This aged well

[Kemba15]

Jordan (who I think is the GOAT) was a natural development of Dr. J and Thompson and others, just brought to perfection. LeBron is a wonderful mixture of basketball genius. He's not like anything we've seen.

It's a shame that so many people hate the dude for a variety of reasons (and this goes back even before the Decision) and can't appreciate him for the freak he is. Some of this is on jealousy, some of this is on how he has handled himself, and some of this is on sports journalism covering him ad nauseum. But he's an absolutely special player, and to be doing what he's doing right now at his age (even if I think his season is a little overrated because of the quality of his team and his defense) may not be seen for a long time.

This. People just can’t leave their emotion out of it when analyzing the player.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I mean, neither come across as authentic: Jordan was calculated silence and LeBron PR-driven voice.

Oh I wasn't implying that either one is particularly authentic in their public persona, just that the guy who studiously avoids saying anything that might alienate a segment of the sneaker-buying population is obviously going to have broader support.

But all things considered I think it would be fairly insane for Lebron to not have an outsized ego given how he's been treated since he was 15 and, all things considered, he's handled the last 20 years of his life remarkably well. The black marks we're talking about are things like the ill-considered "Decision" - famous athletes have done far worse. Charles Barkley makes that point all the time and I think it's worth noting. I probably would have been in rehab by year 3.

 

[BPT2Storrs]

LeBron never should have left Cleveland in the first place. Everyone knew how good he was going to be in the NBA. The storyline of getting drafted by his hometown team that was an absolute dumpster fire for decades and brining them to the forefront of the NBA would have done wonders for his legacy (more so than it already is). He basically brought the Cavs to a finals appearance in 2007 by himself when he was practically still a baby. He needed to give it more time. IMO he is such a good player that even if they didn’t build a great team around him he would had led them to multiple championships in his peak given how dominate of a player he was.

Point blank I think LeBron’s legacy is a lot different if he spent all of (or a majority) of it in Cleveland. He would have won multiple titles there is no doubt about it.

 

[willie99]

LeBron's championship days are behind him. And he won with on star players he demanded
Wade & Bush
Kyrie & Love
AD

He recruited them all, save for Kyrie, who the Cavs drafted for him

 

[Scoe]

LeBron's championship days are behind him. And he won with on star players he demanded
Wade & Bush
Kyrie & Love
AD

He recruited them all, save for Kyrie, who the Cavs drafted for him

George Bush?

 

[CardiacAndre7]

LeBron never should have left Cleveland in the first place. Everyone knew how good he was going to be in the NBA. The storyline of getting drafted by his hometown team that was an absolute dumpster fire for decades and brining them to the forefront of the NBA would have done wonders for his legacy (more so than it already is). He basically brought the Cavs to a finals appearance in 2007 by himself when he was practically still a baby. He needed to give it more time. IMO he is such a good player that even if they didn’t build a great team around him he would had led them to multiple championships in his peak given how dominate of a player he was.

Point blank I think LeBron’s legacy is a lot different if he spent all of (or a majority) of it in Cleveland. He would have won multiple titles there is no doubt about it.

Silly take. They provided him with nothing for the first 7 years of his career.

 

[Scoe]

Lebron should sign with the Knicks when hes a FA. He is tight with World Wide Wes, Knicks looking good right now without Julius Randle.

 

[willie99]

George Bush?

41 no less

Phone posting while eating

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

LeBron's championship days are behind him. And he won with on star players he demanded
Wade & Bush
Kyrie & Love
AD

He recruited them all, save for Kyrie, who the Cavs drafted for him

These takes are cringeworthy.

Look at the roster he dragged to the NBA finals when he was Tyrese Martins age.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Did you watch how other players interacted with Jordan on all star weekend at the NBA 75 events/ceremony? Everyone wanted to be around him. Now go back and look how players interacted with LeBron, they didn't want to be around him and avoided him at all costs.

Exhibit A. People cannot talk about this guy without sounding insane.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Exhibit A. People cannot talk about this guy without sounding insane.

It’s actually ridiculous the way people tie themselves in knots to hate on the guy. There certainly are things could criticize him for, but the way legends “interacted” with LeBron on ASW was not something I expected to read.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Really?? This really shows how young you are. Go back and watch the documentaries and weekends from the 90's all star games. EVERYONE wanted to be around Kobe and Jordan

The thing that is so epically moronic about this take is that for all the things you want to criticize lebron for the one unassailable fact is that his teammates love playing with him because he’s not like Jordan or Kobe where he’s going to humiliate a teammate he doesn’t like.

It’s like the easiest, most low hanging fruit and you’re so blinded by your weird disdain for him that you get it completely wrong. I’m not even particularly invested in this debate but you’re saying - to me - objectively idiotic things.

 

[Drfla]

Also his most impressive feat was the 3-1 comeback vs GS—probably one of the most impressive feats in recent sports history actually

Never happens if Draymon Green doesn’t get suspended for game 5.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

kareem won a championship his second year, age 23, no special extra anything or anyone, required.
shoeking won his first, in his seventh year, at age 27, and with all kinda extra everything, including a whole nother team.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Never happens if Draymon Green doesn’t get suspended for game 5.

Yeah but he did…so…no point in saying it. And it was a worthy suspension as well.

 

[Kemba15]

Never happens if Draymon Green doesn’t get suspended for game 5.

Yea OK. But nevermind GS still had a 3-2 lead with Green AND game 7 in their building. We can do that what if game for everyone. GS couldn’t close and Cleveland wanted it more.

 

[Scoe]

If Lebron went to the Knicks and won one title hes a king there, with the Heat 2 didnt feel like enough, with the Lakers 1 in a bubble certainly not.

 

[superjohn]

Jordan (who I think is the GOAT) was a natural development of Dr. J and Thompson and others, just brought to perfection. LeBron is a wonderful mixture of basketball genius. He's not like anything we've seen.

It's a shame that so many people hate the dude for a variety of reasons (and this goes back even before the Decision) and can't appreciate him for the freak he is. Some of this is on jealousy, some of this is on how he has handled himself, and some of this is on sports journalism covering him ad nauseum. But he's an absolutely special player, and to be doing what he's doing right now at his age (even if I think his season is a little overrated because of the quality of his team and his defense) may not be seen for a long time.

I wouldn't say his season is overrated, he's going to finish outside the top 10 for MVP. He scored a ton for a team that turned out to be terrible.

 

[Dean Wormer]

 

[CardiacAndre7]

View attachment 75353

Dope meme man. Doesn’t really mean a thing but you do you

 

[FfldCntyFan]

View attachment 75353

Is that Bill Russell's picture under Red Auerbach's?

I find the assertion that either of those two (or Jerry West who was also pictured) considered MJ the best ever to be very suspect.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Lebron is in a class of his own. He is absolutely unique. He’s Michael. He’s Magic. He’s Kobe. He’s Jerry West. He’s Bill Russell. You take all of these great, great players, and you put them in a blender and mix them up; LeBron’s got something of all of them in him.

This is a Pat Riley quote, for the record.

 

[runner11]

if r/NBA is to be believed, Cavs fans don't want Lebron back for a swan song. They have such a young, fun team with Mobley and Garland.

I don't really know how I think about that. Maybe an aging Lebron leading the youngins would be an amazing finale to an all time career? All I know is that they shouldn't be sacrificing any of their future .

I was too young to have a good opinion on MJ versus LeBron. I don't even like Bron. But it has been pretty cool to have seen this kid on TV at SVSM turn into this. 2nd best, at worst . He honestly makes me cringe personally but when I take a step back, the guy has been in the public eye damn near his whole life and the worst thing he has done is be corny as hell.

 

[HuskyHawk]

He's also jumped around from team to team playing GM. He's surrounded himself with Hall of Famers so it's worked a fair amount of the time. His most impressive feat was when he was doing it with the Cavs team he was drafted by. The East was incredibly weak then but he did get through that Pistons team which was a hell of an accomplishment. Incredible success with some major duds.

His legacy is intact and he'll pass Kareem in all-time scoring but he'll never pass Jordan and be considered the best ever which is what he's been chasing his entire career, it's what Kobe was chasing his entire career too. It's like they were chasing a ghost but the ghost is still alive and still way more popular than them.

And Jordan didn’t go into the NBA from high school.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Lebron is in a class of his own. He is absolutely unique. He’s Michael. He’s Magic. He’s Kobe. He’s Jerry West. He’s Bill Russell. You take all of these great, great players, and you put them in a blender and mix them up; LeBron’s got something of all of them in him.

He’s a great player. But Magic was a delight. Jordan was so clutch. Russell far more dominant and much more humble. LeBron is a highly talented and unique physical player who is just an a**hole. His career is about done, good riddance.