Is James still a King?

[quote=Scrambles]Article ripping LeBron for trying to be Jay-Z more than Jordan.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-lebroncavs051210[/quote]

Great article, exactly what I was saying.

moneyrunner:

You haters are nuts. LBJ is still King. One bad night.

If you watch game 6, you may be witness to murder cause dude is gonna kill!

He's reading all the crap today, he knows he didn't play well. He's got a bum elbow and 4 stars guarding him. But he will find a way to win game 6. He will be hungry.

Not to say it won't happen, because LBJ is the type of athlete who can just win the game by himself, but everyone was saying similar about Game 5... he'd be angry about the loss in Boston and destroy the Celtics. We shall see, hopefully it will be a good one and not another freaking blowout!

D-Block:

I'm trying to buy tickets to this game. When is the best time to buy? Leave it to hours before the game or buy now? Also should i buy on craigslist?

You might check Craig's list but I doubt you'd find anything too reasonable. You're best bet may be to go and scalp some tickets right at tipoff from some guy in the parking lot who doesn't want to get stuck with over priced tix.

h.e.pennypacker:

Youngblood, Lebron doesn't have a VERY talented team right now. You are literally alone on that perspective. The team around him is a joke. Shaq is old, and his stats prove it (he is only above the league average for his position in a few categories). Jamison is the only other decent player on the team. Parker sucks, and Williams is average.

That's one of the dumbest things I've heard today.

Trust me, you don't want this conversation buddy. Your statement is unbelievably stupid. Jamison is a career 20 pts/10 rebounds player who also happens to be a career spot up 3-point shooter. He is a two-time all-star and has always been either the best or second best player on his team. Jamison was the Pippen to Washington's Gilber Arena's for years. Not only that, but who was the franchise player in Golden State a few years back? That's right, Antawn Jamison. If you think Jamison is only a "decent player," then you are retarded. As for Mo Williams...what the hell is wrong with you dude, it is common knowledge that he should have been an all-star this year, let alone having ALREADY been an all-star last year, genius. But I guess the all-star roster has "average" players, right?

Get your ass out of here unless you want to actually discuss the league intelligently. And no, you are wrong, I am not "literally alone on this perspective" you blockhead. If you've so much as paid any attention to ESPN you'd realize how stupid that statement is. I am indeed a part of the majority, with my associates being sports analysts and insiders. It is you and the few other misguided kids in this thread, who are "literally alone on your perspective," sorry.

dumbyoungbum:

I'm a huge basketball fan, and I've never seen anything like Lebronze James...

The Bulls had sooooo many great players that were overshadowed by MJ, and they don't get enough credit for the roles they played. Everybody that hates on Lebron just wants to go against the majority because he is truly a freak in the world of sports.

Holy shit this is a stupid comment if I've read in quite some time. Both bulls teams (91-93, 96-98) were filled with nothing but sorry/mediocre role players after MJ and Pippen. Nobody, and I mean nobody, outside of Scottie Pippen, could score more than 15 pts a game consistently (even after being open from the constant MJ double & triple teams)...let alone being even capable of creating a shot off the dribble. Get your fucking mind right dude, players like BJ Armstrong, Bill Cartwright, Will Purdue, Ron Harper, Tony Kukoc, Bill Wennington, Luke Longley, Randy Brown, Trent Tucker..etc...were all lucky to have played on the same squad as Jordan because without him their names would never have been known or mentioned.

The only players with any remote individual game were Scottie and maybe Ron Harper and Kukoc...the fact that the 3rd best scoring option was Harper or Kukoc tells you everything you need to know (Rodman was garbage on offense, he simply offered decent defense and good rebounding for an undersized team with shitty inside players). Who's the 3rd best scoring option on the lakers? Well...after Kobe you have Gasol, Odom, and even Bynum! All of these being perenial all-stars, with two of them having been franchise players at one point in their careers.

Now, with this Cavs team, after Lebron, you have Mo Williams who was an all-star last year (apparently an all-star is average or mediocre to the dipshits on this forum) and should have been an all-star this year, as stated by most analysts (avg 16 pts, 2 three-pointers and over 5 assists per game), and Antawn Jamison who is a career 20 and 10 player you morons. Jamison is a two time all-star as well. Jamison and Mo Williams are legitimate play makers on any team, and have always been throughout their careers. Three scorers/play-makers (one being arguably the best player in the league) and a solid group of role players with good defense is by far enough to take the trophy, if you truly have the best player in the league let alone one of the best of all time!

MJ had MUCH less to work with when he did it 6 damn times, so until King James gets some heart, he shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Jordan, Kobe, or even a prime Shaq for that matter.

h.e.pennypacker:

Hmm, every panelist on Around the Horn, Kornheiser, and Wilbon agreed today that Lebron carries the team by himself. A team that without him, would have NO chance at touching the playoffs. Go stream today's episodes, I know what I heard.

The team's performance when Lebron is either hurt, or having a bad game personally, backs those statements, too.

Mo Williams is MAYBE the 3rd best PG in the central division. Rose is way better. Stuckey is better. Jennings is about equal to Williams, maybe better.

You're right that Jamison is an above average player, and I said that before. But you have a man-crush on Mo Williams, who was VERY average this year. We don't even need to talk about the rest of the roster.

Look, you said earlier that James has a VERY talented team around him. That statement alone is false, and I hope you were exaggerating.

lol you are basing you're terribly inaccurate opinion on what the idiots from Around The Horn say?! And Wilbon/Kornheiser?! Wilbon and Kornheiser have known bias towards Lebron, he can do no wrong in their minds...yet they constantly contradict themselves. Midway through the season and even early in the playoffs, both Wilbon and Kornheiser agreed that finally the Cavs have enough talent surrounding Lebron. It's up to Lebron to turn the corner now. That being said, who the hell cares what those idiots say, read any credibly sports publication on the subject and you'll understand that it is generally accepted that this is one of the most talented teams in the NBA this season, let alone talented enough for Lebron to turn the corner as a winner (if he actually had killer instinct).

As for Mo Williams, you go from saying he's "average" to subsequently only listing two PG's that are better than him in his division? That's just stupid. If he were "average" he wouldn't be "equal to Jennings" who would be considered anything other than an "average" player. Facts speak for themselves, pal, and they state that Mo was an all-star last year and on the cusp of being an all-star this season (again, if you pay any attention to the NBA you would know this). Therefore, as an all-star, he is a very talented player on the Cavs, yet you claim the opposite, which is a completely retarded claim simply based on everything I've just said. Regardless of whether Stuckey, Rose, or even Jennings are better than Mo Williams, it doesn't take a genius to realize that even being in the same ballpark as these players is FAR from "average," as you so senselessly claimed.

That being said, if Lebron can "do it all himself" for 82 games straight pulling in the best record in the fucking NBA (I mean seriously, listen to how stupid you sound), then shouldn't he be good enough to "do it all himself" for a few more games in the playoffs? But again, this isn't the case, the cavs had the best regular season record because THEY HAVE A VERY TALENTED TEAM. Generally speaking, you can't have the best record in the league without have a talented team, sorry pal.

dumbyoungbum:

Youngblood, your an idiot plain and simple. MJ first of all had Pippen, a fucking hall of famer and got put into the 50 greatest players of all time! And your comparing him to Jamison who is a 2 time all star, where Pippen was a 7 time all star. Pu Pippen on any other team and he's the #1 guy. Nobody on the Cavs will be in the HoF besides Shaq and the Cavs just picked him up, plus he's not even good anymore so don't even say him. Then you barely even mention Rodman, only describing him as a "good" rebounder. I guess holding the highest rebounds per game average since 1973, having the most consecutive rebounding titles record, and close to the most offensive rebounds all time makes him just "good". Then you had Horace Grant-15ppg 10reb, Steve Kerr, who won them a championship with a shot, Bill Cartwright, John Paxson, B.J., Toni, etc. Oh yea and their coach was Phil fucking Jackson (most titles all time).

You making an attempt to even compare these two teams just makes you look retarded. The Bulls were an AWESOME team with great players who have the greatest record in NBA history. The Cavs have NO great players besides Lebron. Jamison is good but he's not great. You need to stop sucking Mo Williams' dick because he is not that good. He's averaging 13 points in the playoffs and 15 in the regular season....how the fuck is he a legitimate selection for an All-Star team?? Lebron IS carrying that whole team on his back.

That being said MJ is and always will be my favorite player. He's the greatest competitor of all time. I think only Lebron has better ability, but that might not even be enough to be overall better as a player/competitor.

Holy shit you're a blockhead. First of all, don't preach to me about the Bulls little man, you were still in diapers when they were playing, you worthless little college junior. I, on the other hand, not only watched every bulls game on WGN from 96-98, but I have been an avid Bulls fan even before they won a championship. I was also old enough to actually understand the sport, rather than sucking on a milk bottle, junior (yes, I am a tad older than the majority of college kids on this damn forum).

Allow me to start by first saying how stupid you are for using the imaginary "50 greatest basketball players of all time" bullshit ceremony that was nothing more than a 50th anniversary of the NBA ceremony. Did I ever once say that Jamison or Mo Williams were as good as Scottie Pippen?! Pull your head out of your ass, it's important for you to understand that outside of Pippen and Jordan, the Bulls are nothing more than mediocre role players. They had absolutely nobody in the paint, unless you consider Will Purdue and Luc Longley as strong centers lol. As far as Steve Kerr...wow, you seriously are a moron. He made that one game winning shot BECAUSE HE WAS LEFT WIDE OPEN AFTER JORDAN GOT TRIPLE TEAMED. Jordan made that play. Steve Kerr's are a dime a dozen, hell, Anthony Parker, Delonte West and Boobie Gibson are all better all-around players while also being a threat beyond the arc! And as for Rodman, once again, you are inflating his abilities my friend. He was just past his prime during 96-98 while on the Bulls. He was a good rebounder, was a good defender, and that was all. He was a shitty scorer and a liability towards the end of the game with his terrible free throw shooting. Shaq is more valuable to the cavs right now than rodman was to the bulls during 96-98.

But let's not forget, he wasn't on the Bulls during their first title run. The 91-93 team had literally NOBODY after jordan and pippen. BJ Armstrong? lol, once again the only reason you even know those names were because MJ was just that big, just that popular, that he made those mediocre role players house hold names. Look at BJ's stats, lucky to get 10 pts per game, while getting almost nothing else! And are you seriously mentioning Cartwright and Paxson you idiot?! Go take a look at their stats buddy, then look at the Cavs current roster's stats, then come back and apologize.

The current Cavs have much more depth than either of the Bulls squad's had. To win six championships with basically two great players and basically nobody else, well, that just shows how much better Jordan was. Hell, look at the Bulls squad pre-title's genius...he took a team full of absolutely nobody, when Pippen was just a useless rookie in 1988, to the Conference Semi's after winning 50 games in the regular season! And trust me, that team was MUCH worse than what Lebron has right now on the Cavs. Jordan had nothing but a rookie Pippen and Grant (neither contributing much); whereas Lebron has a former franchise player in Jamison (yes, a career 20/10 player), while also having another all-star in Mo Williams (yes, he was an all-star last year). Three all-stars on the Cavs together with shaq who even being 1/3 of his formerself is better than an undersized Llgauskas, who they had down low up until now. That mixed with several solid role players should be enough talent for someone who you think is "as good as MJ" to get a championship, let alone not lose by 30 points in game 5 of the conference semi's.

And once again dipshit, you were the one who initially brought the Bulls into the conversation. And you're a fucking idiot to even remotely believe any of the bulls teams had more talent, outside of Jordan, than this Cavs team outside of Lebron. But even then, when the bulls had ABSOLUTELY nobody other than Jordan in 1988, Jordan still took that worthless team to where the cavs are currently in the playoffs! What I've illustrated simply shows how much better Jordan was than Lebron.

Talent/skill-wise, well, you weren't even old enough to watch when he was in his prime you idiot, so your opinion on that is useless...nevertheless, Jordan could do everything on the court. He could score with his back to the basket, from outside, midrange, and he could get to the rim whenever he wanted. He could jump over anyone in the league, let alone his ability to score anywhere else on the floor at any given point. Not only that, and this is a HUGE skill distinction between MJ and Lebron, MJ was arguably the best defensive player of all time in addition to the best offensive player! Jordan was a 9-time all defensive team, and 1-time NBA defensive player of the year. Jordan was a defensive stopper. Now look at Lebron, he is a mediocre defender at best, and a very good scorer with good passing ability. But unfortunately, Lebron's scoring ability is fairly one-dimensional, he has no post game (back to the basket -- fadeaway, etc), a poor long range and even arguably mid-range game, and then mediocre defensive skills. All of this is simply a skill comparison, we haven't even touched the surface on what is most important, competitive drive and heart, something that Jordan defined, while Lebron has never seemed to fully grasp.

Jordan > Lebron...not only in overall package, but also simply skill and talent-wise. Lebron doesn't even deserve to be in the same conversation as His Airness. Kobe is the best player in the league right now, not Lebron. And Kobe has that killer instinct and competitive drive similar to Jordan...Lebron is useless in terms of these qualities, unfortunately. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who has favored LBJ over everyone else since he was drafted. I'm simply not delusional.

Walter Ray Allen:

I dont think it's a fair comparison to compare the 90's Bulls to the Cavs. They play in completely different eras where the type of game has changed. The NBA is much softer now and I personally believe there is overall more talent. That being said, the Cavs are very talented (see my previous post) compared to other teams in the league.

Yes, the Cavs are a very talented team. They also happen to have good depth, which cannot be said for the bulls team's which MJ managed to carry on his back. I'm just so sick of the excuses that are given on Lebron's behalf. He choked on Tuesday, and he is not even comparable to MJ at this point in his career.

dumbyoungbum:

I'm sorry you felt the need to defend yourself in such a long post. You act like your a fucking teenager, and your intelligence on basketball put you right around that age as well. It should be easy for you to see that if Lebron has a bad night...the Cavs have a bad night. The Cavs have a great record because Lebron had an incredible season. MJ had a better team on every one of his rings and so has Kobe. I bet you never even played basketball competitively.

I played college basketball dipshit. And please, shut the hell up with that garbage about the Cavs. How the fuck is it so hard for you to follow simple logical reasoning? The cavs had the best record in the nba, have two all-stars not including Lebron, and a lesser Shaq (who still puts up solid numbers and demands double teams)...but pointing to their league leading regular season record, you have to be retarded to claim they don't have a talented team. And wtf is wrong with you? The cavs "have a great record because lebron had an incredible season"?! Lebron had an equally "incredible" season last year, and the year before that, yet they didn't come out with the best record in the NBA, did they? You should be ashamed of yourself.

Your username is indicative of your character. It's not even debatable, the 1991 Chicago Bulls had one of the shittiest teams ever to win a title. Pippen was in just his 4th season and had stats similar to that of Jamison. To make the 91 bulls team even worse, outside of a young pippen, they had nobody to match Mo Williams, a decent Shaq, or even delonte west. Yes, the 96 Bulls had equal talent to these Cavs, but MJ took one shitty team to 3 straight titles in 91-93, that's a hell of a lot more than can be said of Lebron, who finally has a talented team and yet loses by 30 points in the playoffs, at home no less. Stop being so damn delusional about the Cavs. They have three all-stars and one hall of famer...that should be enough to get the job done, but Lebron isn't quite good enough to turn that corner, sorry.

dumbyoungbum:

They didn't have the best record because the Celtics did, one of the most stacked teams ever. I'm not trying to get into a huge debate here cause we clearly have different opinions. However I'm obviously not an idiot because a lot of other people (majority) don't think Lebron has shit to work with. Albeit they just picked up Jamison which is a little relief. But don't say they have 3 all-stars and one hall of famer because that just isn't indicative of their current roster. Shaq is NOT hall of fame shaq. Mo is a ONE time all star (and a lot of people questioned that). Jamison is a two-time, didn't make it this year, and has been in the league 10 years. MOST of their roster is equal except Pippen, whose arguably one of the best SF ever. And you still fail to see the significance of Phil Jackson being their head coach.

Are you seriously using the coach as an argument about the team's talent? lol come on dude, just shut up already.

And no, Pippen has NEVER been in the discussion for "best SF of all time" you idiot.

dumbyoungbum:

This is the only game Mo has shined which unfortunately plays to your point, however he still is an average player.

Do you even watch basketball? "Average" players don't get $50mm contract deals, nor do they get voted on the previous years all-star team...especially when his stats are almost the same this year. Sorry junior.

The fact that the Cavs lost by 30 points at home in game 5 isn't because of some "mediocre" player as you say (mo williams); if the team with the best regular season record loses by a blowout in a playoff home game, it's the fucking superstar's fault. Case closed, sorry.

dumbyoungbum:

What are you talking about??...So team talent is the only thing that leads to success?? Phil is the greatest coach ever and you don't think that had a factor in their success? Pippen has and always is in that discussion. Between MJ, Pippen, and Rodman, they have more defensive records/all-team selections than probably the history of the Cavs.

TALENT has to do with the skill of the players. The fact that you are actually argument about the team's talent in terms of the coach is absolutely absurd. This boggles my mind. Phil is a good coach yes, but it just so happens that he has only won when having the best players in the league. Championship teams have more to do with the players than the coach, and hell, this discussion is about the talent of the TEAM, not the coach, so stfu.

dumbyoungbum:

Your making my point...it is James' fault. Because when HE does horrible...the TEAM does horrible because they can't back him up. Thanks for proving my point. I'm done replying as this is getting retarded. By the way Rondo is killing Mo.

This isn't getting retarded, it is retarded, because you are actually arguing that the team with the best record in he NBA doesn't have talent. That's just stupid talk bro, just admit it.

D-Block:

Can anybody just tell me what just happened? I wanna say there's some serious internal conflict with the Cavs. Other than that, this is just unexplainable. What team just gives up on an elimination game like that? With so much hanging on them. I'm watching the 4th quarter and i'm like WOWWW.

In the playoffs, every team feeds off of their franchise player...in this case, Lebron. He had 9 turnovers! He was hesitant most of the game, can't make a midrange jump shot to save his life, and then basically gave up...hence the team followed. This is the difference between Lebron and Kobe. Lebron is soft; doesn't have any sort of killer instinct. Kobe on the other hand, he eats, sleeps, and breaths winning. Kobe could miss 20 shots in a row but he will play like he made every one -- he has the killer mentality. It seemed like Lebron didn't believe in himself or his team, which is bizarre.

D-Block:

In previous playoffs like the Magic series last year, you could see he had a killer mentality. Same as the detroit series a few years back. This time around, he just dished the ball....even in the 4th quarter. I think he's just trying to prove a point.

If he's "trying to prove a point" then that would mean he doesn't have that killer instinct, plain and simple. Those guys that eat, sleep and breath winning don't "prove points" by not playing up to their abilities or giving up...they play to win at all cost. Lebron doesn't do this when the shit hits the fan, he gets nervous, hence the 9 turnovers.