Amazing , people still finding negative things about King James today, 22yrs old!

[Journeyman]

Why are people so negative?

LeBron only scored the last 25 points against 5 players, 29 of the last 30! Yet so many want to talk about Kobe or 'he's no Michael' 'he's no Magic' he's no Bird' ...ummm NO he is LeBron and he just destroyed the Detroit Pistons single handidly!

What were you doing at age 22? :missingte

27 ppg age 20
31 ppg age 21
27 ppg age 22

Michael Jordan did not win a playoff series til age 25, he also didn't shoot 3 point shots at all til much later than that...so why can't LeBron improve? Jordan most certainly improved his outside game as time passed.

Larry Bird at age 22 could not have dominated the Pistons by himself, no way no how. Bird was not even in the NBA at this age .

Magic , well Magic had Jabbar for starters, the 6 time MVP as your go to guy, can you imagine LeBron with Kareem? :missingte think Magic could have carried the Cavs? LMAO not a chance in hell.

Kobe Bryant , well at this same age Kobe won a title with 28 yr old Shaq and a cast of great team players around him,like Harper, Grant, Fox , Shaw, Horry and Fisher... not players like Larry Hughes and Shaw and Marshall they would not have even made that Lakers team.

He's 22 ,think about it...:think2: 29 of 30 when the entire team knows you are getting the ball, a pretty good team, a team that shut down Kobe and Shaq 3 years ago.

 

[RobFunk]

Yes, he is Magic, Bird and MJ caliber. And people better get over it. I dont care if the Cavs lose the series, what he did last night was one for the ages.

 

[cincy_]

Hell, LeBron James in basketball is almost as good as Josh Beckett is in baseball.

(had to get the arrogant BoSox line into this thread ...)

 

[steaktartar]

i hate the nba i think it is a watered down product of the past............last night brought back fond memories for me of how great players used to be...............props to lebron awesome

 

[RobFunk]

Hell, LeBron James is basketball is almost as good as Josh Beckett is in baseball.

Let's not get carried away here.

 

[Journeyman]

i hate the nba i think it is a watered down product of the past............last night brought back fond memories for me of how great players used to be...............props to lebron awesome

no doubt it was declining rapidly , I think it's coming back somewhat...what would be great would be to knock out some of the playoffs , make the regular season more interesting again (never happen) Playoffs are still great though IMO...the league has improved IMO over the past 3 years , when Magic, Jordan, Barkley, Isiah, Malone and the likes moved on the game definitely hit a down period..I think it's coming back some.....You can say that for almost all sports though, I think we're a little spoiled, at this point we've seen everything, have so much access etc.

 

[maxdemo]

King James is up there...or going to be very soon, but he has to do those numbers over a Career. They guy is only in his 3rd season and anything can happen between now and the day he retires or is out of the NBA.

 

[Journeyman]

Let's not get carried away here.

The Funk bobblehead is on sale now down at the Rx novelty store down passed the Rubber Room on your right, get it while supplies last.

 

[Antonioli]

J man, no doubt lebron is right up there, and that was a great performance, but he should continue to improve his game and play hard on both ends of the floor. Can we trust his mid to long jumper day in day out? how about his Free Throws? he missed a couple of big one in the 4th qt. I personally believe Detroit and Flip lost it, there was a dozen of bad decisions by the Detroit in the game that the Detroit 2004 team wouldn't make, and they have been makign them all series, that's why they dug themselves into this hole.

 

[ExquisiteHoopster]

48 pts 9 reb 7 assists is great but here are other numbers people wont see:

2 turnovers in 58 minutes...

that is INCREDIBLE for someone handling the ball as often as he was. he took charge of every posession and for him to only commit 2 turnovers in 58 minutes of intense defense is remarkable

4 FTs in the 4th quarter and 2 overtimes

Lebron did it by himself, there was no Wade-like bailing out by the refs here. he hit those jumpers, made those dunks, created everything on his own and didn't need any refs to give him any calls.

7 assists out of 13 team assists

this is what separates Lebron from Kobe. he trusts his teammates, he creates and draws double-teams to find them wide open shots, yet he still has the ability to take over the game at the end.

 

[GoSooners]

I really like LeBron. But he's no Kobe Bryant...Yet...He actually has a better field goal percentage than Bryant. But the problem I have with LeBron is his free throw shooting. Especially when the game is on the line. Until he starts hitting a higher percentage of his free throws like Bryant, I don't think you can put him in his category of greatness. When there's two seconds left and the game on the line and you need somebody to hit a free throw, who would you rather have, Kobe or LeBron?

 

[cincy_]

I really like LeBron. But he's no Kobe Bryant...Yet...He actually has a better field goal percentage than Bryant. But the problem I have with LeBron is his free throw shooting. Especially when the game is on the line. Until he starts hitting a higher percentage of his free throws like Bryant, I don't think you can put him in his category of greatness. When there's two seconds left and the game on the line and you need somebody to hit a free throw, who would you rather have, Kobe or LeBron?

Steve Nash

LeBron carries his team. Nash makes his team better.

Kobe does neither.

Put Kobe on this team of scrubs in Cleveland and he would be calling every talk show and asking for a trade every other hour.

(PS: I agree with your point about having to shot free throws better, though)

 

[royalfan]

The people that say he don't belong in that league with those type of players simply do not like the NBA as much as they did back then, which is fine, but it is ignorant of them to say.

 

[GoSooners]

Steve Nash

LeBron carries his team. Nash makes his team better.

Kobe does neither.

Put Kobe on this team of scrubs in Cleveland and he would be calling every talk show and asking for a trade every other hour.

I agree. He has a big ego. But with the game on the line you look for the coolest player under pressure. And it's Kobe. He's already a proven winner, no matter what he's doing this year. I believe LeBron will get there. But he's not there yet. Most all of the great primary ball handlers in the game had a high free throw percentage. And most took it to a new level in the playoffs..


FT %

LeBron James
Career average: .733
playoff average .770

Kobe Bryant
Career average: .833
Playoff average: .919


To me, that says it all. Bryant steps it up with game on the line. LeBron needs to get his percentage up at least a full point percentage before I start putting him in the "greatness" category.

 

[Antonioli]

we simply cannot disregard defense as it is half of the game, Kobe is one of the best straight up defender in the game, lebron cannot even play defense with his feet, Nash is a total liability. I think LBJ has a lot of work to do to improve his FT% when the game is on the line, a lot of it is just mental.

 

[maxdemo]

The more I go through this thread the more I beleive... I am a witness

 

[themanej2001]

I agree. He has a big ego. But with the game on the line you look for the coolest player under pressure. And it's Kobe. He's already a proven winner, no matter what he's doing this year. I believe LeBron will get there. But he's not there yet. Most all of the great primary ball handlers in the game had a high free throw percentage. And most took it to a new level in the playoffs..


FT %

LeBron James
Career average: .733
playoff average .770

Kobe Bryant
Career average: .833
Playoff average: .919


To me, that says it all. Bryant steps it up with game on the line. LeBron needs to get his percentage up at least a full point percentage before I start putting him in the "greatness" category.

You are kind of nitpicking now because Lebron shoots a higher percentage from the field which is 10% more important. I was in no way bashing Lebron last night I was saying lets not jump on the bandwagon now. I went back to last year and saw all the Dwyane Wade is the next Mike threads that were started. Lebron was a perennial choker before last night and he stepped up huge. But lets no forget this stars in the NBA are UNSTOPPABLE when they are in a zone. Maybe Wade in game three last year? Or T-Mac scoring what 13 points in like 30 seconds? Or Kobe hitting those shots against the Suns? When these guys get hot they are unstoppable.

What separates the all time greats from those guys and those performances is consistency. Lets no forget Mike won 6 rings and he was clutch every year. Every game of every year, not just in the playoffs even, remember he won 72 games and was the second best defender in the NBA next to Pippen. Consistency is what makes you a great great great player. Lebron still has zero rings and after this year will still have zero rings. And you can't talk about age, I am so sick of that comparison, because Lebron has been in the league for four years and he doesn't have a title and probably won't get one this year. So he will be going into year 5 and unless they make any huge changes he won't get one then either. We are all forgetting how great Michael was. He averaged 29, 43, 35 and 36 PPG in his first 4 playoff appearances. Also Mike didn't get out of the first round until his third year, and either did Lebron. But Lebron missed the playoffs his first two seasons, something Michael never did with the Bulls. Great players need someone else and until Lebron gets that other player he isn't going to win a title.

Despite the league being watered down now it still isn't possible. His performance was memorable but I want to see consistency over an extended period of time. Lets not forget he scored below twenty points in the first two games of the series something Jordan never did. When you draw comparisons you need to look at the past. Lebron got a head start on Jordan because coming out of High School was more recognized and accepted in Lebron's era of basketball, and in all honesty it has made the NBA worse. As Charles and Kenny said, how can you not get the ball out of his hand? They got the ball out of Mike's hands twice at least with the game on the line.

Lebron is one of the three best players in the NBA and Kobe and Wade are right there with him. The difference is they are both walking around with rings. And bring up the Shaq argument but I will say what great player hasn't won without another great player next to them? None. Would Lebron have won with Shaq IDK? Shaq wasn't Shaq in the series and Lebron was kind of immature last year. I will never forget Wade's triple double in the Elite 8 in the tournament against the best team, College Basketball said it had seen in 10 years, the Kentucky Wildcats. I sincerely believe that college makes you a better and more prepared player quickly and Lebron is learning on the scene. He will have a few more bumps in the road and mistakes because he is just a little young and inexperienced. He is an absolutely amazing player with amazing abilities. But Jordan didn't become the greatest because he had the greatest abilities, he became the greatest because he wanted it more then anyone else every single night, day in and day out. Hunger is something Mike always had and that is what drove him to be the player he was. Lebron needs to stay hungry after his first and second rings, and at this point in their respected careers Wade has a notch up on Lebron because he has that ring and he played just as well in the playoffs as Lebron has. Lebron had the one great game, but IMO, I will take the one amazing series in the NBA Finals over the great game.

Lebron may go down as one of the all time greats and he is certainly headed there, but right now he has his own legacy to build and the first block was set down today. Does he continue to drive after his first and second title? Will he be able to continue to work as hard as a guy like Wade. Wade will always have the drive of people doubting that he is the greatest, which was what Michael fed off of when he was a young player. That drive tends to push you to new limits and above and beyond. Lebron showed a killer instinct in one game and one time, but the greats do it night in and night out. Lets see the consistency before we crown him The King.

 

[Antonioli]

Great post manej, that's why i always prefer to judge a player at the end of their career. What Lebron proved last night was that you can singlehandedly lift your team for one game, but unless he does it evey night or it would mean nothing. he proved that the east are much weaker than the west, he bailed Mike brown out for his totally unimaginative game plan, he bailed his teammates out for their poor shooting night, but if the rest of the clevelands were so cold, why didn't the Pistons double or even triple Lebron to get the ball away from "the man"?

 

[Journeyman]

Of course we could all wait and judge him after his career is over, what fun is that though?

Why can't people just enjoy the game and his skills now? He had one of the more memorable nights in sports we have seen in some time...just enjoy it.

I can't believe how overprotective everyone is about their past hero- MJ Magic- Kobe and whoever else.

 

[sean1]

Lebron is in the MJ, Magic, Bird area... Do it for 5+ years and he is like Mike...

I believe Bird MJ or Magic could carry the Cavs. Teams are not as loaded in this salary cap expansion landscape. Magic had Kareem, but he had to beat BIrd, Mchale, Parrish, DJ and Ainge.

Jordan had Pippen, but he had to knock off the Lakers, Celtics, and Isiah's pistons...

Teams were more loaded back then. No one player could dominate.

Any of the above 4 could beat Wallace, PRince, Rip, Billups.... These are not Hall of famers.

Sean