NBA Playoffs Thread

I agree but I also asterisk his Spurs win. Ray Allen bailed him out after he threw up a horrible brick and almost cried

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That’s the equivalent of saying you can’t count Kobes loss vs DET because he dragged 2 AARP members in Payton and Malone along with him in the midst of attending court hearings literally hours before games. No excuses IMO

So if lebron passes up the shot and gives it to Ray Allen and he makes it is their no asterisk for that series because lebron didnt “brick” a final shot?

Shaq averaged 26 and 10 that series. There’s no comparison between that roster and the surrounding guys LeBron had in his non-Miami finals appearances. This year is much different though, and if the Warriors win (I believe they will) it’s another missed opportunity for LeBron to boost his legacy

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I have had my issues with LeBron James. Glad he lost to the Mavericks, and rooted against him in other finals series. But you can’t hate on 5 or 6 straight finals series. Curry may be the MVP of the league but LeBron is the the best player in the world today and win or lose probably should be MVP of the finals. No one has dragged less talent through the finals then LeBron.

You have to be kidding - Kobe had MUCH less talent in LA during 08-10 in relation to LJ in his 4 years in Miami, not even close. Additionally, he was playing vs absolute garbage in the East.

I wonder how this years finals performance by Lebron should be ranked against individual final performances (especially if they win out due to him having another monster game). Is Lebron having an off the charts finals series statistically? Are there better individual final’s performances?

Lebron James is the functional equivalent of Jerry West - always knocking on the door, but rarely gets in, at least until now.

I said in his non-Miami years, meaning in Cleveland before he left and again last year after injuries

I understand that, but you totally fail to acknowledge that he played vs. absolute garbage in the East before getting to the Finals and getting absolutely demolished by the Spurs.

My point is that it is a little ridiculous to acknowledge him as a loser with a 2-4 record in the finals when in two of those years it was a phenomenal accomplishment that he even got his team there and they were clearly overmatched. We would both agree if LeBron was in the western conference, he wouldn’t have even made the finals those years, meaning his career record would be 2-2, which is what I said is his true Finals record in my eyes anyway. Had he not made the finals those years and simply lost in the conference finals or before, is his historical rĂ©sumĂ© suddenly more impressive to you?

Well, in my mind Kobe Bryant is 5-0 in the Finals since if he wouldn’t have made the Finals in 04 and 08 then his record would be 5-0 - sound a bit ridiculous, no? As much as you may like, you can’t rewrite history, It’s 2-4 plain and simple.

So if LeBron finishes his career 5-5 in the finals, is that less impressive to you than Kobe’s 5-2?

Well, yes. Making it to the NBA finals in the East is easy to be frank. Making it out of the West in the past 15 years is just absolutely brutal. I’ll say this - if you replace Lebron with Kobe in Miami I think you’re looking at a 4peat.

Well, you are leaving out Boston, who also smoked the Lakers in 2008.

With the difference being that the Lakers absolutely crushed a dynastic Spurs team coming off a championship whereas Cleveland went through your local YMCA team in the East. Get real

I think you’re probably looking at a team without Bosh and Wade.

Honestly, I feel that Kobe pushing Phoenix to the brink of elimination in 07 with the likes of Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Brian Cook, Chris Mihm, Aaron McKie, Maurice Evans, Vladimir Radmanovic while averaging 35 points per game (that is correct 35 points per game - which makes Curry’s year look like child’s play) is much more impressive than anything Lebron has ever done in getting the Cavs to the Finals. That is the definition of improving the team. If you take Kobe off that team, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say the Lakers may have won 15games.

How does averaging 35 ppg make the team better? And how is a 4-1 series “the brink of elimination”.

No you have no idea what I’m thing about. They gave the ball to lebron a play or two before the Allen shot. He went to the rim and did a mid range shot that only hit back board. I can’t remember if they grabbed the board and called time out or how they got the ball back, but they zoomed in on lebron and he was about to cry. Totally had choked. Then the magic happened and bosh and Allen really bailed the team out.

So if we’re handing out asterisks for his misses which two of them I really don’t blame him for then I add one for the Spurs win because he totally wet the bed in a big moment again. Hence why he was almost in tears. He knew he choked heavy on what appeared to be the most important play of the series. Also yes had they given it to Allen to make something happen one on one I would have called a cop out and it would have been a huge story that lebron didn’t try and make the play. Unfair or not.