NBA Playoffs 2015

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LeBron's place in American sports fandom is complicated because there's no consensus, aside from pretty much everyone agreeing that the manner in which he went to Miami (producing a television special, using the phrase "take my talents," etc.) was poor form. There's a segment that rips on him, a segment that defends him, a segment that begrudgingly respects his talent while still being uber-defensive about how no one can touch Jordan, and on and on and on.

I've always been a fan of LeBron's talent and find him more likable than many other superstars (if Jordan had been playing in the era of social media everyone would have thought he was a massive dick, because he is a massive dick). And now that he's in Cleveland I'm really pulling for the Cavs because God knows that city needs a championship as badly as any in the country.

My biggest issue with the Heat, including during LeBron's four years in Miami, has always been Dwyane Wade, who I simply don't like.
 
Yeah teaming up with Wade made LeBron and Bosh who are 2 pretty likeable guys (LeBron's "its all about me" interview style aside) into hated villains overnight.
 
I respect LeBron's talent, and I respect that he's improved his game and added new elements to his game as his career has gone on, instead of simply relying upon his freakish athletic ability.

His personality is nauseating at times. He seems to have toned down his egotistical statements as he's gotten older, but they still come out during interviews from time to time.

The way he left Cleveland for Miami is one of the single most disgusting, sports related things that a professional athlete has ever done.

I also feel that his ego has actually gotten in the way of him being an even better player than he already is. Every team that he ends up on ends up running the same ISO heavy offense. His treatment of Dave Blatt this season, frankly, is disgusting... but he's gotten a pass on it because of the admittedly feel good story of him returning to Cleveland.

He's not Michael Jordan. That's not an insult. Jordan was a better player. Period. I'd be happy to see someone come along who's better than Jordan. It's not LeBron.

That said, he's certainly in the top 10 of all time and will probably be top 5 by the time it's all said and done. He very well may be #2. If he can somehow pull this series out it will vault him far up the list. Still not to Jordan's level, but absolutely on the Mount Rushmore of basketball legends.

There's also the invisible elephant in the room for a large number of today's NBA stars - PEDs. There's been grumblings about LeBron, but they always stop at just being grumblings. Nobody pursues it any further... because... I don't know. Old white guys in journalism don't have the same love affair with basketball and glorified statistics as they do with baseball, so they just don't care to look further.

There's no proof out there besides insinuation and hearsay, but gun to my head I would say yes, LeBron is one of those guys. As is Carmelo Anthony. HGH testing is about to be instituted into the NBA. Both guys show up to camp markedly slimmer. Melo all of a sudden has nagging knee issues, and LeBron doesn't look like the same dude until he takes a magical mystery mid season vacation to Miami and comes back looking like the same old guy again and hasn't had a single issue since. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.

Peef is right in that Jordan got lucky and wasn't surrounded by social media. Nobody was posting 3am pictures on twitter of whatever the hell Jordan was doing in casinos prior to playoff games. And Jordan was/is a major dick, and if you've ever hears any of the outtakes from his commercial shoots, much stupider than his public persona gave off. Alas... He was still the best of all time, and nobody is taking that from him anytime soon.
 
Not saying this specifically to you, Headache, but I think it's a disservice to LBJ to always bring Jordan into the conversation. I only say that because, to me, Jordan is so very clearly the best player of all time, and so it diminished LBJ or comes off as pejorative when LBJ's game, career, etc, are stellar. It's not easy to average 27 points a game (he's 4th all time in ppg) while still averaging 7 assists a game for your career. Dude's unreal.

But, no, he aint Jordan. And I agree with almost everything else you said above, and with Dan's points as well….but I am a huge LBJ fan and thus probably "an apologist"…but even that cannot make me think any better of "the decision" which rankled in every conceivable way, so there's that.

I like to look at before/after with NBA players and Quarterbacks….and, the Cavs with LBJ, perennial playoff team, even somehow made the finals with that fucked up roster….Cavs without, lottery annually…Heat before he gets there had not made it out of the first round for 4 years, Finals 4 years in a row, then after he leaves, no playoffs. Yes, of course there are other factors at play, but, bottom line is that LBJ has been hyped since he was in High School, and, really, he has met his expectations and he has done it all without any sordid bullshit. In this era, living up to the hype is not easy.

He also has logged a fuckton of minutes over his career. He's 6th all time in average MPG for a career. 6th of all time, just under 40 per. A lot of people call him out for cramps and whatnot, but, yeah.

His career is insanely impressive, at least to me, even if you acknowledge his shortcomings. Fuck, winning Game 2 and almost Game 1, on the road, against the Warriors is enough to help his climb on the all-time list, let alone if they can steal the series somehow.
 
It's hard for me to look at LeBron objectively because of his inseparable ties to my hometown and the only pro team I really give a damn about. That said, I've followed him his entire career, even during the Miami years, and I've never had an issue with his personality (with the glaring exception of the circus that was The Decision). He does a lot of good in the community, and his teammates routinely commend his leadership abilities, even when they have no prompting to do so. He does some maddening things on the floor - none more so than when he jab-steps for 15 seconds and then launches a three - but in terms of raw ability, he's the best I've seen.

What separates him from Jordan is he lacks the persistent killer mentality Jordan had. This post-season, though, is the most focused and consistently vicious, for lack of a better term, I've seen him, which is why I still have a glimmer of hope Cleveland can pull off this series. He's never put a team on his back this thoroughly before.
 
Also... I know the Hawks seemed to think Dellevedova was purposely going after guys knees, and I didn't believe it at the time... but I'm starting to believe they may have been on to something, especially when you watch this...

https://vine.co/v/eOiXnwp0KEa


...that is as dirty as it gets right there. Hit a guy high with an elbow, he'll get over it. Take out someone's knees, their career may be forever changed.
 
Warriors have completely lost the plot here. Trying to play 1-on-1 on offense. Not making the Cavs pay for doubling/trapping Curry. Not closing out on defense. Etc.
 
Mozgov is coming up aces. He is significantly disrupting anything that comes in the lane.
 
Golden State appeared to come to life a little after falling down 20. Will see if it continues.

I'm absolutely stunned by their body language in most of this game. They look defeated.

You'd have to think that eventually they'll figure out that they're playing against LeBron and a team of absolute garbage.
 
Golden States really needs to push it while Lebron is out.

EDIT: Welp, that was quick.
 
Down 20 at one point, now back within 9. There's no way the Cavs can choke another 4th quarter lead, right?
 
You just use the word a lot. Sometimes good teams just wake the fuck up, the other team is exhausted, etc.

Neither team knows fuck all about Powerjuice.

Well yeah, if Cleveland loses, it must be a choke, and if they win, it must be that the refs handed it to them, right?
 
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