Hot take on LeBron James

[Rock Strongo]

This is it! Hot Take. LeBron is a great basketball player when he wants to be. When he realizes his size and athletic ability and when he wants to be dominant, he can. When LeBron James drives to the hoop and has the F it mentality he is unstoppable. (This isn't an argument about the GOAT, that is Jordan and I was never a fan of Jordan). But in todays NBA, LeBron CAN be the best player, when he wants to be.

Those dominant spurts come in little waves from time to time. It's a stretch of 6-8 points here and there game to game. Last years fast break block moment was one of LeBron's greatest moments in his NBA career. If not the GREATEST moment.

But you will hear people spew LeBron is the greatest because of.......they give out a stat of his points, rebounds, assists. It usually in the playoffs looks something like 41/16/12..Yeah those are monster numbers, those are fantastic numbers. But Kyrie's 34/8/12 is better.

Why? LeBron's 41 points, in the scenario described above, is padded numbers, they are cupcake soft numbers. I would compare those #'s to that of when Missouri, Mike Leach's Texas Tech, Kansas State football starts the season 7-0 and they haven't played anyone yet. LeBron's stats are similar to that. He gets a good chunk of 18-28 points of just fluff.

Give me LeBron 8 points in the rare final 3 minutes of a game when he decides to take over. LeBron people will say is great, and point to his numbers, but he could be so much more. He rarely shows that killer instinct, he more often decides to shy away from the big moments and for whatever reason doesn't decide to take over games like he is capable of.

The flaw that forever scarred his legacy was "The Decision" the flaws continued that he only strung up 2 titles while in Miami after having a parade to celebrate the eventual 8 titles the Heat were going to win. But maybe LeBrons biggest mistake of his career.....Was not embracing the villain role. He could have been the leagues biggest and best villain, had he accepted the role the NBA fans wanted to give him after "The Decision". And one would have to think that if one as dominant capable as LeBron decided to BE the bad guy, he would have had those dominant take over moments more in his career, leading to more wins, and ultimately more titles.

LeBron however just wanted to be liked. He wanted everyone to love him and credit his skills. He should have taken a piece out of Kobe's career. Kobe accepted the bad guy role, played it well, but in the end the fans even respected Kobe and in his final year many arenas around the league gave him standing ovations in his good bye.

Now, as his Super team gets crushed by the Ultimate Super Team Warriors, we look for LeBron to come out and dominate the second half and keep the Cavaliers season alive. Be the saving grace to the Cleveland fans, but in the end we all know if this game even gets close, it will be Kyrie who wears the team and the future of Cleveland on his shoulders in the final moments. But win or lose, people will point to LeBrons amazing 46 points, 16 rebounds, 12 assist game.

lebrons going to LA after this run in cleveland is over. he has a house there and his kids are registered for LA schools.

opens it up for the east...

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

LOL. Ray Allen scored exactly ZERO points in Game 7 that year...Lebron scored 34.

I believe he is talking about the miracle 3 pointer Ray Allen hit to force game 7.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

lebrons going to LA after this run in cleveland is over. he has a house there and his kids are registered for LA schools.

opens it up for the east...

No chance he goes to the Western Conference. At least in the East, he can get to the Finals and have a fighting chance to win a title. He goes to the West and he will be going home early, unless GSW decides to break up the band

 

[ericd7633]

I believe he is talking about the miracle 3 pointer Ray Allen hit to force game 7.

I know, but people act like that shot was the only reason they won the series. Who the hell do you think put them in position for Allen to hit that? Then Lebron goes off for 34, while Allen lays a goose egg in game 7.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

I know, but people act like that shot was the only reason they won the series. Who the hell do you think put them in position for Allen to hit that? Then Lebron goes off for 34, while Allen lays a goose egg in game 7.

Without Allen's shot though, none of that matters. He misses that, the series is over.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

I know, but people act like that shot was the only reason they won the series. Who the hell do you think put them in position for Allen to hit that? Then Lebron goes off for 34, while Allen lays a goose egg in game 7.

I think Lebron is tremendous -- someone had a perfect analogy of him. He is like a stud starting pitcher in the MLB. He can dominate for a few quarters and then needs a closer to come in and finish it off.

 

[gordontrue]

been to the Finals 9 times with Super Teams

Its amazing how many different ways you managed to be wrong with just 9 words.

 

[ericd7633]

Without Allen's shot though, none of that matters. He misses that, the series is over.

So let's discredit the guy who put them in position for somebody to hit that shot? That makes a hell of a lot of sense. Without Lebron playing superman for 47 minutes Allen isn't in position to do literally the only thing he did that game.

 

[ericd7633]

I think Lebron is tremendous -- someone had a perfect analogy of him. He is like a stud starting pitcher in the MLB. He can dominate for a few quarters and then needs a closer to come in and finish it off.

That's a fucking terrible analogy.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

So let's discredit the guy who put them in position for somebody to hit that shot? That makes a hell of a lot of sense. Without Lebron playing superman for 47 minutes Allen isn't in position to do literally the only thing he did that game.

Lebron shot 40% in that game, had almost half of the team's turnovers and Miami was -1 in 49 minutes he played.

Miami was in the game because Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Ray Allen and Mario Chalmers hit 11 of 15 from 3.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

That's a fucking terrible analogy.

I think it is spot on. He is great for the first 3 quarters and then likes to disappear in the 4th quarter or defer to his teammates with the game on the line.

 

[ericd7633]

Lebron shot 40% in that game, had almost half of the team's turnovers and Miami was -1 in 49 minutes he played.

Miami was in the game because Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Ray Allen and Mario Chalmers hit 11 of 15 from 3.

He also had half of the teams assists. Who the hell do you think created all those looks from 3 for those guys? His assist to turnover ratio was almost 2-1, so don't just cherry pick a stat, and run with it, he had the ball in his hands the majority of the time.

Also, he scored or assisted 21 of his teams 30 points in that 4th Qtr.

 

[Across The Field]

Yep that 2007 Cavs team was sure a super team. Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden and Varejao...super team for sure.

Beat me to it. This dude is a moron. Also fails to mention that Lebron was the underdog in all but 2 Finals, I believe.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if the toughest team Lebron ever had to face in the Finals was the Utah Jazz, he'd be unbeaten too. It's one thing to go up against two HOFers and a bunch of nobodies. It's another to go against a team with 4 All-Stars in the starting lineup and one of the deepest benches ever assembled.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

He also had half of the teams assists. Who the hell do you think created all those looks from 3 for those guys? His assist to turnover ratio was almost 2-1, so don't just cherry pick a stat, and run with it, he had the ball in his hands the majority of the time.

As I said. I think he is a tremendous player -- he just doesn't have the killer instinct other all time great had. He is, imo, the most physically gifted player of all time.

When the team needs him to put them on his back at the end of games, the majority of the time, it is someone else taking the shots. There is no more glaring example than game 7 last year. It was Kyrie taking the shots with the NBA championship on the line.

 

[ericd7633]

I think it is spot on. He is great for the first 3 quarters and then likes to disappear in the 4th quarter or defer to his teammates with the game on the line.

Shit is laughable. I don't have time to go through his history to prove you wrong.

 

[Across The Field]

Without Allen's shot though, none of that matters. He misses that, the series is over.

And without Iman Shumpert missing the game-winning putback by half an inch at the very end of Game 1 in 2015, Cleveland is up 3-0 in that series without Kevin Love and largely without Kyrie. You're not making any kind of coherent argument, acting as if you can completely discount all the other games and boiling it down to 1 shot.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

This is it! Hot Take. LeBron is a great basketball player when he wants to be. When he realizes his size and athletic ability and when he wants to be dominant, he can. When LeBron James drives to the hoop and has the F it mentality he is unstoppable. (This isn't an argument about the GOAT, that is Jordan and I was never a fan of Jordan). But in todays NBA, LeBron CAN be the best player, when he wants to be.

Those dominant spurts come in little waves from time to time. It's a stretch of 6-8 points here and there game to game. Last years fast break block moment was one of LeBron's greatest moments in his NBA career. If not the GREATEST moment.

But you will hear people spew LeBron is the greatest because of.......they give out a stat of his points, rebounds, assists. It usually in the playoffs looks something like 41/16/12..Yeah those are monster numbers, those are fantastic numbers. But Kyrie's 34/8/12 is better.

Why? LeBron's 41 points, in the scenario described above, is padded numbers, they are cupcake soft numbers. I would compare those #'s to that of when Missouri, Mike Leach's Texas Tech, Kansas State football starts the season 7-0 and they haven't played anyone yet. LeBron's stats are similar to that. He gets a good chunk of 18-28 points of just fluff.

Give me LeBron 8 points in the rare final 3 minutes of a game when he decides to take over. LeBron people will say is great, and point to his numbers, but he could be so much more. He rarely shows that killer instinct, he more often decides to shy away from the big moments and for whatever reason doesn't decide to take over games like he is capable of.

The flaw that forever scarred his legacy was "The Decision" the flaws continued that he only strung up 2 titles while in Miami after having a parade to celebrate the eventual 8 titles the Heat were going to win. But maybe LeBrons biggest mistake of his career.....Was not embracing the villain role. He could have been the leagues biggest and best villain, had he accepted the role the NBA fans wanted to give him after "The Decision". And one would have to think that if one as dominant capable as LeBron decided to BE the bad guy, he would have had those dominant take over moments more in his career, leading to more wins, and ultimately more titles.

LeBron however just wanted to be liked. He wanted everyone to love him and credit his skills. He should have taken a piece out of Kobe's career. Kobe accepted the bad guy role, played it well, but in the end the fans even respected Kobe and in his final year many arenas around the league gave him standing ovations in his good bye.

Now, as his Super team gets crushed by the Ultimate Super Team Warriors, we look for LeBron to come out and dominate the second half and keep the Cavaliers season alive. Be the saving grace to the Cleveland fans, but in the end we all know if this game even gets close, it will be Kyrie who wears the team and the future of Cleveland on his shoulders in the final moments. But win or lose, people will point to LeBrons amazing 46 points, 16 rebounds, 12 assist game.

LeBron certainly (at one time, maybe still does) shares a trait with our POTUS...he wants to be a beloved figure.

The rest of your post...C'mon Man!

In THIS series...it was a simple case of GS being a deeper team. CLE gave it everything they had as I expected they would, but when you pile 46 of 48 minutes on any player, I don't care who it is, they will struggle with something. LJ missed some FTs, he was not the normal great defender. Allowed a couple of GS offensive rebounds...bottom line, he wasn't perfect andboth he and Irving needed to be to win last night.

Irving got more rest, but clearly was feeling the effects physically with all the treatment he was getting when he was out...in crunch time when they needed every basket, 3 or 4 of his drives missed.

CLE can thank JR Smith for even being in that game last night...GS was deeper, GS was better...period.

 

[ericd7633]

As I said. I think he is a tremendous player -- he just doesn't have the killer instinct other all time great had. He is, imo, the most physically gifted player of all time.

When the team needs him to put them on his back at the end of games, the majority of the time, it is someone else taking the shots. There is no more glaring example than game 7 last year. It was Kyrie taking the shots with the NBA championship on the line.

Oh you mean the same 4th Qtr where Lebron scored 11 points and Kyrie scored 5?

 

[Across The Field]

I think Lebron is tremendous -- someone had a perfect analogy of him. He is like a stud starting pitcher in the MLB. He can dominate for a few quarters and then needs a closer to come in and finish it off.

I think it is spot on. He is great for the first 3 quarters and then likes to disappear in the 4th quarter or defer to his teammates with the game on the line.

LeBron is measurably as clutch as Michael Jordan

This was from 2015, when Lebron already had tied MJ for game-winning postseason buzzer beaters. But please, go on with your ignorance.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Beat me to it. This dude is a moron. Also fails to mention that Lebron was the underdog in all but 2 Finals, I believe.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if the toughest team Lebron ever had to face in the Finals was the Utah Jazz, he'd be unbeaten too. It's one thing to go up against two HOFers and a bunch of nobodies. It's another to go against a team with 4 All-Stars in the starting lineup and one of the deepest benches ever assembled.

Not to point out the obvious, but that was the norm in the NBA back in the day. Two studs and role players everywhere else. It is the same Jordan/Pippen and everyone else. Some had better role players than others, but jumping from team to team and joining forces with other NBA stars wasn't the norm back then.

Lebron joined up with Wade and Bosh. Now he joined up with Kyrie and Love.

It'd be like Jordan joining forces with Bird and Magic. Or Isiah Thomas and Charles Barkley. Or Karl Malone and Dominique Wilkins. It never happened back then. Players would try late in their career when they were a shell of themselves, but you didn't see stars in their prime joining forces.

That is what the NBA is now. The Celtics did it thru trades. Lebron did it they FA, then FA again and a trade. Unfortunately for the NBA, GSW did it in the draft and still had room for a 4th stud. It is no different than what Boston, Miami and Cleveland (you can add the Clippers in, even though they have failed) -- GSW just did it bigger and better.