LABron James Discussion: The Final Year?

Why should he say all that?

James at 40....played better than Luka in that series, pull up the numbers, rewatch the games.

We should be playing right now, but JJ gamplaned like an idiot. You might get some traction, on putting that hire on Lebron though. He got what he asked for.


The end of the road is almost here. High stakes, high drama, If they get bounced early next season. Luka could very well be, the only one still here in 27.

Jeanie isn't taking a paycut, neither should James.

 

which isn't what he said.

take out the sick game for luka, and no. and on the whole, it's not particularly close at all.

 

Both of them played awful on defense and that's where the game was lost, in addition to not having the right personnel. Nothing's getting better unless Rob addresses the gaping defensive holes of Reaves, Luka, and LeBron currently 3/5 of our starting rotation. We will be bounced from the first round until the end of eternity until Rob deliberately addresses those holes.

I'm proud of LeBron for what he's done at his age, but the finger is never, ever pointed at him. In his career the guy has played with more greats than anyone - Luka, Kyrie, Wade, AD, Bosh, Westbrook, Love. He should have the least excuses for losing. Yet more people make excuses for him vs anyone else. Kobe and Shaq won big, but the common rhetoric by NBA fans nowadays is "ofc they won, Kobe had Shaq. Shaq had Wade." So Kobe and Shaq relied on their great teammates and only won because of them.

But LeBron, who has had even greater teammates, loses because the teammates weren't good enough? And when they win it's because it was all LeBron? They guy has created the largest cognitive dissonance machine in professional sports. LeBron is great, but not as great as he thinks. He is definitely not as great as the capitalists need him to be, but their mission was overwhelmingly accomplished. LeBron also has the unique personality of wanting things to be all about him, it was the perfect marriage between him and the NBA for money making machine. And he lived up to most of the hype. Just not the winning.

 

That's simply not true.


https://stathead.com/basketball/ver...2023_01_wdgt_player_comparison&utm_source=bbr

 

You didn’t remove that one game tho…

 

if slick wants to believe that lebron is as good as luka and use that as support for the idea that he shouldn't take a paycut, well, it would be very on brand.

 

James is 40 years old, I didn't say he was the better player. I said that he played better in that series.

Hell no..James shouldn't take a paycut. The owner isn't.

 

Lol..take away that game and a 40 year old James, was still significantly better on D, in every game played too.



Don't get it twisted though, Luka is the superior player...Top 5

 

Where is this coming from? Lebron had the lowest eFG% in the first round and the game 2 win was basically do to multiple defensive players he had.

 

LeBron isn’t wrong about his team mates not being good enough, but he’s also a jerk for not taking responsibility, as the “leader” of his team AND throwing his team mates under the bus.
This is the kind of stuff that brings all of the disdain his way from LakerNation and the rest of the NBA fans. Great leaders of men take the responsibility on themselves when they fail- they don’t deflect, and they most definitely don’t blame others.
I’m not going to comment on what kind of person he is off the court, but the dude used to flash specific hand signs before games, on camera when he was a Cav, that showed exactly where his allegiances lie.

 

i think we're going a little overboard now, some of it my fault.

lebron didn't really throw the team under the bus, imo. he just kind of shied away from taking the L on his shoulders. and he gave minny credit for just being better overall, which was true.

the paycut issue is separate from his play during the series.

we lost the series because minny had 7-8 guys they could trust to play and we had 5-6. the only path to getting that number up a couple bodies is for lebron not to make his maximum amount, which, imo, he didn't really earn across 82 games last year anyway. nobody's asking him to take a giant cut. just be willing to basically fund the MLE/ability to take a S&T should the opportunity arise (like he said he was willing to do last year).

i do think he's wised up a bit and realized that he can't be cashing a check that large and complaining about his supporting cast, particularly now that luka's here and now he's really part of the "supporting cast", lol.

 

There are takes here that are borderline unhinged.

 

Sorry this tiny little nit (in the overall theme of your post) is jumping up and down yelling "pick me pick me"

Than prime Shaq or (young) prime Kobe?

 

Ignorance is bliss.

 

Kobe and Shaq played together in their primes for 4-5 seasons, from 1999-2004. LeBron James has his support cast refreshed basically every 3-4 years, with players in their prime, from 2009 to 2025 for 16 years. LeBron has the clear advantage. Find me a player who every few years, was refreshed with teammates like the below.

Dwayne Wade
Anthony Davis
Luka Doncic
Kyrie Irving


You can't. Other greats got more done with less, and didn't have to hop teams to win rings. Kobe/Shaq, Jordan/Pippen, Magic/Kareem. Salary caps are another hindrance to a player's legacy but LeBron avoided that by hopping. If you look at his career overall, no player had better #2 or #3 support than LeBron James so I will not excuse his losing. Especially the losing he did out east, when there was no real competition outside of Boston and Orlando for most of 8 years.

The 7 years he's been a Laker? 2 missed playoffs. 3 First round exits. 1 WCF sweep. And one amazing championship. Some people believe stating factual truths such as this make one "unhinged" but I'm pretty sure disagreeing with reality is what actually makes one unhinged. As they say, most insults are just projections.

 

So he’s really a racist narcissistic loser?

that seems especially harsh

 

It was a “nit” I said. Not now clarified what you actually were referring to with the refreshing aspect. The statement that caught my eye, again, was “But LeBron, who has had even greater teammates”. None of them at their peaks were better than prime Shaq and early prime Kobe.

 

This post is so unserious: he won with all those guys except Doncic.
Even including Doncic traded mid way thru the season as a 40 years somehow impacts Lebron's legacy is a reach

In his first 7 years he had by far the worst supporting cast and since then when paired with good players he's won or made the finals.

Magic played with not just Kareem but Worthy, scott, cooper. those teams were as loaded as you can get. At one time the Showtime Lakers had count them 4 #1 overall picks in the rotation.

Jordan not only had Pippen his team, he also had the greatest coach of all time and then guys like Rodman, Grant, etc. How no one seems to mention that Jordan's team won 55 games and was one shot away from the ECF without him and somehow claim he didn't have great teammates is beyond me. What Lebron team has come close to winning that before or after he arrived?

Kobe's team sucked post-shaq till check notes he got pau gasol and a loaded squad with Odom, Bynum, Artest, and the greatest coach of all time.
Interestingly Shaq also only won post Kobe with Dwayne Wade and while Wade was the star of Miami when Shaq was there, it was Lebron who was clearly the best player for the Heat

The reason other guys don't have as long of a list vs just looking at pure talent is Lebron has been able to extend his prime far longer than anyone else.
In fact, I would say his resume of being able to win with so many different types of second stars is a positive for his legacy: both in terms of how long he's been good and his verstality. If you look at his prime combined with actual talent from age 26-36 - he went to the Finals a remarkable 9 times, winning 4 of them. What it is shows is remarkable ability to win with many different types of other star players and types of teams. The fact that he was able to get to the Finals once with Larry Hughes as his second-best player and win 66 games another season with Mo Williams as his second best player and that isn't even mentioned is what is actually unhinged

 

Let's call it what it is man. LeBron is one of the best players of all time, 2nd to MJ imo. But his tenure as a Laker has been fairly unsuccessful.

"But he won in 2020!"

Sure, but we have yet to even crack the finals since 2020, and we've been in the play-in more than we've been a top seeded team since having LeBron (in fact, we've missed the playoffs just as many times as we've been a top seeded team). We won in 2020 and everyone had the same conditions, but let's not act like 2020 is equal to titles in non-COVID years...it just isn't. And LeBron has not been able to replicate what happened in 2020 yet...and his best chance of replicating that was actually this year as a 3 seed with LUKA DONCIC as his sidekick...and they got gentlemen swept.

I love LeBron, but I'm tired of the antics man. It's time for him to either hang it up, or ask to get traded. I don't want to go through a farewell tour with this guy...and waste Luka's prime years. I'm praying that LeBron asks for a trade to the Cavs, and praying that the Cavs get wiped in 5 games and exit the Eastern Conference palyuoffs way earlier than expected...so that we can make a trade with the Cavs where both parties can win. We trade LeBron and Bronny back home, and Cavs send us Allen/Hunter/Okoro and get to keep their best 3 players (Mobley/Garland/Donovan) and slide LeBron into that lineupe for one last shot at a title in his hometown. Isn't that a storybook ending?

Allen/Hunter/Okoro are all players that can fit around Luka, and we can begin our rebuilding around Luka.

Like I said...love Lebron, but it's time for him to move on and go back home. I think his time as a Laker is numbered but he does hold the NTC so idk...