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AustinIllini

macrumors G5
Oct 20, 2011
12,680
10,516
Austin, TX
lebron james in his prime = arguably a better basketball player than all of those players. even jordan to be honest.

Michael Jordan won six championships and six finals MVPs in six visits. Lebron is 1 for 3. LBJ is in the conversation with the bottom nine, but Lebron isn't in the same league as Jordan. If you think otherwise, you're lying to yourself-in an iOS board on an Apple fandom website.
 

sakau2007

macrumors 6502
Oct 12, 2011
488
2
Damn you're smoking some good stuff. Can you pass me some.

i mean jerry west? really?

look at the level of competition. the 100th best player in the NBA today would be a perennial all-star in some of those eras. jerry west was lebron except not nearly as big, strong, fast, or as good of a passer.

lebron james could end up going down as one of the 5 best offensive AND 5 best defensive players to ever suit up.

does anyone really think if he had played with hall of famers while he was in cleveland he wouldn't have won more titles (against WAY better competition than guys wilt, russell, west, etc. played against)

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Michael Jordan won six championships and six finals MVPs in six visits. Lebron is 1 for 3. LBJ is in the conversation with the bottom nine, but Lebron isn't in the same league as Jordan. If you think otherwise, you're lying to yourself-in an iOS board on an Apple fandom website.

lol @ measuring an individual player's basketball ability on the number of team championships won.

do you think craig krenzel was a better college quarterback than [insert 100 college QB's who never won a title]

what about dan marino? not half the quarterback that brad johnson or trent dilfer were, right?

jordan was ridiculously good, and granted i think he's probably got an edge on lebron, slightly... but when you start comparing their basketball abilities, it's actually pretty close. jordan a better shooter, lebron a better... everything else?
 

AustinIllini

macrumors G5
Oct 20, 2011
12,680
10,516
Austin, TX
look at the level of competition. the 100th best player in the NBA today would be a perennial all-star in some of those eras. jerry west was lebron except not nearly as big, strong, fast, or as good of a passer.

Right, well, take exception to Jerry West, but we won't know how good LBJ is until he splits this Miami Thrice crap and see how he leads a team on his own without a future hall of fame player on this team.

And don't start with this "Jordan had Pippen" stuff, because Jordan MADE Pippen. Jordan took a good player and made him a hall of famer.

----------

lol @ measuring an individual player's basketball ability on the number of team championships won.

6 Finals MVPs. Period. Jordan also had better intangibles. Jordan wouldn't allow his team to lose. In '97 he won a game by himself while violently ill. His will was 1000x what Lebron's is. That's far more important than anything Lebron brings to the table. And he was a better shooter who couldn't take days off (as he didn't have Dwyane Wade)
 

sakau2007

macrumors 6502
Oct 12, 2011
488
2
Right, well, take exception to Jerry West, but we won't know how good LBJ is until he splits this Miami Thrice crap and see how he leads a team on his own without a future hall of fame player on this team.

And don't start with this "Jordan had Pippen" stuff, because Jordan MADE Pippen. Jordan took a good player and made him a hall of famer.

don't disagree with the pippen thing.

and again, lol at judging a player's basketball talent & ability based on team championships won. a ridiculous amount of variables at play. why not just look at how dominant they are over the course of their careers, and the competition they played against.

team championships are a tiny, TINY part of the equation.
 

burnside

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2010
474
14
Heat barely got past a weak Celtics team. They would have gotten bounced by the Celtics a couple years back. This year's playoffs had some sorry competition.

The Celtics and Lakers of the 80s, Bulls of the 90s, Lakers at the early 2000s, Spurs during their good days, would have all demolished this Heat team - no question about it. Lebron would have been humbled by either of the stars on those teams.

Lebron talent wise... yes, top 10. Lebron as a player, not even top 10.
 

roland.g

macrumors 604
Apr 11, 2005
7,414
3,151
After watching the Finals and some of the playoffs this year, one thing is more and more painfully evident. With the exception of the Spurs (who I don't like), most teams in this "modern era", i.e. the last decade or more, and as a result or because the players come up that way, don't know how to really play team, play driven basketball.

In the 80s with Magic's Lakers and Bird's Celtics, even Detroit's Bad Boys and then Jordan's Bulls, teams played team ball. They had plays, got guys open, low post in and out, pick and roll, switches, match ups, etc. What I see now is one on one ball. This guy shoots over that guy, drives to the hole, and occasionally kicks it to the perimeter shooter. But there isn't any real movement on the floor in an offensive set using screens to create open looks. LeQueen or Durant just dribbles in a step or two, steps back and knocks it down or not, 2 or 3 doesn't matter. They don't work the ball around or move without the ball. Give it to one guy to beat them and if he drives and gets doubled, he'll pass of to the guy on the block open for the layin/dunk.

And that's why these guys aren't in the top 10. There is no team offense. It's just shoot or drive. I'm not saying it's not impressive to beat someone with athletic ability, but there is something missing from these "championship" teams.
 

violence

macrumors member
Jul 8, 2010
36
0
LOL @ no Shaq on that list. Arguably made the most impact on the game of any player ever. Where are the real basketball historians to back me up.
 

roland.g

macrumors 604
Apr 11, 2005
7,414
3,151
Here is the most telling issue with LeQueen. He doesn't typically have the drive to close. Stephen A. even says he's the best bball player for 42-44 minutes but he doesn't seem to care enough in the last 4-6.

Now he finally got a title. Where is the Kobe, Jordan, Magic, Bird, Russell fire going to come from to get another. Will this be the one to say he's a champ, he doesn't have anything else to prove. I don't see him getting there again with his lack of need.
 

burnside

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2010
474
14
After watching the Finals and some of the playoffs this year, one thing is more and more painfully evident. With the exception of the Spurs (who I don't like), most teams in this "modern era", i.e. the last decade or more, and as a result or because the players come up that way, don't know how to really play team, play driven basketball.

In the 80s with Magic's Lakers and Bird's Celtics, even Detroit's Bad Boys and then Jordan's Bulls, teams played team ball. They had plays, got guys open, low post in and out, pick and roll, switches, match ups, etc. What I see now is one on one ball. This guy shoots over that guy, drives to the hole, and occasionally kicks it to the perimeter shooter. But there isn't any real movement on the floor in an offensive set using screens to create open looks. LeQueen or Durant just dribbles in a step or two, steps back and knocks it down or not, 2 or 3 doesn't matter. They don't work the ball around or move without the ball. Give it to one guy to beat them and if he drives and gets doubled, he'll pass of to the guy on the block open for the layin/dunk.

And that's why these guys aren't in the top 10. There is no team offense. It's just shoot or drive. I'm not saying it's not impressive to beat someone with athletic ability, but there is something missing from these "championship" teams.

+1000

I'm a Laker fan since the early 80s and remember team basketball at it's finest. Even the last 2 Laker titles with Kobe I thought were weak. Today's game is exactly how you described it. Just look at the fouls they call these days, you breath on a star player and they'll get the call. I don't like the Spurs either but they were probably the best team in the league this year, but hit a hot OKC squad at the wrong time.

You saw what happened when one person on OKC (harden) plays poorly - the whole ship goes down. Great teams have other contributors to step it up.
 

roland.g

macrumors 604
Apr 11, 2005
7,414
3,151
What in the hell does this have to do with IOS 6 ?


:confused:

Absolutely LeNothing.

A large warted beast under a bridge or in a cave. But it's getting more discussion than the iOS 6 feature thread I started 30 minutes ago.
 

Comeagain?

macrumors 68020
Feb 17, 2011
2,190
46
Spokane, WA
Absolutely LeNothing.

A large warted beast under a bridge or in a cave. But it's getting more discussion than the iOS 6 feature thread I started 30 minutes ago.

Well we already have a features thread, and not a lebronn thread. I don't see anything wrong with it.

If it makes you happy, I just replied to your thread.
 

rever3nce

macrumors 6502a
Apr 6, 2011
567
5
Congrats, you have been a fan of Miami heat for 2 years, didn't wanna admit it for the first year James was there and just last week bought your new Miami Heat jersey.

Congrats to the Miami Heat.
 

InvalidUserID

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2008
563
0
Palo Alto, CA
The guy just had a fantastic game, an outstanding postseason and an MVP season and won his first championship and people are still hating on him.

I mean, I get it about the whole "Decision" thing being a mistake and maybe him predicting multiple championships was unrealistic but the way people hate on the guy, it's as if he went out and stole a blind school's field trip money or something horrible.
 

sakau2007

macrumors 6502
Oct 12, 2011
488
2
for all 6 of jordan's finals mvp's, he never once averaged the most points/rebounds/assists on his team during a playoff run.

lebron did this year.
 

eric/

Guest
Sep 19, 2011
1,681
20
Ohio, United States
don't disagree with the pippen thing.

and again, lol at judging a player's basketball talent & ability based on team championships won. a ridiculous amount of variables at play. why not just look at how dominant they are over the course of their careers, and the competition they played against.

team championships are a tiny, TINY part of the equation.

Nah. Jordan is still the best, hands down. Not even close. And nba players don't play 1v1, so attempting to argue about them outside of a team context is just silly. His team won way more, he played better than anybody in history, he would school lebron. This isnt even a discussion except by those who are unfamiliar with the sport.
 

yg17

macrumors Pentium
Aug 1, 2004
15,027
3,002
St. Louis, MO
Now that he won his championship, he should take his talents to Celebrity Apprentice so we can determine once and for all who has the bigger ego, Donald Trump or Lebron James?
 

AustinIllini

macrumors G5
Oct 20, 2011
12,680
10,516
Austin, TX
The guy just had a fantastic game, an outstanding postseason and an MVP season and won his first championship and people are still hating on him.

I mean, I get it about the whole "Decision" thing being a mistake and maybe him predicting multiple championships was unrealistic but the way people hate on the guy, it's as if he went out and stole a blind school's field trip money or something horrible.

It's disappointing to me that Lebron joined forces with already great players in order to win a championship. Congrats, he stacked the deck and won a championship. When he starts winning without the big three then we can start comparing him to the greats he should be compared to.
 
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