LABron James Discussion: The Final Year?

He doesn't have the explosion around the basket like he used to. He's a facilitator ala Magic at this stage of his career and his ability here is as good as a prime Magic but I don't think he's got the legs to score 25 straight points in a 4th quarter of a playoff game or do everything like Game 1 of 2018 Finals.

It's also aggravated by the Lakers inability to hit open 3's. The Lakers problem is they have a bunch of short guards who are not consistent with shooting (i.e. Bradley, Green, Caruso) and Kuzma whose also inconsistent. If Bogdanovic is available I think you have to make the move - he can both shoot and create off the dribble. Literally no one on this roster except Lebron has that skillset right now.

 

I think he wanted to, but the reality is he, nor pretty much any player, has the arsenal of shots Kobe had. He’s not at a stage of his career where he can go off for huge numbers unless facing disengaged mismatches. If he doesn’t somehow end up on a hot streak or isn’t able to out athletic competition, he has never possessed a lot of shot creating skills. I think his best skill remains creating shots for others.

I felt like in the beginning of the game, he was going to attempt to have a Kobe night, and then it became clear that was never going to be possible. So he went back into playmaking mode. Just my interpretation.

he still nearly had a triple double, but we are so spoiled as fans that we can actually be disappointed. Kobe set the bar so high at his peak on both sides of the ball that pretty much nobody will ever meet that standard again.

 

Heck, 8-33fgs I’d have considered Kobe-esque. I just wanted to see him play with a metaphorical underbite.

 

hahah @Punk-101 I think I used an underbite photo for this. I guess we have to forgive everyone for not being Kobe, and just be happy with "Kobe like moments"

Dude scored 60 in his last game. Barely any players in the history of the game have ever done it, but much less in their last game. Truly a one of a kind.

 

Old or not, broken down or not, still better than 99% of the league. Im so glad we got him. Guys like him, Paul, Melo, Dwane, AD, Shaq, Pierce, Kyrie, who were really close with him, got HIT really hard. No way i could make a speech like Bron did without crying like a kid. Kobe changed all their lives, he changed all our lives. I hope Bron and AD are enough to win a trophy for Kobe. Im sure they will leave it all on the floor... even if you think/say they're slacking. Let's go Lakers, let's go!!!

 

Dear LeBron,

With all due respect to your touching speech, Kobe entered the league at 17, not 18. All Laker fans know this, and you should have too.

Yours truly,

sirronstuff

 

. He took 50 shots though. Anyone could score 60 after 20 years in their last NBA game if you're going to let them jack it up that many times.

 

Most players don't even have the physical capacity to handle taking 50 shots. Legend.

 

Meh. It was just like an All Star game. Utah played no D on him the whole game. Said f*** it .... last game of the Kobe Farewell Tour.

 

don't make me find you.

 

You're being serious..?

 

LT is NEVER serious.



He's just a master baiter....

 

And a cunning linguist.

 

No

 

Absolutely agree. In fact me commenting about how I’ll give Lebron a pass and pointing out how he still had a decent statistical game (while still genuinely my rational take on the situation) was probably my way of coping with the emotional disappointment of him not putting on a magical performance and winning us the game.