefitted LeBron more to be a more selfish player throughout his career in order for him to "become the greatest" or one of the greatest??? I always notice one thing people always mention, and I do it myself, is that Jordan has 10 scoring titles... We've watched LeBron and he could probably have a large chunk of them as well but it was never anything he wanted, where as with Jordan he wanted to be the greatest scorer in the league if not all time...

What I'm getting at is.. Would it have been better for LeBron to play like that? I realize he has a ridiculous ability to fill a stat sheet, but in an era where it's almost impossible for him to average a triple-double for a season (and keep his scoring at a respectable number) is there really a point for him averaging 26-30, 6-8, and 6-8 per game? There's ultimately no reward or accolade for having 9 seasons averaging "close to a triple-double"..

To me it doesn't matter, but I just wanted to ask because we seem to live in a world where accomplishment is all about how many rings do you have, how many MVPs do you have, how many scoring titles do you have, how many all-nba teams did you make, etc etc.... And personally I don't like using that as sole basis for judging how good a player is.. Obviously all of those do hold some merit when I would judge and evaluate someone's career, and some more than others, but using it as all your evidence doesn't make any sense to me...

I remember when the Jordan or LeBron talks were going around on ESPN those "experts" were all making it sound like LeBron could pass Jordan basically just because at the rate he going he will break a lot of his records and pass him on all time static lists, and etc...

All of that means nothing to me at all.. I personally feel the gap between how good Jordan was and how good LeBron has became is much closer than what some of you do. I think most of you already know that though and have saw things I've said before.. But none of that has to do with me thinking LeBron will retire with 7 rings, more career points, rebounds, all-star games or whatever... It comes from me having the privilege of actually watching them both play, and seeing the things they can do on the court, realizing what they do better than all the other all time greats, not looking at their retirement achievements..

So back to my question, since LeBron has made it clear he wants to be remembered as the best or one of the best would it have made sense for him to take a dip in his assist column in order to add a couple more scoring titles?

What do you guys think?

[wwharton]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Also in regards to the article, wanted to ask your guys opinion on something..

Would it have benefitted LeBron more to be a more selfish player throughout his career in order for him to "become the greatest" or one of the greatest??? I always notice one thing people always mention, and I do it myself, is that Jordan has 10 scoring titles... We've watched LeBron and he could probably have a large chunk of them as well but it was never anything he wanted, where as with Jordan he wanted to be the greatest scorer in the league if not all time...

What I'm getting at is.. Would it have been better for LeBron to play like that? I realize he has a ridiculous ability to fill a stat sheet, but in an era where it's almost impossible for him to average a triple-double for a season (and keep his scoring at a respectable number) is there really a point for him averaging 26-30, 6-8, and 6-8 per game? There's ultimately no reward or accolade for having 9 seasons averaging "close to a triple-double"..

To me it doesn't matter, but I just wanted to ask because we seem to live in a world where accomplishment is all about how many rings do you have, how many MVPs do you have, how many scoring titles do you have, how many all-nba teams did you make, etc etc.... And personally I don't like using that as sole basis for judging how good a player is.. Obviously all of those do hold some merit when I would judge and evaluate someone's career, and some more than others, but using it as all your evidence doesn't make any sense to me...

I remember when the Jordan or LeBron talks were going around on ESPN those "experts" were all making it sound like LeBron could pass Jordan basically just because at the rate he going he will break a lot of his records and pass him on all time static lists, and etc...

All of that means nothing to me at all.. I personally feel the gap between how good Jordan was and how good LeBron has became is much closer than what some of you do. I think most of you already know that though and have saw things I've said before.. But none of that has to do with me thinking LeBron will retire with 7 rings, more career points, rebounds, all-star games or whatever... It comes from me having the privilege of actually watching them both play, and seeing the things they can do on the court, realizing what they do better than all the other all time greats, not looking at their retirement achievements..

So back to my question, since LeBron has made it clear he wants to be remembered as the best or one of the best would it have made sense for him to take a dip in his assist column in order to add a couple more scoring titles?

What do you guys think?

Doesn't your post right before this answer your question? You wouldn't fully respect someone saying he needs to win X number of rings so I don't see why this would be any different.

[24]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

It doesn't matter how many MVP's He wins, how many rings he brings home or what he leads the league in. The Majority People will always view Jordan as the GOAT.

[ojandpizza]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Doesn't your post right before this answer your question? You wouldn't fully respect someone saying he needs to win X number of rings so I don't see why this would be any different.

Right, I just know some people do feel he needs a certain number of rings.. I was just wondering if people applied this to other areas as well.

[jeebs9]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

I didn't see this Q&A thing by the players.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9830454/nba-players-want-michael-jordan-take-last-shot-not-lebron-james-espn-magazine

I love that only 15% of players would play for half their salary to play with LeBron.

Edit: But also the other question I think is funny. Is who you think can guard him. I wish "himself" was one of the choices. Because that only person I think that can and has been able to stop him.