Official NBA thread

[mvp 78]

Best player in the NBA right now. By the time it's all said and done, perhaps the best.

 

Nope.

[mvp 78]

Wow!! LeBron did it. He brought the title to Cleveland, and he had to beat the best team ever to do it and be the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit. Wow!! Congrats, to King James.

 

Best "regular season" team ever.

[User Name]

Nope.

 

Haters gon' hate.

[mvp 78]

Haters gon' hate.

 

I'll be a hater, but he's definitely not the best ever. He's great, maybe even top 5. Best ever? Nope.

[a700hitter]

Best "regular season" team ever.

And defending champion.

[mvp 78]

Haters gon' hate.

 

As a full blown Lebron hater, let me say that the pictures I've seen of Lebron crying on court warm my grinchy heart.

[User Name]

I'll be a hater, but he's definitely not the best ever. He's great, maybe even top 5. Best ever? Nope.

 

I said "by the it's all said and done". That's a long ways away.

[User Name]

As a full blown Lebron hater, let me say that the pictures I've seen of Lebron crying on court warm my grinchy heart.

 

Don't worry. Curry's face last night was all I needed.

[a700hitter]

The only criticism that I ever had of LeBron was his going to Miami and bringing an All Star team with him. I don't think there was anything special about him winning championships in Miami, but this championship establishes him in my opinion as an all time great. That blocked shot that he had at the end was unbelievable. He is a different type of player from the others who are discussed in the greatest of all time discussion. He is probably the greatest defender of any player in that conversation.

[Bellhorn04]

Yes, it's pretty hard to make a logical comparison between Bill Russell, Michael Jordan and LeBron James. They're different types of players.

[mvp 78]

Don't worry. Curry's face last night was all I needed.

 

Those photos were fine as well. That's what he gets for those god awful shoes.

[Spudboy]

The only criticism that I ever had of LeBron was his going to Miami and bringing an All Star team with him. I don't think there was anything special about him winning championships in Miami, but this championship establishes him in my opinion as an all time great. That blocked shot that he had at the end was unbelievable. He is a different type of player from the others who are discussed in the greatest of all time discussion. He is probably the greatest defender of any player in that conversation.

 

LeBron a better defender than Bill Russell?

 

Now there is a novel concept!

[a700hitter]

LeBron a better defender than Bill Russell?

 

Now there is a novel concept!

You don't really hear about Russell much in the discussion of the greatest player of all-time, except by some old hardcore Celtics fans. I don't think there is much dispute that Russell was the greatest defender in history, but I don't see him in too many discussions of "greatest player". A big part of that is that defense doesn't get proper recognition. Of those players commonly in that discussion of greatest player like Jordan, Bird, Magic, Jabbar, Kobe, West, etc, LeBron is by far the best defender.

 

Edit: I don't want to burst anyone's bubble in Boston, but Russell wasn't even close to the player that Wilt the Stilt was.

Edited June 20, 2016 by a700hitter

[Slasher9]

Lebron would dunk on MJ. all day long. and i hate lebron. but it's not even close. MJ dominated when most of the league spent the offseason never looking at a weight room or practice court.

[Bellhorn04]

Here we go LOL

[Jasonbay44]

It is so ridiculously hard to compare players from different eras, with different rules. However, Lebron is one of greatest of all time for any generation and his career is far from over. People say he's lost a step or isn't as athletic anymore. Really? Even if that's true, that block he made on Iguodala was incredible. I usually except Lebron chasedowns because you can see him setting a guy up, like he did on curry earlier, but on that play he flew out of nowhere and made an unbelievable play. How many times has a great ever led all players in an NBA finals in points,rebounds, assists, blocks and steal?

[Northern Star]

19-1

[Bellhorn04]

Lebron would dunk on MJ. all day long. and i hate lebron. but it's not even close. MJ dominated when most of the league spent the offseason never looking at a weight room or practice court.

 

Slash, the most-MJ like player besides MJ was Kobe, IMO, and he did pretty well in this later era you're talking about.

 

MJ's 6 rings without a great supporting cast was pretty good work.

[User Name]

Slash, the most-MJ like player besides MJ was Kobe, IMO, and he did pretty well in this later era you're talking about.

 

MJ's 6 rings without a great supporting cast was pretty good work.

 

Jordan didn't have a great supporting cast? What?

[User Name]

It is so ridiculously hard to compare players from different eras, with different rules. However, Lebron is one of greatest of all time for any generation and his career is far from over. People say he's lost a step or isn't as athletic anymore. Really? Even if that's true, that block he made on Iguodala was incredible. I usually except Lebron chasedowns because you can see him setting a guy up, like he did on curry earlier, but on that play he flew out of nowhere and made an unbelievable play. How many times has a great ever led all players in an NBA finals in points,rebounds, assists, blocks and steal?

 

I don't get why Lebron setting guys up for blocks is a bad thing. It's intelligent play IMO.

[a700hitter]

Slash, the most-MJ like player besides MJ was Kobe, IMO, and he did pretty well in this later era you're talking about.

 

MJ's 6 rings without a great supporting cast was pretty good work.

MJ without a great supporting cast? He played alongside Scottie Pippen a Hall of Famer through his entire run and he had Dennis Rodman another HOFer for 3 of those championships. Rodman won two championships without Jordan, and Isaiah Thomas said that if he had to pick one player to start a team it would be Dennis Rodman. He may have been the best rebounding forward in history. Before MJ had Rodman, he had Horace Grant who was also a great rebounding forward. To say that MJ didn't have a great supporting cast is far from the truth. The year that MJ got eliminated by the Knicks in the semis, he didn't have Grant or Rodman. He needed a high caliber player at that position.

[User Name]

Rodman is also the most ferocious defender (when it mattered) that I have ever seen. He took days off because he was a head case, but goddamn was he intense.

[a700hitter]

Rodman is also the most ferocious defender (when it mattered) that I have ever seen. He took days off because he was a head case, but goddamn was he intense.

He was a complete nutcase. He was more counter culture than any athlete that I can remember, but the guys played 100% at all times and his game was completely unselfish. He did all the dirty work to get the ball and stop the other team and then handed it off to the other players to get the glory. I really admired his game. When I watched a Rodman team, I watched Rodman even though he was rarely in the center of the picture. He ran the floor like a point guard and he rebounded like a big center. I never saw a player better anticipate where the ball would go when it was shot.

[Bellhorn04]

MJ without a great supporting cast? He played alongside Scottie Pippen a Hall of Famer through his entire run and he had Dennis Rodman another HOFer for 3 of those championships. Rodman won two championships without Jordan, and Isaiah Thomas said that if he had to pick one player to start a team it would be Dennis Rodman. He may have been the best rebounding forward in history. Before MJ had Rodman, he had Horace Grant who was also a great rebounding forward. To say that MJ didn't have a great supporting cast is far from the truth. The year that MJ got eliminated by the Knicks in the semis, he didn't have Grant or Rodman. He needed a high caliber player at that position.

 

Fair enough. But a lot of times, especially at crunch time, the Bulls offense was get the ball to MJ and let him score, and he was able to do just that.

[Slasher9]

Slash, the most-MJ like player besides MJ was Kobe, IMO, and he did pretty well in this later era you're talking about.

 

MJ's 6 rings without a great supporting cast was pretty good work.

 

dont get me wrong. i have a very deep respect for MJ. i grew up during his era. i never put kobe even close to MJ. and until what i just witnessed the past 7 games i didnt put LJ above MJ. but this 1 series completely changed how i view Lebron. and i cannot stand the guy. (not sure why...just a hater i suppose). but seeing him play, his size, his strength, his speed, his "smarts" - i truly believe he would destroy MJ.

also, to say Michael didnt have decent teammates is unfair to the supporting cast on those teams. they were some very good (and in a case or two HoF) players.

[Bellhorn04]

Yes, MJ did have a supporting cast, absolutely. But history speaks volumes: the 8 year stretch with MJ missing the 2 years in the middle:

 

Ring

Ring

Ring

Lost in 2nd round

Lost in 2nd round

Ring

Ring

Ring

[a700hitter]

Fair enough. But a lot of times, especially at crunch time, the Bulls offense was get the ball to MJ and let him score, and he was able to do just that.

And he had the ball in crunch time, because Pippen and Rodman put the team in that position.

 

BTW Steve Kerr hit some very big crunch time shots for that team.

[Slasher9]

Yes, MJ did have a supporting cast, absolutely. But history speaks volumes: the 8 year stretch with MJ missing the 2 years in the middle:

 

Ring

Ring

Ring

Lost in 2nd round

Lost in 2nd round

Ring

Ring

Ring

 

oh, without a doubt those rings are gained by MJ being a part of the team. He was the best player ever at that moment in time.

i certainly wouldnt think that cleveland would have won the title if Lebron had been secretly suspended for gambling...i mean off playing baseball....

[a700hitter]

Yes, MJ did have a supporting cast, absolutely. But history speaks volumes: the 8 year stretch with MJ missing the 2 years in the middle:

 

Ring

Ring

Ring

Lost in 2nd round

Lost in 2nd round

Ring

Ring

Ring

MJ was there for that second year where they lost in the second round. Rodman and Grant were not.

[Bellhorn04]

MJ was there for that second year where they lost in the second round. Rodman and Grant were not.

 

Yeah, Mike shouldn't have come back at the end of that year. My point would have been stronger.