2010-2011 NBA Basketball.

[endorphinz]

LeBron who?

great game...great series!

[cjbreed]

i have a feeling lebron is gonna play quite differently in the next game.

wade is a monster

the heat is a much more athletic and physically talented team but the mavs are skilled players, well coached and playing with a lot of heart. what a great series...

[endorphinz]

i have a feeling lebron is gonna play quite differently in the next game.

I don't doubt it but everone said that after game 3. Look, James is way to physically gifted to disappear in the4th the way he has but being invisible in a finals game,even just once,is inexcusable. you can have a bad game, shoot poorly,miss fts turn the ball over, but you just can't be AWL. He was,2 games in a row and thus, he ain't mike

[cjbreed]

amen he ain't mike.

i like him tho. he hit on my wife HARD once in bal harbor. it was hilarious tho because she didn't know who it was and he is gigantic and had a huge entourage with him of equally gigantic dudes. so she grabbed her purse and hurried out of the store (gucci) to find me. she thought she was gonna be robbed. then i went inside to see who it was and when it was lebron i couldn't help but laugh. he came and asked her if he could shake my hand because he needed to meet the man that married her. i kind of liked him after that because the whole scene was hilarious...

[doldrums]

amen he ain't mike.

i like him tho. he hit on my wife HARD once in bal harbor. it was hilarious tho because she didn't know who it was and he is gigantic and had a huge entourage with him of equally gigantic dudes. so she grabbed her purse and hurried out of the store (gucci) to find me. she thought she was gonna be robbed. then i went inside to see who it was and when it was lebron i couldn't help but laugh. he came and asked her if he could shake my hand because he needed to meet the man that married her. i kind of liked him after that because the whole scene was hilarious...

ok...so...pics (of some sort) please?

[zamb]

the constant comparison of Lebron James and other players to Micheal Jordan is just ridiculous...............as far as i am concerned there is Micheal Jordan the player and Micheal Jordan the myth........

the Myth of Jordan is greater than the player, and often times players get compared to the myth............with a constant moving of the goal post.........or hoop in this instance

Micheal Jordan was the best player of his generation, but as the bulls owner once said...............ITS ORGANIZATIONS THAT WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS. Phil Jackson proved that by moving to the Lakers and winning five more with the Laker organization.
Micheal Jordan isn't the best player ever and not even in the top three.

I dare anyone who will look at the facts to tell me Micheal was better than Wilt, than Kareem.........or better than the Big O, Oscar Robertson. Was he better than Bill Russell?
Micheal got away with a lot of crap for which sometimes I wonder what secret pact was made with David Stern............

For example, fouling Karl Malone and Byron Russel on the same Play to make that (in)famous shot in the 1998 finals................

Lebron is a different player than Micheal was, and he doesnt have to be Micheal Jordan........Jordan was a better Scorer, but Lebron is a better all round player than jordan ever was, and it isnt even close.
He is a better rebounder, a better passer, a better ball handler and a better defender than Jordan...........people get carried away with scoring, but that's only one aspect of the game

[cowsareforeating]

ITS ORGANIZATIONS THAT WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS

truth to haters

[endorphinz]

Did you ever see mj go on vacation in the 4th quarter of a finals game?... or any playoff game?

LeBron is a uniquely gifted athlete, elite among the elite but he isn't and never will be Jordan the player.... the guy that continually ripped the heart out of opponents at crunch time, when it mattered.... the guy who wanted to take THE shots and made them. He refused to lose.... cliche but true

MJ was NEVER OVERWHELMED OR DISTRACTED on the court. James clearly is

people like scoring but they LOVE WINNING

MJ waited 'till he retired to hang the 'gone fishing sign' and he would have NEVER gone to a team where he was not going to be THE MAN but that's moot cuz he would have been THE MAN wherever he played

Zamb:
I respect your opinion but we'll have to agree to disagree on this one


oh, players win championships.... organizations build dynasties

[endorphinz]

[cjbreed]

^^i'll be there!

and the triple double meant he played better than game 3 and 4 but he still didn't play like a star. wade plays like a star. nowitzki plays like a star

hey zam, u know i love you right? but dude, MJ > LJ all day.

this argument is perpetuated in sports bars around the country every night and its basically a coke vs. pepsi thing with no correct answer. BUT as a kid i got to watch jordan play from his rookie season on (which means i also got to watch magic vs bird too. yep i'm old) and just leaving stats out of it, michael was a more dynamic player. he was a playmaker, he made things happen, and he elevated his team when it was most crucial. he never checked out. he was more exciting, and he is the coolest looking player of all time. he was beautiful to watch. super steezy.

now that being said:
9 selections to NBA All Defensive First Team
#3 all time steals leader
87-88 defensive player of the year.

he got away with some fouls because he put asses in seats like no other player in the NBA

[zamb]

I don't have time to comment on this like i want, but im gonna say two things...............

Dirk was regarded as a soft European player who shoots too much threes,

for years he lingered in the shadows of Duncan, Webber and Garnett.........Now whether the Mavs win or lose this series, he has established himself as possibly one of the most lethal scoring seven footer this league has seen................with toughness to boot.
the absolute best player in these finals, if his team looses, no one can pin it on him

LeBron is a different player than MJ, and different doesn't mean inferior, it means different..............adversity either breaks you or make you stronger...................we will see what kind of mettle Mr. James has................he has a career to prove it, but right now there is still (one or) two games to play on his home floor..........

[gavagai]

Lebron needs to play like a superstar for the Heat. I personally think he is exhausted from the Boston and Chicago series but what do I know.

However people don't give him any credit. Is he tentative? Is the pressure getting to him? Would any of this matter if he hit that three and they called a block instead of charge? Just questions.

I will say that all assists are not created equal. He set up some sick lay ups and dunks. Those are gimme baskets for his team.

Looking forward to game 6.

[cjbreed]

zam - i get that lebron is a different type of player than jordan. and i don't have strong feelings either way. they're both amazing and i love to watch them both. but when u said lebron was an all around better player and its not even close i felt compelled to disagree. shoot lebron ain't wearing a 23 jersey on accident.

gavagai - i agree completely. lebron is playing well but not like a superstar. thats my point. and i don't think its the pressure. he's been playing under pressure literally his entire life. i think the fact is he is being out "superstarred" by wade. what i mean by that is that wade has the confidence and drive to demand the ball on every play. he is going for the basketball every chance he gets because he knows he can make a play, either score himself or with an assist. and he goes for the ball because he knows he is supposed to! he's getting the big bucks, he is who they come to see, and he is on the biggest stage during one of the best series ever and you can just feel that he's thinking "gimme the f*ckin ball because i'm about to make this shit happen". not like a ball hog (iverson) but like a play maker.

i'm feelin that from nowitzki too. but not really from lebron.

[endorphinz]

Is the pressure getting to him? Would any of this matter if he hit that three and they called a block instead of charge? Just questions.

but that's zactly the point....he missed the 3 and was called for a charge

and as far as the pressure goes:
when you orchestrate a prime time tv show to announce what team will have the privilege of obtaining your services,this after a traveling circus show, ya put a big x on your back and with his play in this series, the x got a thousand times bigger.

face it, lebron relishes the jordan comparrisons and it's important to him to come out on top. I don't know what games 6 and 7? have in store but I would be shocked if james doesn't play a lot better....he can't play worse....and even if he plays great and the heat win the series, his play in the earlier games damaged him....in my eyes anyway

[shadeeq]

Zamb - What is the MJ 'myth' that you speak of? Top10 players such as Magic, Bird and Shaq have called him the greatest of all time.

"Lebron is a better all round player than jordan ever was, and it isn't even close."
This is far from reality.
Mjs greatest season was probably 88-89. He averaged 32.5 PPG with a .538 fg%. He also recorded 8 rpg, 8 apg and 2.89 spg. That is a significantly higher level of all round play than Lebron has achieved. Lebron does have a higher rebounding average, but lets not forget we are comparing a guard to a small forward. Jordan is #3 in rebounding by a guard. What # is Lebron on the forwards list? Lebron is the better passer, but MJ is #3 all time in steals per game and #2 in total steals. He is also #1 in blocks by a guard. MJ is clearly the better defender. When you add Scoring and playoffs/finals averages Mj easily comes out on top.

"I dare anyone who will look at the facts to tell me Micheal was better
than Wilt, than Kareem.........or better than the Big O, Oscar Robertson."
Comparing these guys from different eras/positions is very difficult. I'll save that debate for another day.

Some significant stats:
Career PER: MJ: 27.91 Wilt: 26.13 Kareem: 24.58
Mj had a higher PER than two of the greatest CENTERS of all time. Do you understand the significance of that?
Mj raised his level of play in the playoffs/finals. Wilts dropped significantly.
MJ was the first player to record 100+ blocks and 200+ steals in a season, and the only player to do it multiple times.
MJ won defensive player of the year while also leading the league in scoring (35ppg). Think about the level of energy required for this.
MJ led the Bulls to the best combined regular season+postseason record in NBA history - 72 wins.
MJ is the most clutch player of all time. His game winning shot attempts was 33 out of 58 (56.9%). He has the highest conversion rate in the clutch by far.
MJ is the oldest player to score 50+ points in a game. He scored 51 at the age of 38.

I could go on and on...MJ is the GOAT in my opinion.