The LeBron James Thread

[CMH]

Maybe we aren't giving Riley enough credit.

Clearly he was winning championships in LA with his eyes closed.


Sent from my mobile device.

[ojandpizza]

More and more former coaches and players say how great of a player LeBron is.. Whether any of us agree with what's been said or not, just having those guys say the things they have said, Riley and Pippen for example, really goes to show how great LeBron has been playing.

I really hope he caps this great season off with his second ring, and preferably second finals MVP as well..

[ehh]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

True, but plenty of players/coaches just say stuff like that. Tons of people have said absurd stuff about Kobe, even Magic saying he's the greatest Laker of all time when he's the 5th-best.

[The 24th Letter]

Or Mark Jackson calling his backcourt the greatest shooting backcourt of all time...lol

[DukeC]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Or Mark Jackson calling his backcourt the greatest shooting backcourt of all time...lol

I don't....I don't think that's a stretch.

[ojandpizza]

True, but plenty of players/coaches just say stuff like that. Tons of people have said absurd stuff about Kobe, even Magic saying he's the greatest Laker of all time when he's the 5th-best.

Idk.. Legacy wise I could see him being the number 1 or 2 Laker..

As far as just how great of a player, I'd put Magic, Kareem, Shaq, and West ahead of him.. And honestly maybe even Baylor..

And definitely Wilt but not during his Laker tenure..

But as far as his legacy goes its tough.. If you ask anyone over the age of 20 or so what they think of when they hear "Lakers" they will say Magic Johnson.. If you ask anybody younger than that they will say "Kobe Bryant".. Just depends how you look at it I guess.. I think that's where the Kobe being the greatest laker stems from.

[SteelersFreak]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Or Mark Jackson calling his backcourt the greatest shooting backcourt of all time...lol

Who's better?

[bghost]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

I take Mark Price and Craig Ehlo.
maybe also Chuck Person and Reggie Miller.... but Chuck and his shot attempts man.

[The 24th Letter]

This is a pretty good watch

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=cEs7bZzprWU&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DcEs7bZzprWU

[ehh]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

And he's only 28...



(yes, it's photoshopped. At least the non-MVP trophies)

[jeebs9]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

I was about to say that ROY award looks weird lol

[TajDeni]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

I am letting his career unfold..I didn't even put him in my top 10 all time list in the other threads for that very reason..

i didnt read the rest of your post yet, ill do that now, cause i had to stop you right there.

now juice your the main person saying lebron is dominating the league. now im going to ask you a direct question.

under what criteria is lebron dominating the league?

heres my argument as to why i think your claim is false.

in the past 5 completed yrs: garnett 1 /kobe 2 / dirk 1 / lebron 1 (rings) - now obviously your operating under a different criteria because 1 championship in the past 5 completed seasons would not qualify under my definition of dominating the league.

to be clear we are not talking about whose better and all that. we are talking about your claim that lebron is dominating the league and his competition.

--------------

just read the rest of your post. if you cant tell by my post, i dont care about stats and accolades the way you do. all i care about is championships. i play to win, i watch to root for my team to win. not to amass accolades.

was i born that way? no! then why do i feel that way? i feel that way because thats how the players i grew up watching were judged, by championships. so that is the only standard i hold lebron or any player b4 or after him 2. because thats the standard i grew up under.

i keep saying it, and i dont say it just to say. we are all athletes. and i can tell you, i aint never play not to win a championship. nomatter what else i did or did not accomplish in my athletic career, the only thing that haunts me is losing in the national title game.

and thats my pov, i dont care what lebron accomplishes, all i care about is titles. period. everything else is everything else to me. thats how i roll with sports.

[ojandpizza]

now juice your the main person saying lebron is dominating the league. now im going to ask you a direct question.

under what criteria is lebron dominating the league?

heres my argument as to why i think your claim is false.

in the past 5 completed yrs: garnett 1 /kobe 2 / dirk 1 / lebron 1 (rings) - now obviously your operating under a different criteria because 1 championship in the past 5 completed seasons would not qualify under my definition of dominating the league.

to be clear we are not talking about whose better and all that. we are talking about your claim that lebron is dominating the league and his competition.

--------------

just read the rest of your post. if you cant tell by my post, i dont care about stats and accolades the way you do. all i care about is championships. i play to win, i watch to root for my team to win. not to amass accolades.

was i born that way? no! then why do i feel that way? i feel that way because thats how the players i grew up watching were judged, by championships.

so that is the only standard i hold lebron or any player b4 or after him. because thats the standard i grew up under. i keep saying it, and i dont say it just to say. we are all athletes prolly. and i can tell you, i aint never play not to win a championship. nomatter what else i did or did not accomplish in my athletic days, they only thing that haunts me is losing in the national title game.

and thats my pov, i dont care what lebron accomplish, all i care about is titles. period. everything else is everything else to me. thats how i roll with sports.

Well first of all I went back as far as 10 pages, and I don't care enough to go back any farther, and there wasn't one post by me that said LeBron was dominating the league.

Second of all - "i dont care what lebron accomplish, all i care about is titles. period. everything else is everything else to me." If that's the case why are we even having an argument? If all you base your criteria on is titles then just say that to begin with, that would end any discussion necessary.

Third- by your criteria, I'm assuming Wilt, Oscsr, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Hakeem, Barkely, Garnett, Ewing, etc. are all somehow less of a player because they don't have a nice hefty ring total as well?

Would your list of all time greats go Russell, Kareem, Jordan, Pippen, Kobe? Because if not it would seem that YOU are the one holding LeBron to a different standard, not any of US.

- LeBron is on another level, not counting stats or accolades I'll explain this way.. He has CLEARLY separated himself from the rest of the entire league. And he's been top dog for probably at least 5 years straight now. His worst games are still better than nearly any other players best games. He was winning with crap teammates, he was winning with other stars, he plays with an elite level at both ends of the court, and he literally takes full load and does everything his team needs justified by him leading them in every major stat category. And he's top of the list of players who make other players around him better.. He continually proves he's better than who's next in line, Kobe, Melo, KD, whoever..

With that being said, you call it what you want, obviously dominant is a bad word choice for you. But I have not saw another player do that since Michael Jordan. Not comparing the two of them, not comparing how much they've won, but in the manner that LeBron just makes every other player in the league look inferior is MJ-esque..

- as far as rings go. He never really had a good enough team to really compete for a title. He's on one now. He lost once with this team, just as Jordan, Magic, Bird, Russell have all lost trying to win rings.. And he just won last season, possibly winning another this season.. He's only 28 man.

If for some reason you don't think West, Oscar, Wilt were dominating there era because they weren't bringing him the ship every year, then I don't know what else to tell you. It's hard to win championships, one player cannot do it and has never been able to do it.

[TajDeni]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Spoiler

Well first of all I went back as far as 10 pages, and I don't care enough to go back any farther, and there wasn't one post by me that said LeBron was dominating the league.

Second of all - "i dont care what lebron accomplish, all i care about is titles. period. everything else is everything else to me." If that's the case why are we even having an argument? If all you base your criteria on is titles then just say that to begin with, that would end any discussion necessary.

Third- by your criteria, I'm assuming Wilt, Oscsr, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Hakeem, Barkely, Garnett, Ewing, etc. are all somehow less of a player because they don't have a nice hefty ring total as well?

Would your list of all time greats go Russell, Kareem, Jordan, Pippen, Kobe? Because if not it would seem that YOU are the one holding LeBron to a different standard, not any of US.

- LeBron is on another level, not counting stats or accolades I'll explain this way.. He has CLEARLY separated himself from the rest of the entire league. And he's been top dog for probably at least 5 years straight now. His worst games are still better than nearly any other players best games. He was winning with crap teammates, he was winning with other stars, he plays with an elite level at both ends of the court, and he literally takes full load and does everything his team needs justified by him leading them in every major stat category. And he's top of the list of players who make other players around him better.. He continually proves he's better than who's next in line, Kobe, Melo, KD, whoever..

With that being said, you call it what you want, obviously dominant is a bad word choice for you. But I have not saw another player do that since Michael Jordan. Not comparing the two of them, not comparing how much they've won, but in the manner that LeBron just makes every other player in the league look inferior is MJ-esque..

- as far as rings go. He never really had a good enough team to really compete for a title. He's on one now. He lost once with this team, just as Jordan, Magic, Bird, Russell have all lost trying to win rings.. And he just won last season, possibly winning another this season.. He's only 28 man.

If for some reason you don't think West, Oscar, Wilt were dominating there era because they weren't bringing him the ship every year, then I don't know what else to tell you. It's hard to win championships, one player cannot do it and has never been able to do it.

now juice, why you tryna play me for the fool. everybody who ventures into this thread knows youve made the lebron is dominating the league ala mj comments. so why you wanna treat me like that i just dont understand. please stop.

about other players and championships

Spoiler

next. yes the players you mentioned do have lesser legacies in my opinion. personally i think that hakeem is the most skilled bigman ever, but he is not considered where he maybe should be considered because he didnt win enough titles.

lets look at wilt because ppl like to bring his name up. now who can tell me that for as great as wilt is thought of, his legacy doesnt take a hit because he amassed all those numbers without winning more championships. or lets me ask it another way. if wilt had more championships wouldnt his legacy shine so much brighter than whatever it currently shines at. he might be thought of as the GOAT.

ppl think highly of barkley, but how much greater would he have been viewed had he won championships. not winning championships ultimately takes away from your shine, nomatter what else you accomplish.

championships are like white teeth, nomatter how pretty or handsome you are if your teeth are not up to par it takes away from the total package and at the same time nice teeth can make an average looking person seem all the more attractive. so yes not having rings or not having enough rings imo takes away from the total package.

again mj said it himself: 5 is greater than 1. take kobe completely out of his comments. you think he gives 2 craps about lebrons skillset or mvps? no - what he's saying to you is nothing else matters to these guys but championships, thats the currency these guys live by. not mvps. all them mvp is just icy on the birthday cake, but never 4get that it is the actual cake that makes the birthday cake worth eating not really the icying. so no i am holding lebron to THE STANDARD - WINNING.

next, you guys are killing me with this russell has 11 titles thing. where did i once say that lebron had to win 6-11 titles. never once. but 1-2-3 isnt enough for a player of his talents, it just not in my eyes period. esp when he promised 7. maybe in yours but not mines.

all that about him being the top dog, does not equate to him dominating the league imo. that equates to you simply saying you think he is the best player in the league. i agree he is right now, but i disagree that he has been the past 5 yrs.

and far as your claim that he has seperated himself, 1st kobe is not even in lebrons age group so stop saying he's dominated kobe. oh, my bad you mean in the regular season. who cares about the regular season. the regular season is just a shake down process for the real season, the playoffs. and he never beat kobe in the playoffs. he was losing to the magic, who kobe beat in the finals. he shoulda been there to take dwights whooping 4 him.

but lets talk about some of that real season experience with lebron. he didnt seperate himself in the finals against dirk when all the mula was on the table. i mean according to you he's so far ahead of everyone else, but how come he didnt seperate himself then. AND he was on the better team. him and wade was winning til they made them jokes about dirk, then he proceeded to get in that @ss.

oh and since lebron is so much better than everybody in every category, why when dirk was getting in that @ss and everybody knew dirk was getting the ball, why didnt lebron man up on dirk. i mean according to you guys he can guard all 5 position. why didnt he accept the challenge to shut dirk down? i mean its not like dirk is a bruiser.

so how is he making everyone look inferior. when the money was on the table, not the regular season, when the real money was on the table, why didnt he make dirk look inferior? cause according to you thats just what he does to everybody.

now, i know this was a few yrs ago, but im talking this domination thing, and according to you he's seperated himself from the competition over the last few yrs. and i just gave you an example of a time when he not only didnt seperate himself, he didnt take that defensive challenge, and he didnt dominate his competition.

he dominated the league 1 time, so far by my account and that was last yr. he had a exceptional yr this yr, but nevertheless this yr still has chapters to be written. not taking anything away from his accomplishments this yr because he earned what has happened so far, but according to you if somehow he doesnt end up the champion this yr, he is still dominating the league. and i just dont agree with that line of reasoning.

oh and btw, miss me with the dude was never on a good enough team to win a chip b4. dude had the best record like 2yrs in a row his last 2-3 yrs in cleveland. i dont subscribe to that line of thinking at all

again we are talking about the claim that lebron is dominating his competition thus the league.

ill respond 2mrw or the next day. gotta get ready for bed now.

[ojandpizza]

Taj - why do you want to have this convo? You are the only person in this thread who doesn't think what LeBron has been doing is phenomenal.

You asked me why I think he's a dominant player and I told you why. I'm not trying to change your mind, I could care a less how you, or MJ feels about LeBron.

You asked why I have my opinion and I told you why. It's the same reason everybody else here values him that high. Why players and coaches across the league value him that high, and why former legends and former hall-of-fame coaches value him that high.

I'm not going to sit here and have a who has more rings than who argument with you, it's pointless and honestly isn't going to change anybody else in this threads opinion on how great of a player LeBron has become.