LABron James Discussion: The Final Year?

The fact he had this much in the tank after last night was surprising




Hell of a block and the significance of that 5 point swing.



That'll be the only thing to take from Saturday's loss.

 

Is it a good thing when Lebron is your defensive stopper?

I mean its f***ing unreal he's doing this but to be the guy to take on both Kawhii and then Poole is just.....

 

This is where losing Vando really hurts us...

 

Did they forget this message for the first 3 quarters? Did he share this message with Ham, too?

 

I think it's the fact that Lebron is so humble that makes everyone admire and appreciate what he's doing. He's always giving teammates credit and stuff. Just an awesome teammate.

 

LeSniper

 

Lol..not exactly, but to his credit, he delivers on the court, regular season or the playoffs. And he been doing it for 21 seasons. That's truly amazing

 

I'm hoping that Cam and Spencer, can make enough shots, to be able stay on the court more. Frankly Austin and D'Angelo, might be one of the worst defensive backcourt pairing in the League. That being said, they are also one of the better, offensive pairings in the League. We could use a little more balanced approach, in the playoffs. Right now tho, it's all in on scoring.

 

Austin has been frankly good on defense since all-star break.
Rui, Dlo, Lebron till he hits the 4th quarter that's another story and the team defense as a whole just looks lost

 

Save it .... he's been on AR all season on D, no matter whether it's clear he's stepped it up or not.

 

Yeah, same here. At the peak of his powers, from afar I didn't think he put in the gym hours on diversifying his game and was going to ride the athleticism until the wheels fell off (which somehow still hasn't happened and I was thinking this when he was 28ish), but he's become a really good shooter from long range and the step back and turn around middie is unguardable.

5.4 FTA a night season average, down to 3.6 for the month of Feb. That means he's getting an average of two trips to the line a night last month. Are you f***ing kidding?! Porzingis, Sengun, and Grant get more love from the zebras based on season average.

Just this month alone, some of the lower attempts have been pathetic from the refs. 1 attempt vs Clippers, 2 vs SA, 2 vs NY, 3 vs Charlotte. And there's been at least 3x a game where he gets murdered at the rim and it's a no call. I get 50-50 calls. This isn't that. This is criminal.

He got love his first year here, after that you have to look back to his rookie season to see lower FTA per game. This season's 5.4 is a career low. I thought it might be because his 3pt attempts are up, not really.
05-06, 07-08, 09-10 he averaged 5 3s a game and was getting 10 FTAs. He took more shots in general but in 09-10, he was only taking 2 more attempts from 2. That's not significant to justify the discrepancy. He had plenty of seasons in Cleveland where he's only attempting 1-2 more 2 pointers but was getting 7 or 8 FTAs.

For context 4 players this season get 8+ FTAs -- Trae, SGA, Luka, Antetokounmpo.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

It's inexcusable to be getting what we're getting from our best two players and have the season fumbled to this degree.

 

When I was a young teenager I was obsessed with NBA stats, and actually remembered numbers like:

NBA Career Scoring, All-Time:
1. Wilt 31, 419
2. Elvin 27,313
3. Oscar 26, 710
4. Hondo, 26, 395
5. Logo 25, 192

I completely believed that Wilt's record was unbreakable. It was unthinkable to me that someone else would come along and score 30,000 again, much less 32,000.

Then I watched Kareem overtake Wilt and it was thrilling. Goose-flesh just thinking about it just now. Then Dirk, MJ, Kobe, Moses all did it: 30,000 and then some.

Cap finished with 38, 387 and the learning I'd done, that, I was wrong, records like that can be broken, even Wilt's, began to solidify again with, "No one will score more than 38, 387. Ever. It's impossible. Or probably extremely unlikely in my lifetime."

So: I'm a naive idiot again: a guy is 9 points away from 40,000. When I was a very very young Laker fan, to score 20,000 in your career was Mt. Rushmore stuff. Now a guy is going to DOUBLE that number? It's a lesson for me in thinking in human limitology. I've got to allow myself to think bigger regarding what a humans can accomplish.

Lebron, there are no words, man. No words. Thanks for making me wrong yet again!

No, but seriously: no one will ever score 40,000 again, right? (LOL)

 

It’s the Lakers Organization’s job to point out just how ridiculous the non calls against LeBron have become. Someone within the Franchise NEEDS to be sending reels of evidence to the League until something changes.
The guy is constantly driving to the rim and nothing.
Then, on the other side of things they reward bums like Harden who manufacture calls AND are allowed to push their defender off with a chicken wing every single time they drive the lane. It’s maddening and disgraceful to the game.

 

I agree ... it's disgraceful to treat the player who's going to own practically every record in the book with constant no calls and the organization should be doing exactly that ... sending the head of referees (whatever title that guy has) and copying Silver with an extensive compilation of the mauling he gets every frickn' game. And he's not like Shaq really .... throwing elbows and bullying smaller players that way and then calling out their manhood. LeBron plays a really clean game in that regard, at least he tries to seems to me. Just uses his body and mass and speed to overpower opponents, not cheap shots.

 

In fact, now with this fast and dynamic basketball, with no protective game, I think they will even overtake the achievement of the King. For example, Luka, if preserved from injuries ... Why not?

 

That’s why …. the gargantuan “IF” applied to any other player that would aspire to do that over a 22-23 year career (he’s still going). Especially Luka who battles his weight already at a young age. The money’s too astronomical now for top tier players to work that hard for that long physically.

I was thinking yesterday I hope we haven’t all been Lance Armstronged again somehow that allowed this superhuman longevity. Cue all the “you know he has” comments. Maybe back in the day for periods … no idea if all the jokes have any merit? But for this long over 21 seasons?

 

Great post LJ. I can def feel what you mean. I'd add my 2 cents.

The criticism on Lebron early on was valid. I remember arguing on CL that I would take Melo over Lebron because Melo's game (offensively) was overall better. For me Bron was too afraid to get into the post, even though he is massive to most guys defending him, and was afraid of taking the last shot. Lebron was afraid of the big moments imo. But after his team won it all, really after the Heat win, he started going into the post and started, imo, dominating to his physical ability.

fast-forward to now and adding the "looking back on it" context....

What this dude has done is unicorn-esque. He isn't great at one aspect of the game. He literally has dominated every facet of the game for 21 years. What stands out for me is that he has done it with every type of role player and #2 out there. The reason he has been able to do it? The only thing that matters most for an aging player.... his intelligence. He has evolved his game to the point that I believe he may be more unstoppable now than he was in his, this is laughable really, prime.

I still think at the time Melo had a better overall game than LBJ. I still think Kobe was the greatest Laker to ever play and an easy top 5 player of all time. Yet, what Lebron has done for 21 years (and counting) across all the statistical categories is video game level sh**. I hated MJ, often think Scottie doesn't get enough credit for MJ's success, but I respected the hell out of his game and understand the GOAT conversation with him. I can hate the player but not the game. Lebron has proven the same... you can hate the player for whatever reason you like but you WILL respect his game.

Like the hype said.... we are "witnesses" to greatness that has never been seen before in the game.

As Lakers fans with all our greats in the Lakers Halls of History that is saying something. Dude has earned it.