
Originally Posted by
AKbruin
I'd like to see a Venn diagram of Lebron haters and 911 Truthers, climate-change deniers, birthers, anti-vaxers, and other segments of society who hold vociferous opinions on topics despite reason and all available evidence. I suspect significant overlap.
(1) Let's just get this out of the way: Falling short in a comparison with Jordan, the greatest basketball player ever, means very little. In fact, the moment you even suggest that somebody isn't as good as Jordan, the fact of the comparison acknowledges that the somebody compared is an all-time great. We don't compare players like, say, Carmelo Anthony to Jordan. Also, I've never heard any legitimate analyst claim that Lebron is better than Jordan.
(2) Without Lebron, last year's relatively healthy Cavs failed to make the playoffs in a weak Eastern Conference. With Lebron, this year's injury-riddled Cavs team came within 2 wins of a championship against an historically great Warriors team.
(3) Lebron lead the Finals in points, assists, rebounds, and minutes played. Google "Lebron stats finals" to see a laundry list of articles explaining how amazing Lebron was.
(4) Lebron's teammates were Shumpert, JR Smith, Thompson, Mosgov, Dellevedova, Shawn Marion, James Jones, Mike Miller. While these guys were damned good on defense, they are, as a squad, fantastically bad on offense. None of them would be starters on the Warriors and most of them wouldn't even make the team. Without Lebron, I don't think this particular group of people would win more than 15 games in a season. It's a testament to Lebron's passing that he averaged so many assists in the Finals passing to this group. In fact, I don't think you could substitute any player in the league for Lebron and have gotten as far as the Cavs did.
(5) Lebron quit? Again, he led in minutes, points, rebounds, assists, and usage rate. His natural and preferred role is as a playmaker and passer, not a prolific isolation scorer. He changed his game for this series (and the Hawks series) because it gave his team the best opportunity to win. He also shoulder a heavier load than any other NBA player in history. I have no idea what more he could have done.
(6) Lebron's skills? (a) He's probably the best passer in the game. (b) He's also got one of the highest basketball IQs in the NBA--he makes the right play so much more often than not. (c) Along these lines, he always makes his teammates better. See #4. (d) He's a good midrange shooter and decent 3 point shooter. (You know his 3pt% is higher than Jordan's, right?). (e) He's the best transition player in the game, which unfortunately we didn't get to see much in the Finals because of the Cavs' roster and game plan. (f) He's a very good rebounder. (g) His turnover to usage/assist rate is fantastic. (h) When he needs to be, he's one of, if not the best defensive players in the game.
In sum, you may not like Lebron, but when you say he isn't good, it's says more about you than it does about Lebron.
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