[KMayUSA6060]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Smith played a few seasons with the Knicks, so I got to see him play regularly. He never impressed me, and often did stupid things. Occasionally he had a hot streak and piled up some points, but he never did anything to make the Knicks a better team. And they tired of him quickly.

And Lebron may not be likable, I have no insight into his personal life, but the guy is a monster basketball player, and has carried the team for the past two months. He has taken a mediocre team to the Finals when there were seemingly better ones in the East, such as Toronto and Boston. I know he can rub fans the wrong way, but I can't find fault with the way he plays.

A mediocre team he built. He was the one that fought for Tristan Thompson to get a massive contract a few years ago, which has handicapped the team greatly financially. He was the one that got Blatt fired and replaced him with Lue, who is an absolute joke and is only there because LeBron can easily control him. He is the one behind the scenes approving/making the moves for players. He's the player version of Jerry Jones, and it's horrible.

I have a theory that he keeps a relatively mediocre team around him as a crutch and to build his brand. If he fails, everyone blames the mediocre team around him. If he succeeds, he looks like the GOAT. Like I said previously, I think he's a better businessman than basketball player.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

In addition to his otherworldly talents and ability to play pretty much any position, he is as intelligent a player as I have ever seen. No player in history has singlehandedly carried a team, it's not the nature of the sport, but LeBron is as close as anyone. And remind me, when was the last finals in which he was not playing?

Is he really that intelligent basketball wise? He hardly plays defense, aside from the one or two SportsCenter-worthy plays. He settles for longer jump shots where a layup/closer shot would be way better, especially with his physical superiority. He's never been a good free throw shooter, which is embarrassing. He loves playing isolation/hero ball, instead of promoting ball movement which is the backbone of a strong offense.

2009? That's a lot of participation trophies, considering he's only won, what, 3 of them?

People have fallen in love with LeBron because he is a once-in-a-generation talent, no doubt, but more so because he has changed the entire landscape of the NBA to hide his flaws.