Does Lebron James look even worse if Carmelo Anthony joins Heat?

[chicagowhitesox1173]

@Marley23

Duncan in '98-'99: 21.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, 2.4 assists per game. That was about the same as he had in his first year and about the same as every season he had through, say, 2007.

He’s a great player and always has been but he sometimes gets forgotten. That’s all I was trying to say .

No. He hasn’t even made an all-NBA team the past two seasons - not that I’d take those as straight player rankings, and he’s very good. But he’s not in the top five at all.

Carmelo is right there as a top 5 player. 1. Kevin Durant 2. Lebron James 3. Anthony Davis 4. Paul Goerge 5. maybe Chris Paul, Stephen CurryYes.

As nice as the Spurs are, it’s not about ego. That’s shallow bullshit. It’s about depth and balance. The Heat have three Hall of Famers and several pieces of varying levels of usefulness, most of whom are in decline or at the end. The Spurs have three great players, and a bunch of other pieces who fit together very well. And some of those pieces are young and keep improving, which is very important. Kawhi Leonard is on top of that list, obviously.

There’s something to be said about how the Spurs conduct business, something Lebron will never get. He’s not a leader, I bet he would have made the Spurs worse if he was on that team.

But let’s not overreact here. The Spurs were an awesome team this year and they did indeed beat the snot out of a tired Heat team. The Heat have been to four Finals in a row and you have to expect them to still have James and Wade and Bosh next year. The East will probably still not be great next year. I hope the Bulls have a healthy Rose again, but after them, what is there? We don’t know how Indy will bounce back. The Nets could still be good, but they’re very old and I don’t see Deron Williams getting better. The Heat need to make some changes if they want to beat San Antonio or Oklahoma City, but let’s not pretend it turns out they stink.

They are still the best team in the East but not for long. I guess you can’t blame Lebron for recruiting players but the fact that he can’t win without a great supporting cast is weak.

Come on.

A lot of people say all kinds of dumb shit. People said that about the Heat when this team together, but the takeaway from the last two years wasn’t ‘meh, of course they won.’ It was ‘holy shit, LeBron is amazing.’

I looked at his two championships as nothing great, he shoulda won more. Honestly he should have only one ring too. He shoulda beat Dallas but Dallas got into his head and he shutdown.

It means he realizes the Knicks are mediocre and best and they’re at least a year away from getting better, so he has a better chance of winning elsewhere.

Again very weak, these guy’s need to learn to be leaders and make their teams better.

When he played in Cleveland I never counted him as a favorite player, but since the whole Decision nonsense the vitriol has just been out of control. Nobody has to like the guy, but the constant search for excuses to dismiss his greatness got out of hand long ago. And ultimately this crap is all going to be forgotten. As soon as the Heat won a championship, it flew right out the window. Now people are saying pretty much the same stuff as if the last two years didn’t happen. I know people need to kill time, but let’s get real here.

He should never be mentioned as the best player, because he’s not

He’s vilified because people get bored.

No he’s vilified because he’s a jaggoff. Did you ever hear of his lost piece of jewerly story?

No, he didn’t. He dragged a crummy team to the Finals in a way even Jordan never did, and it’s to his credit. The other starters in that Finals were Ilguaskas, Drew Gooden, Sasha Pavlovic, and Boobie Gibson/Larry Hughes. It’s preposterous that that team won a conference championship.

Jordan at least stuck it out and made Pippen better and gained confidence from beating the Pistons. I remember back in 1989 or 1990 before the Bulls ever won, how reporters kept saying the Bulls needed more help for Jordan. Jordan won with the players he was dealt with.

They did not have a chance to make a comeback. Give me a break.

With 6 minutes left, I’ve seen it happen.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Sorry new to computers and internet, this last post I did, didn’t come out well

[The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski]

It’s not just the last post that didn’t come out so well…

[markdash]

@ekedolphin

The Cavs had years to piece together a decent amount of talent around LeBron, and they did… what? Shaq at like 37 years old? Carlos Boozer? Larry Hughes? Delonte West? Are you KIDDING me with that? The fact that those guys won all those division titles was due to LeBron’s greatness, the Central’s ineptitude and basically no other reason.

Boozer was actually a pretty nice complementary piece to go with LeBron. The one problem? The Cavs decided to decline his option because they had a handshake deal to re-sign Boozer to a longer contract (6 years, $35m or such). Boozer was then a free agent, and signed with the Jazz to a contract the Cavs couldn’t match (because they didn’t have cap room for the contract, and they didn’t have Bird rights on Boozer yet).

It would have been interesting to see what a team of LeBron, Boozer, and company could have done. Would have been a damn sight better than the motley crew they actually put around James.

[Marley23]

@chicagowhitesox1173

He’s a great player and always has been but he sometimes gets forgotten. That’s all I was trying to say .

Then it doesn’t seem relevant.

Carmelo is right there as a top 5 player. 1. Kevin Durant 2. Lebron James 3. Anthony Davis 4. Paul Goerge 5. maybe Chris Paul, Stephen CurryYes.

Wow. I mean, this is a matter of opinion, but your opinion is wrong. Griffin, Westbrook, Harden, Nowitzki, Howard, Aldridge, Noah, M. Gasol… the list goes on. And no, Paul George is not the fourth best player in the NBA. He’s really good and he’ll get better, but he is nowhere near that right now. He shot like crap for the second half of the season, and that’s a major reason the Pacers fell into the toilet. And Davis is going to be great, but he’s not better than a lot of the guys I listed.

There’s something to be said about how the Spurs conduct business, something Lebron will never get. He’s not a leader, I bet he would have made the Spurs worse if he was on that team.

Every bolded word is total, uninformed bullshit. He is the leader of that team, and every single Heat player acknowledges it. He’s by far their best player. He wouldn’t have fit with the Spurs roster, but I think it’s safe to say the best player in the league would make any team better. Or hell, let’s pretend he’s the second best player.

They are still the best team in the East but not for long.

Who do you think is about to pass them? The Raptors? The Wizards? That seems awfully optimistic.

I guess you can’t blame Lebron for recruiting players but the fact that he can’t win without a great supporting cast is weak.

Is his supporting cast good or not? Make up your mind, please. I thought you were saying they were egotistical and lousy.

I looked at his two championships as nothing great

Yeah, the goalposts are always moving. We know.

he shoulda won more. Honestly he should have only one ring too.

Huh? Should he have won more or less?

He shoulda beat Dallas but Dallas got into his head and he shutdown.

He didn’t play his best in that series, but it’s not all on him either.

Again very weak, these guy’s need to learn to be leaders and make their teams better.

They do make their teams better. They are great players. Do you think Miami would be better without LeBron or the Knicks would be better without Carmelo? Before you say yes, please be aware that the answer is no. The Knicks’ problem is that they’re going to pay Amare Stoudemire $20 million next year, have three more years of Ray Felton if he doesn’t go to jail, three more years of J.R. Smith not giving anything close to one shit, Tyson Chandler might be breaking down, and they have no draft picks. Tell me how Carmelo Anthony’s leadership is going to fix that.

He should never be mentioned as the best player, because he’s not

He’s the best player in the league. Sorry. He’s won four MVP awards and he should probably have five, and his teams have made the finals four years in a row. The number of players who can say that is very, very short.

No he’s vilified because he’s a jaggoff. Did you ever hear of his lost piece of jewerly story?

No, and I don’t give a shit about his jewelry. I give a shit about how he plays basketball because I’m a fan of basketball. Jewelry? Is this a joke? Did I click out of the thread about the NBA and into one about Jared by mistake?

Jordan at least stuck it out and made Pippen better and gained confidence from beating the Pistons. I remember back in 1989 or 1990 before the Bulls ever won, how reporters kept saying the Bulls needed more help for Jordan. Jordan won with the players he was dealt with.

This is probably the third or fourth time you’ve contradicted yourself in two sentences. Pippen is an all-time great, and Jordan never won a championship without him (and vice versa). The Bulls succeeded in putting Jordan next to another Hall of Famer and they put some other very good players around them. By the time he was signing major contracts, they were already a great team. If they hadn’t done that, he might not have stuck around. But then again it was a different time in the NBA.

With 6 minutes left, I’ve seen it happen.

I don’t think you have. Not in the playoffs, nevermind the way the way the Spurs had wrecked the Heat for three games.

[furt]

@chicagowhitesox1173

The reason Lebron has become vilified is because of his arrogance. I mean cmon, he calls himself king James.

Cite?

Let me guess: you listen to sports talk radio, and read Bleacher Report. Am I right?

[chicagowhitesox1173]

@furt

Cite?

Let me guess: you listen to sports talk radio, and read Bleacher Report. Am I right?

Do you really need me to provide a site to show why Lebron James is not well liked?

I do listen to sports radio but I hate Bleacher Report. Just curious, where do you get sports info from?

[Marley23]

@chicagowhitesox1173

Do you really need me to provide a site to show why Lebron James is not well liked?

Define well-liked.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

@Marley23

Define well-liked.

Yeah he sells some jerseys, but 11 year kids are the ones buying them. Hence my previous comment about how he’s teaching young kids to be wussys.

I don’t think I know anyone who likes Lebron James. But then again I’m 41. I can’t say I hate Lebron James but I really dislike him and I think he’s a py for leaving Cleveland and I’m going to look at him as more of a py if he trys to play on another allstar team because this one didn’t work out well enough for him. I sure as hell wouldn’t want my kid to look up to someone like that.

[Marley23]

@chicagowhitesox1173

Yeah he sells some jerseys, but 11 year kids are the ones buying them. Hence my previous comment about how he’s teaching young kids to be wussys.

I thought you said he wasn’t well-liked. He obviously is. And here’s a lesson he might teach kids: if you’re the best at what you do, it doesn’t matter if some anonymous stranger says you’re a wussy.

[pulykamell]

@chicagowhitesox1173

I don’t think I know anyone who likes Lebron James. But then again I’m 41. I can’t say I hate Lebron James but I really dislike him and I think he’s a py for leaving Cleveland and I’m going to look at him as more of a py if he trys to play on another allstar team because this one didn’t work out well enough for him. I sure as hell wouldn’t want my kid to look up to someone like that.

I’m assuming you’re in the Chicago market, based on your name. It’s the same with my peer group, and very much a typical Chicago viewpoint on Lebron James. I don’t care enough about the NBA to have developed any opinion beyond Lebron being the best player in the NBA right now, but the above is exactly how pretty much everyone I know thinks of him. I’m not sure they begrudged him leaving Cleveland so much as the way he did it, and even a few years later, it still hasn’t been forgotten.

[Marley23]

Of course they’d have gotten over it right quick if he’d gone to Chicago.

[pancakes3]

Lebron might be polarizing but it’s hard to say that he’s unequivocally disliked. His endorsement dollars say otherwise and they say it loudly.

As far as these superteams go, I don’t fault anyone for trying to get on a supersquad. No player would willingly handicap himself to win a ring just so his “legacy” for x% of the fans out there would play out more to their liking. Plus, look at the payroll for the Spurs. All of their big 3 took less-than-max extensions in order to keep their core together.

That said, I get it though. I’m no Lebron fan and often arbitrarily I hate on Lebron. Part of the fandom. However, I recognize when I’m being irrational and I certainly don’t expect everyone else to join me in my warped hypocrisy.

[pulykamell]

@Marley23

Of course they’d have gotten over it right quick if he’d gone to Chicago.

That would be my assumption, yes. Although I suspect there’d still be a vocal group of locals who would dislike him anyway based on the whole “Decision” thing. I still think he’d be fairly polarizing in Chicago.

[cerebus]

@chicagowhitesox1173

No he’s vilified because he’s a jaggoff. Did you ever hear of his lost piece of jewerly story?.

I love how you just handwave away all the horrible off court stories about Jordan, Bird etc. but it’s all relevant when you talk about LeBron James

[Sir_T-Cups]

@chicagowhitesox1173

Yeah he sells some jerseys, but 11 year kids are the ones buying them. Hence my previous comment about how he’s teaching young kids to be wussys.

I don’t think I know anyone who likes Lebron James. But then again I’m 41. I can’t say I hate Lebron James but I really dislike him and I think he’s a py for leaving Cleveland and I’m going to look at him as more of a py if he trys to play on another allstar team because this one didn’t work out well enough for him. I sure as hell wouldn’t want my kid to look up to someone like that.

I venture to say, if you have an as-neutral-as-possible field and you post a “do you like Lebron James” you would get an overwhelming response of yes.

There is absolutely nothing about his recent history to prove he has been anything but a model citizen of the human race and nba. By all accounts he’s a great father, a great player, a great husband, an ambassador to and from the league.

Was The Decision a bad move? In retrospect absolutely. How about at the time? Well you get into the mind of a 22 year old kid who’s been given the world, he knows people are interested, so he made an event about it. An event all about him right? You can tell it’s all about him because every cent that show made went to charity…what an asshole right?

[chicagowhitesox1173]

@cerebus

I love how you just handwave away all the horrible off court stories about Jordan, Bird etc. but it’s all relevant when you talk about LeBron James

Well I don’t think Jordan gambling is really that big of a deal but Lebron James and that pendant deal he pulled was a douchebag thing to do. There’s a difference, probably not to you because maybe gambling is a sin to you.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

@Sir_T-Cups

I venture to say, if you have an as-neutral-as-possible field and you post a “do you like Lebron James” you would get an overwhelming response of yes.

There is absolutely nothing about his recent history to prove he has been anything but a model citizen of the human race and nba. By all accounts he’s a great father, a great player, a great husband, an ambassador to and from the league.

Was The Decision a bad move? In retrospect absolutely. How about at the time? Well you get into the mind of a 22 year old kid who’s been given the world, he knows people are interested, so he made an event about it. An event all about him right? You can tell it’s all about him because every cent that show made went to charity…what an asshole right?

I seriously doubt you would get a over whelming yes. And yeah he is a asshole. You like a lot of people here probably watch a lot of ESPN where all you hear is how Lebron gets a raw deal but in reality he really is a douchebag. The fact that you know that this decision event was given to charity also shows what a douche is. He probably wanted everyone to know that he was giving it to charity to make himself look better.

You have got to be a real jaggoff to think that by doing a television event to show all his minion fans where the King is going to play and he probably thought that his fans would rejoice but that just tells you what a douchebag he is.

[Marley23]

@Sir_T-Cups

Was The Decision a bad move? In retrospect absolutely. How about at the time? Well you get into the mind of a 22 year old kid who’s been given the world, he knows people are interested, so he made an event about it. An event all about him right? You can tell it’s all about him because every cent that show made went to charity…what an asshole right?

Even at the time people rolled their eyes, and they were right to. The whole thing was ridiculous. (And I think he was 25.) But there does come a point where you say “that was douchey, but it’s not that important and it was four years ago already.” Instead, people bring it up to criticize him when they feel it’s fashionable to do so - critics were very quiet last year and the year before, but now that the Heat lost, it’s time to LeBron-bash again. Oh, and complain about his jewelry. If he wore a 20-carat diamond necklace on the court every night I wouldn’t give a shit. He’d still be a great player, and his fashion sense would have zero to do with his team winning or losing.

[cerebus]

@chicagowhitesox1173

Well I don’t think Jordan gambling is really that big of a deal but Lebron James and that pendant deal he pulled was a douchebag thing to do. There’s a difference, probably not to you because maybe gambling is a sin to you.

Actually I don’t give a shit about gambling. I give a shit about you arbitrarily deciding which off the court thing counts against a player. Of course it isn’t quite arbitrary, your whole criteria seems to be: if Jordan did it, it’s automatically okay and if LeBron, Carmelo, Insert-non-bulls-here did it, it’s a douchebag move.