March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

[J_Posse]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

Yet everyone is giving Kawhi a pass because he's quiet. It's super annoying.

If I learned anything from the past two seasons it's that Kawhi doesn't belong in the conversation for best player in the world. The only reason he entered the conversation was because he hit the luckiest GW of all time and KD/Klay got hurt. I'm not saying he's one of the top guys, he's for sure and will be top 5-10 but I don't ever foresee a scenario where he's considered #1. People can defend and pout about the Clippers chemistry issues but Kawhi is apart of that team therefore he's part of the problem, especially when he choked hard in Game 7 like the rest of his team did. And he was getting ALL the praise in the offseason. "Real Gs move in silence like lasagna". "Kawhi out GMed LeBron". "Kawhi is the GM LeBron thinks he is" "It's his city now". Etc.

The reports of Jimmy Butler being his first choice to team up with make total sense because Butler would've been the leader of the squad. I don't think Kawhi is comfortable in that role but if I want to be fair it's also a new role for him because he didn't have to be that in SA or TOR.

Truth is though Kawhi doesn't move the needle and that's why no one is talking about him. But yeah if it was LeBron that had this meltdown, they'd all talk about it every week.

I think you are oversimplifying Leonard's situation & impact.

He has lost a step defensively & isn't as attentive in help situations anymore, but his offensive game is still at an elite level.

He's definitely in the conversation, but not in my personal opinion, with LeBron & Giannis as the best player in basketball. If he wasn't a "big deal" his winning a title in Toronto & joining the L.A. Clippers wouldn't have been national news last year.

Unfortunately, he's got a degenerative condition in his leg that is going to hinder him (meaning more "load management") for the rest of his career. It has also zapped him of a lot of lift off the floor & burst driving. It also means he'll be fatigued at times, limping or hobbled like in Toronto's title run or at times this postseason.

Just the reality of his situation but he's learned to compensate by "resting" on defense (ala LeBron) & playing more bully ball.

If Durant returns next season & is at 90% of his former self then we'll have a four - man race for the claim of "best player in basketball." Or even a 5 - man conversation if Anthony Davis reaches his absolute peak or Curry lights the NBA on fire, again.

The days of it being cut - and - dry LeBron ended 3 or 4 years ago, but I'm sure you'll vehemently disagree.



Official HQ of Bills Backer/Spurs Nation

[ojandpizza]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

Here ya go cima

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PT3_dkUGDA

[Vni]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

Man, you must be trippin’ if you think I can’t name nine players I prefer. I didn’t even say he was #10 either, just that he was in the top ten. But sure, I’ll bite with this wack fanboying.

Kawhi, Butler, Giannis, Durant, PG, Iguodala (who is also old and slowing down), Harris, Gay, Hayward, and Lebron would all be in my top ten. In no particular order after the first four. Any basic fan of the sport could do this, lmao.

That was funny.

[TMagic]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

Just further looking into LeBron's legacy...

He has only had two losing seasons in his entire career.

One was his rookie season. And the other was last year where he had his first major injury.

That's insane to me. Is there anybody else that can claim anything close to that?

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

Everytime I hear something about LeBron I go to see if Kareem did it already...he only had two losing seasons out of 20 if I'm looking at this right.

[Master Live 013]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

Shaq never had a losing season from his time in Orlando thru Miami.

[The 24th Letter]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

Tim Duncan never had a losing season.

Also never missed the playoffs.

19 years.

[ehh]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

I'd imagine there are more than we think. Superstars have that big of an impact.

• Karl Malone and Stockton each never had a losing season in 19 years.
• Gary Payton never had one in 18 years.
• The Chief only had three losing seasons in his 21-year career.
• Dirk bookended his career with some bad seasons but had 16 straight winning seasons in the brutal West.

There are probably more if someone wants to dig through bbref.

[J_Posse]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

Just further looking into LeBron's legacy...

He has only had two losing seasons in his entire career.

One was his rookie season. And the other was last year where he had his first major injury.

That's insane to me. Is there anybody else that can claim anything close to that?

*Cough*Tim Duncan*cough*

Official HQ of Bills Backer/Spurs Nation

[Hassan Darkside]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

*Cough*Robert Horry*cough*

[cima]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

LeBron same dunk 18 years apart. His elevation in HS is ridiculous

https://streamable.com/98erks

[ehh]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

On a serious note, how many more years do people think LeBron will play? Is it crazy to say he's got another 6-8 years in him? He's the most indestructible athlete I've ever seen and clearly still the best player in the world. If he wants to hang around after his prime I don't see why he can't play until he's 44-45, unless his body magically starts falling apart. Load manage him, keep him on as a player/coach, give him 20 mpg in the regular season and play him more in the postseason.

[cima]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

On a serious note, how many more years do people think LeBron will play? Is it crazy to say he's got another 6-8 years in him? He's the most indestructible athlete I've ever seen and clearly still the best player in the world. If he wants to hang around after his prime I don't see why he can't play until he's 44-45, unless his body magically starts falling apart. Load manage him, keep him on as a player/coach, give him 20 mpg in the regular season and play him more in the postseason.

I don't think 40 is out of the question. I still feel his next "prime" or next "transition" is going full Magic Johnson. Scoring drops to maybe 18-20 PPG but still putting up 10+ APG. I don't see any reason his game can't evolve into that other than would he WANT to play like that?

[ojandpizza]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

On a serious note, how many more years do people think LeBron will play? Is it crazy to say he's got another 6-8 years in him? He's the most indestructible athlete I've ever seen and clearly still the best player in the world. If he wants to hang around after his prime I don't see why he can't play until he's 44-45, unless his body magically starts falling apart. Load manage him, keep him on as a player/coach, give him 20 mpg in the regular season and play him more in the postseason.

While I don't think he's still far and away the best player in the world I think, avoiding injury, the level of play we saw from him this season is sustainable for at least another 2-3 years, and All-NBA level play until he's probably 40 maybe longer who knows. It's weird because his first step and shifty-ness was never amazing for the level of athlete he was, but it's regressed so much (it's obviously his back because you can tell how stiff-backed he plays now, he can't maintain a low dribble, etc) but he's just been able to adjust his game to the point that it doesn't really matter.

It's crazy because I remember back when he was with Miami I had just joined OS, I was late to the party, but people were on here even then talking about how much he was slowing down, and that he wouldn't last, and he wouldn't be much when his insane athleticism faded, and even I wasn't sure what he would look like 4-5 years from then either. But he's just so refined. The people that used to argue he wasn't "skilled" like the all time greats because he didn't have Kobe footwork and whatever other excuses they used to make look really dumb right about now lol.

As insane of an athlete as he's been his well rounded skill set and high level IQ have trumped even that.

[ojandpizza]

Re: March 2019: LeBron James is no longer the best player in the world. So who is?

Adding to what I said it's also hard to pin point an end game for him when he's been able to change and alter what he does so many different ways. Like he's maintained best player in the world level of play through 2-3 different shifts in how the league itself has transitioned. He's won at the highest level with different types of coaches, teammates, systems, and roles for himself. Obviously every team he plays on adopts some form of adapting to him, that's typically the result of being the best player on the team regardless.

The only guy I can really think of to compare that to is how Duncan played through all types of league shifts as well. But even with him it was all under one coach, mostly a similar cast with him, and not sure he really held that MVP level of play for nearly as long..

So it does make you wonder. When something else on him slips does he have yet another change he can make to his game that just completely negates that.