Am I the only one that sees it?

[clydepepper]

They are going on and on about how great Lebron James' performance was, but he cannot work without the ball...in other words, he cannot work himself open for shots. Michal Jordan was a master at it!

Lebron James is NOT the greatest ever...it's still Michael.

[rsn1661]

I agree 100 percent. James is awesome but Jordan is still the greatest.

[4815162342]

But, but, but, Lebron's the best player in the world - he said so himself!

Jordan would've won game six with one hand tied behind his back and sick with the flu.

[Econteachert205]

James has no midrange game either, it's all drives and 3s, which dont get me wrong works most of the time. Jordan he is not.

[clydepepper]

...and Steve Kerr is a better coach than he is too.


One thing I notice was that when Curry had the ball, all his teammates were in motion, whereas when LeBron had the ball, they were all spectators...which, if he's going to function as the coach, he has to take the blame for. Granted there were some times when Michael's teammates stopped and gawked but not to the extent the Cavs did.

They give LeBron a lot of credit for being such a good sport at the end, but I still remember his first finals loss, where he walked off the court without even acknowledging the Spurs.

These finals were another example of a 'Bill Russell' versus a 'Wilt Chamberlain' - the better TEAM won.

IMHO, the better teams have more players involved - Golden State led the league in Assists.

That's the last thing I have to say about the basketball season - it is now over...and out!

[vintagetoppsguy]

The thing that really bothered me were the Cavs fans - how they were out celebrating in the streets on opening day as if they had already won a championship - like some kind of victory parade. It was the middle of the afternoon. Don't those people work? Then I remember a huge banner of James being unveiled on the side of a building. The whole thing was quite ridiculous.

Hey Cavs fans, how about next time waiting until your team wins a championship before you celebrate?

[TUM301]

Watched most of the championship series and came away with a few thoughts but the main one was that James,almost seemed relieved it a strange sort of way when Irving went down. Now he really had an excuse to lose the series and nobody, especially his distractors, could blame him. Some of his post gamers, among them, "I`d rather not make the playoffs than lose" had me doing a double take. Today`s modern day athlete maybe ? Anyway still a super talented player but outside, for now anyways, my top 5 all timers. IMO, top 5, Russell-Jordan-Magic-Duncan-Bird. 2`nd 5, Wilt-Kareem-Kobe-Maravich-James. Bye the way, the "Stan Muse" as in most underated player of all time of hoops, "Hondo",John Havlichek.

[earlywynnfan]

Originally Posted by 4815162342

But, but, but, Lebron's the best player in the world - he said so himself!

Jordan would've won game six with one hand tied behind his back and sick with the flu.

Yeah, I'm going to call bullshit on that one. The Bulls won 6 finals, and Scottie Pippen averaged 20+ points in four of them. In one of the others, the Bulls had three other players in double-digit points. Who did Lebron have with him??

I'm not saying Lebron is better than Jordan, but come on, give the guy some credit. The Cavs had no business winning two games and being close in any others. Or let's put it this way: How many games would the Cavs have won if Cleveland had Curry and GS had Lebron? Has there ever been a finals with such a lopsided matchup?

[freakhappy]

Originally Posted by earlywynnfan

Yeah, I'm going to call bullshit on that one. The Bulls won 6 finals, and Scottie Pippen averaged 20+ points in four of them. In one of the others, the Bulls had three other players in double-digit points. Who did Lebron have with him??

I'm not saying Lebron is better than Jordan, but come on, give the guy some credit. The Cavs had no business winning two games and being close in any others. Or let's put it this way: How many games would the Cavs have won if Cleveland had Curry and GS had Lebron? Has there ever been a finals with such a lopsided matchup?

+1...My thinking is the same as yours. After Love and Irving went down, I was very surprised to see them win more than one game. Their starters were mostly bench players and with the injuries, were thrust into a starting role. The odd makers are already making them favorites for next year and I have to agree. With Irving and Love back, the Warriors will have to earn their ring next year. But kudos to them, they deserved it in 2015...they had the best overall team. And how great was it that Iguadola won the MVP? Love it when someone else other than the best overall player wins it.

[freakhappy]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

The thing that really bothered me were the Cavs fans - how they were out celebrating in the streets on opening day as if they had already won a championship - like some kind of victory parade. It was the middle of the afternoon. Don't those people work? Then I remember a huge banner of James being unveiled on the side of a building. The whole thing was quite ridiculous.

Hey Cavs fans, how about next time waiting until your team wins a championship before you celebrate?

With all due respect, David, I think you have to put yourself as a Cavs fan to understand why their fans reacted this way. LeBron has been the best player in the league for a while now and when he chose to leave, it ripped the heart out of many fans in the city of Cleveland. One huge reason is because they instantly became one of the worst teams by losing LeBron. I'm sure you remember how a lot of them reacted when he left. Burning jerseys, throwing all kinds of hatred his way...they were devastated as they knew what their inevitable fate would hold. So when he decided to come back home, what did they do? Yeah, they remember how great it was to have such a special player and also to contend every year and possibly earn a title soon. So an opening day celebration was merited IMO...a championship doesn't have to occur in order for a city to celebrate. Of course that is their goal...to win, but their team will be special for at least a few more years and that is something to be excited for, especially when you have been losing as much as Cleveland has.

Don't get me wrong, David...I understand what you are saying. It's pretty standard to hold such a celebration after you win a championship, but a lot of teams have opening day celebrations...pretty common actually. I didn't see Cleveland's celebration, so I'm guessing they could have got overexcited

[chaddurbin]

wow just discovered this thread, thanks for the friday night laugh fellas. white hot nba finals take from a prewar baseball card forum...who would've thunk it?

[gnaz01]

Me too!! Just check out this and enough said!!!

http://youtu.be/c7q6gHW9fo0

[rats60]

Originally Posted by freakhappy

+1...My thinking is the same as yours. After Love and Irving went down, I was very surprised to see them win more than one game. Their starters were mostly bench players and with the injuries, were thrust into a starting role. The odd makers are already making them favorites for next year and I have to agree. With Irving and Love back, the Warriors will have to earn their ring next year. But kudos to them, they deserved it in 2015...they had the best overall team. And how great was it that Iguadola won the MVP? Love it when someone else other than the best overall player wins it.

2 out of 5 starters is not most. I never expected the Cavs to win if healthy. Last season with 3 future hofers on his team, Lebron's team only won one game. This year, Lebron shot under 40% in the finals. He was under 30% in the 4th quarter. In game 4, 4th quarter, with a chance to
bury the Warriors, Lebron scored ZERO points. He set a record this year for worst 3pt shooting percentage playoffs, min. 100 att. He takes too many bad shots.

I just got through watching the Pistons 30 for 30. Jordan talks about how after losing to the Pistons, he knew he had to work harder. By the 3rd time, he had made himself into a champion. His last 6 full seasons with the Bulls, he won 6 championships.

Lebron just doesn't have it. After losing to the Spurs and Mavs. After his other playoff failures, you would hope that once he got over the hump, he would take that next step. He wants the championships without the work. 2 years ago, it took a miracle 3 by Allen to bail him out. Last year, they were blown away by the Spurs. This year, he didn't have the conditioning to go in the 4th quarter. It's not like Jordan, Magic, etc. never played heavy minutes, because all superstars do when the title is on the line.

Poor Cavs because they had to start 2 bench players. Golden State started a bench player the last 3 games and he won the MVP. These guys are the best in the world. There isn't that big of a drop off.

Of course the Cavs are the favorites. They practically have a bye to the finals. The Warriors have to get by the Spurs, Thunder, Rockets, Clippers, etc. They could have a better team and not even make the finals. At this point, I expect Lebron to lose in the finals every year. Maybe the stars will align and he'll get one more ring.