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

[ojandpizza]

Quote: Originally Posted by plitt2lit

Giannis is the best basketball player in the world. Lebron could be every team's MVP, but Giannis is a player that would change every team. Lebron never had the clutch factor that would put him above the greats in my opinion. Giannis has yet to prove that too, but he doesn't need to when far in the lead every game. Lebron loses if he doesn't have an all star team behind him. Giannis doesn't and still wins.

I too would give the nod to Giannis as the best player in the league, but it’s still remains to be seen whether or not he can make adjustments in his game during a playoff series when what he’s doing isn’t working. Both LeBron and KD are vastly ahead of anyone else in the league in terms of that, IMO.

Definitely disagree on the clutch thing, LeBron’s “clutch” resumé is off the charts. I know that reputation sorta started back when he was making passes at the end of games, but he’s been making game winning plays in the playoffs since his first year in the playoffs. At this stage in his career he’s built up an almost incomparable list of clutch plays in the biggest games, Jordan’s the only guy I’d rank over him and even purely statistically speaking LeBron has “more” in his resumé.

I also think it’s not fair to claim what Giannis wins with/without, also LeBron’s body of work with mediocre talent is robust so that comments seems a bit ehhh.. but Milwaukee is still a plus team when Giannis sits, they are actually a plus team when both he and Middleton both sit. Arguably the best bench in the league this year, in terms of Net rating they are still a top 10 team (7th) in minutes that Giannis sits.. they aren’t loaded with guys who made the All-Star team but the Bucks are absolutely stacked right now.

Giannis is a indeed a freak, truly a once in forever type of player. But Milwaukee top to bottom is a force this year. Every player on the team who averages double digit minutes is a double digit per 36 minute scorer aside from Marvin Williams.. I don’t know when I’ve even seen that on a team before. That’s 13 guys..When Brook and Bledsoe are on their A game they have 4 guys who can play at/near an All-Star level, with the most depth in the league.. that’s scary. And probably most importantly Middleton has turned himself into a borderline superstar this season. Narrowly going to miss the 50/40/90 club, 25 points per 36, PER over 20, 9th in defensive rating, 15th in win shares, 14th in box +/-, not to mention he’s averaged 29point per game in the 7 games he played without Giannis, including that 51 point night against Washington.. monster season from him.. Being able to do that as a number 2 is huge, his 25 per 36 is more than Klay ever averaged as Steph’s number 2, more than Wade as Bron’s. (It’s actually closer to Kobe playing off Shaq).. Not that Khris is a Wade level player, but as a number 2 he just might be.

Ended up typing more than I intended, again, I’m all for all the praise for Giannis, all for Giannis for MVP even by a comfortable margin, but definitely can’t downplay how great Milwaukee has been top to bottom this season. Fear the deer!


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[ojandpizza]

Quote: Originally Posted by J_Posse

Only issue is Giannis is better than both those dudes, IMO. Giannis is now the best "two-way" player in the NBA & it ain't even close. We'll see if he can truly "prove" that point with a NBA title. Since apparently that is the only way to prove you are the best. Official HQ of Bills Backer/Spurs Nation

No arguments on that from me.

I don’t think he has to win a ring to prove anything, but he’s at least got to get his team in position to have a shot. We need to see better decision making from him if/when a team walls up on him this year, he’s such a freak in the raw sense, but he’s not at the point where his mental game is always a step ahead yet.. if he doesn’t make it out of the East and to the finals this year with no LeBron, no Kawhi out East it needs to be because the other team just played out of their minds. He is by a good margin the best player in the East on the most talented team by an equally good margin.


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[ProfessaPackMan]

Quote: Originally Posted by ojandpizza

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Such expert analysis with great context and nuance.

Gotta love NBA Twitter!

[ojandpizza]

Quote: Originally Posted by ProfessaPackMan

Such expert analysis with great context and nuance. Gotta love NBA Twitter!

Agreed


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[cima]

OP is an idiot, stupid thread. Teams (Clippers for example) still building a huge portion of their roster to stop LeBron. No one builds their roster to stop Kawhi.

[J_Posse]

Quote: Originally Posted by cima

OP is an idiot, stupid thread. Teams (Clippers for example) still building a huge portion of their roster to stop LeBron. No one builds their roster to stop Kawhi.

How do you "stop" Leonard on offense? He's nearly unguardable on that end of the court & has even become an adequate passer (his biggest weakness on offense).

And it is hard to "build a team" to stop Leonard when he has nearly no offensive weakness like LeBron does (his perimeter jumper).

It is surprising to say that it is Kawhi's, yes, I said his actual name (he still is "Nephew" to me, damn it), defense that has regressed as he's aged (and bulked up). He can't consistently defend quicker, more fleet footed PG's on a nightly basis like his San Antonio days.

Official HQ of Bills Backer/Spurs Nation

[cima]

Quote: Originally Posted by J_Posse

How do you "stop" Leonard on offense? He's nearly unguardable on that end of the court & has even become an adequate passer (his biggest weakness on offense). And it is hard to "build a team" to stop Leonard when he has nearly no offensive weakness like LeBron does (his perimeter jumper). It is surprising to say that it is Kawhi's, yes, I said his actual name (he still is "Nephew" to me, damn it), defense that has regressed as he's aged (and bulked up). He can't consistently defend quicker, more fleet footed PG's on a nightly basis like his San Antonio days. Official HQ of Bills Backer/Spurs Nation

Copy whatever the Raptors did earlier this year, lol.

I just mean he's a great scorer and he's gotten better as a passer but he could never take over a game as a playmaker like LeBron could. You can try and take LeBron the scorer away but he can still control the game with his passing, hence him leading the league in APG.

Clips paired Kawhi/PG, tried to get Iguadola and ended up with Marcus Morris too, all with the objective of having plenty of bodies to throw at LeBron in their inevitable showdown.

[cima]

This thread and this article aged like milk. I wasn't the only one thinking it though. This is hilarious to read now in Sept 2020 with the Lakers in the WCF.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...h-as-you-think