General NBA Discussion

[HulkCollector]

Not sure who wants a stiff love for four more years on a maxed out contract. Irving and lebron don't mesh either, who also is signed long term, but at least has value. His herk and jerk pull back up game underwhelms me.

 

[azurepred]

Not sure who wants a stiff love for four more years on a maxed out contract. Irving and lebron don't mesh either, who also is signed long term, but at least has value. His herk and jerk pull back up game underwhelms me.

your not giving GS enough credit. Everything looked peachy before they went up against GS and Irving was one of the top scorers in the postseason. Love could put up 20/10 on another team imo. Not too many players like that available.

 

[Shawpaw]

Okc could have won it all this year. All comes down to game 6 choke job by Durant and Westbrook. Cleveland would be no match for thunder either. OKC second best team in league (could have been first!).

 

[filip629]

I also believe a great players skills would translate m, for most part, across eras. Lebron would def still be dominant in the 80s. Still doesn't change the overwhelming fact that Jordan is GOAT. If Lebron wins 4 more titles, he can claim that. And I'm not saying that because he would tie Jordan but because he's already lost too many times in the finals.

LeBron is quite possibly about to go 2 out of 7 in the Finals. Unless he leaves Cleveland again, I doubt he'll win another ring much less 4. I just read something interesting this morning. Supposedly, MJ has scored 1176 points in his 6 Finals appearances. LeBron has scored 871 points in his first 6 Finals appearances. That's a staggering difference of 305 less points by LeBron. So, on average, MJ scored more than 50 more points than LeBron did per each Finals appearance/series. Also, MJ's PER actually increased during the playoffs while LeBron's decreased. I think LeBron is an incredible player but these MJ comparisons just have to stop (I'm talking in general, not saying you are making the comparisons). It's really not even close at this point and I don't see how things will improve for LeBron if he stays in Cleveland. Does anyone really think he's going to win 4 more rings there?

 

[azurepred]

LeBron is quite possibly about to go 2 out of 7 in the Finals. Unless he leaves Cleveland again, I doubt he'll win another ring much less 4. I jut read something interesting this morning. Supposedly, MJ has scored 1176 points in his 6 Finals appearances. LeBron has scored 871 points in his first 6 Finals appearances. That's a staggering difference of 305 less points by LeBron. So, on average, MJ scored more than 50 more points than LeBron did per each Finals appearance/series. Also, MJ's PER actually increased during the playoffs while LeBron's decreased. I think LeBron is an incredible player but these MJ comparisons just have to stop. It's really not even close at this point and I don't see how things will improve for LeBron if he stays in Cleveland. Does anyone really think he's going to win 4 more rings there?

I don't see anything about his post comparing Lebron to Jordan.

 

[filip629]

Empty stats are empty...LeBron just simply doesn't make the other players around him better. Never has and probably never will.

Agreed. LeBron has always seemed to be more comfortable as a facilitator than a leader.

 

[filip629]

I don't see anything about his post comparing Lebron to Jordan.

I guess you must have missed the whole "still doesn't change the overwhelming fact that Jordan is GOAT" sentence in his post. Or his "If LeBron wins 4 more titles he can claim that" sentence. Looks like a comparison to me.

 

[jstep13]

LeBron is quite possibly about to go 2 out of 7 in the Finals. Unless he leaves Cleveland again, I doubt he'll win another ring much less 4. I jut read something interesting this morning. Supposedly, MJ has scored 1176 points in his 6 Finals appearances. LeBron has scored 871 points in his first 6 Finals appearances. That's a staggering difference of 305 less points by LeBron. So, on average, MJ scored more than 50 more points than LeBron did per each Finals appearance/series. Also, MJ's PER actually increased during the playoffs while LeBron's decreased. I think LeBron is an incredible player but these MJ comparisons just have to stop (I'm talking in general, not saying you are making the comparisons). It's really not even close at this point and I don't see how things will improve for LeBron if he stays in Cleveland. Does anyone really think he's going to win 4 more rings there?

VERY telling stats indeed. But, hey, LeBron's never had the best team in the Finals (except the 2 years he's won) so we'll just have to give him a pass and just blindly accept he's the greatest ever.

 

[filip629]

VERY telling stats indeed. But, hey, LeBron's never had the best team in the Finals (except the 2 years he's won) so we'll just have to give him a pass and just blindly accept he's the greatest ever.

Yeah, I just don't get that. It's certainly understandable that Bron fans like him, but hey...the numbers tell a tale.

 

[guyver1]

It's one thing to say that Lebron being in the finals teaming with a player like Dwayne Wade compared to being with Kyrie Irving made a difference. I think it's obvious how Lebron won two championships with Miami.

Lebron needs help

I agree that Love should be traded in the offseason, along with J.R. Smith

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

That was disappointing

 

[kryptonianmutie]

Ugh these finals blowouts are so aggravating

Looks like Warriors in five

Cavs are done.

Lebron should've stayed in Miami.

Okc could have won it all this year. All comes down to game 6 choke job by Durant and Westbrook. Cleveland would be no match for thunder either. OKC second best team in league (could have been first!).

Yes to all of these.

This reminds me of a finals awhile ago with the Lakers. They went through a hellish Western conference finals so by the time they got to the NBA finals it was a cakewalk. It's not just that they were the better team, because they were, but also because they were battle tested.

 

[Darkseed]

It's one thing to say that Lebron being in the finals teaming with a player like Dwayne Wade compared to being with Kyrie Irving made a difference. I think it's obvious how Lebron won two championships with Miami.
Lebron needs help

I agree that Love should be traded in the offseason, along with J.R. Smith

Partially his own doing.....he choose to play with Wade, Bosh, Love, Irving etc. all talented players perhaps HoF but will never be considered top 5 at their position. During his time, he never tried nor found a way to play with the greats which falls back on him. Kobe survived with Shaq, Jordan with Pippen then Rodman so part of the equation is picking the right partners.

Irving, Love both put up goods nbrs in post season but done nothing thus far in the finals. Give credit to GS but the reality is greats show up during tough games not bulk under the pressure.

 

[Shawpaw]

Should NBA redistribute conferences? Like NFL and MLB, divide by league not geography.

 

[DinoDB1975]

Didn't watch the second half, as I had to put my one year old to sleep and then watched Game of Thrones. By the comments here/final score, I didn't miss much.

What else can be said? GS is the superior team. Cleveland's best shot at betting GS was last year, BEFORE GS gained championship experience and was able to deal with the adversity of being down 3-1.

 

[filip629]

It's one thing to say that Lebron being in the finals teaming with a player like Dwayne Wade compared to being with Kyrie Irving made a difference. I think it's obvious how Lebron won two championships with Miami.

Lebron needs help

I agree that Love should be traded in the offseason, along with J.R. Smith

He had help. He had help from a player who won a championship without him. Wade beat Dallas practically all by himself back in the '06 Finals. He was down in a 0-2 hole in that Finals series and lead his team to 4 straight wins and to a championship even though Dallas had a better team and just about everyone was picking the Mavs to win the series. That's what talented leaders do. Wade earned every bit of the '06 Finals MVP trophy with his remarkable play. LeBron could have stayed in Miami. There certainly was better talent in Miami and a GM who was good enough to assemble 3 championship rosters. Instead, he left and went back to Cleveland. That's on him. So are all the consequences that follow because of that decision. He's playing on a team he wanted to be on. Now he's got to suck it up and find a way to lead HIS team to a championship while he's in Cleveland. Until that happens, I'll always remember him as the guy who abandoned ship and went to Wade's team so he can win a title because he couldn't get it done in Cleveland. In that way, he's more Clyde Drexler than a great like MJ, Kobe, Duncan, Bird, or Magic. No doubt LeBron is more talented than Clyde, but just like Clyde, he couldn't lead HIS team to a championship. Fair or not, that'll always be a stain on his career until he finds a way to get it done in Cleveland.

 

[user 1190]

Should NBA redistribute conferences? Like NFL and MLB, divide by league not geography.

For travel reasons it makes no sense to do that. It works in the NFL since they travel once a week, maybe two if they have a Thur night game but at what once a year. It works in MLB since they travel to be somewhere for 2-3 games them move on. When they go east if or west it's for trips and play a number of games but now if say Miami and Portland end up in same conference you want to have to keep traveling across the country to play a game.

 

[filip629]

Didn't watch the second half, as I had to put my one year old to sleep and then watched Game of Thrones. By the comments here/final score, I didn't miss much.

What else can be said? GS is the superior team. Cleveland's best shot at betting GS was last year, BEFORE GS gained championship experience and was able to deal with the adversity of being down 3-1.

GS is poised for a long run if they can stay healthy and keep their team together. There's no other team than the Cavs in the weak East and all the good teams that are in the West have gotten old (Spurs, Lakers). OKC is the only real challenger in the West but who knows if Durant will even stay in OKC? Even if he does stay, can OKC ever overcome the mental breakdown of losing this years 3-1 series lead? Who else is out there that can even pose a threat to GS?

 

[sarakawa]

I guess you must have missed the whole "still doesn't change the overwhelming fact that Jordan is GOAT" sentence in his post. Or his "If LeBron wins 4 more titles he can claim that" sentence. Looks like a comparison to me.

My main point is Jordan is GOAT and it would take a Herculean effort from Lebron to ever surpass him...so maybe a small comparison but I'm not seriously comparing them until Lebron wins 4 more titles Oh and while it is impressive that Lebron is now in his 6th consecutive finals, it's getting to the point where the more he goes to without winning, the worse it seems to get for him.

 

[azurepred]

My main point is Jordan is GOAT and it would take a Herculean effort from Lebron to ever surpass him...so maybe a small comparison but I'm not seriously comparing them until Lebron wins 4 more titles Oh and while it is impressive that Lebron is now in his 6th consecutive finals, it's getting to the point where the more he goes to without winning, the worse it seems to get for him.

but at the end of the day, if he can just get one in Cle, it will be worth it, especially to that city. I find it ironic how quickly ppl forget Lebron came so close to winning finals MVP on a losing team last year without a great player, yet they continue to say how bad he is. Nobody else in the league could've done that.