Kontradiction
On my retirement tour.
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I never accused Stern of producing a Lakers win. I think his real motive is stretching the series out, as there is a huge financial benefit. Specifically, I thought the refereeing blatantly favored the Cavs in the first 3 games, and after game 4 when it was apparent Lebron didn't have enough, it shifted in the Celts favor.
There were a few who did. They accused him of stretching out the series and then having the referees swing the calls in the Lakers favor because the Celtics had beaten them in 2008 and a Lakers win in the rivalry would be good for basketball.
Really, have you seen a team give up the way Cleveland did? Right down to the final minute and not fouling, and ignoring their coach to do so. It was insane.
Exactly. The whole team was out of sorts and that falls on the guy who leads (or LED) them out onto the court: Mike Brown. There is a reason why Brown is out of a job right now. This is also one of the reasons why LeBron expressed a desire to play for a no-nonsense coach (remember the pre-game shenanigans in the Celtics series?).
That has to fall on the shoulders of the guy leading them on the court. So why was he so aloof?
Like I said, there were a variety of factors involved in that. Compare the last game of that series to the Pats/Ravens playoff game this past year. In the fourth quarter of that game, the whole team looked lost. There were a variety of factors in that as well. The Ravens had just beaten them into the ground the way the Celtics beat the Cavs into the ground.
Of course not, absolutely not. I have never said Lebron isn't a great player. Just that he should be second tier (Melo, Durant, CP3), and not mentioned alongside Kobe. And certainly, absolutely not mentioned in the same breath as any NBA great from the past. First tier players will their team to win.
To be fair, nobody should be mentioned alongside Kobe right now. LeBron has even admitted that in the past. Kobe is, essentially, all on his own on the first tier of players in that league. But people forget that LeBron is still young and still has a long career to go.
The perception was that Lebron didn't have enough around him. But looking back on it, how can that be true if the same team steamrolled through the regular season and was unbeatable at home, against any competition?
There weaknesses as a team were exposed in the playoffs. Teams were able to put multiple bodies on LeBron and get away with it because Mo Williams was incredibly overrated and couldn't hit a shot to save his life. Delonte West wasn't anywhere near consistent enough either to make defenses stay honest. Shaq was 37 years old and was nowhere near the threat he was earlier in the decade. Teams didn't have to account for much with him. And Anderson Varejao is a tenacious defender but leaves a lot to be desired on offense. It's a fact that LeBron didn't have enough around him. I doubt even Kobe could have won with that roster. But for argument's sake, let's take a look at all of their playoff stats...
1. LeBron James - 29.1 PPG, 7.6 APG, 9.3 RPG
2. Mo Williams - 14.4 PPG, 5.4 APG, 3.10 RPG
3. Delonte West - 6.7 PPG, 2.6 APG, 1.90 RPG
4. Anderson Varejao - 5.7 PPG, 0.6 APG, 6.50 RPG
5. Shaqille O'Neal - 11.5 PPG, 1.4 APG, 5.50 RPG
As you can see, in the playoffs, there was a pretty steep drop after LeBron. Mo Williams had a good series in the first two rounds but against the Celtics he was ineffective outside of a couple of games. The beliefs that LeBron "quit" in the last game is also incorrect. He scored 27 points in the last game. In the final playoff game, only James and Mo Williams (who had been harped on before that point by some of the media) scored more than 20. The rest of the starters scored 5, 11, and 7 points respectively. That's not what I would call a championship calibur supporting cast. James now has that.
At some point, the picture snapping, the calling onself King without any championships, the giving up in the playoffs, the 1-hour TV special, etc., etc. all adds up to paint a picture of the guy. I don't recall what you've said about Lebron, speicifically in the past, but would you be defending him if he weren't on the Heat right now?
Sure I would. I've defended him in the past on here as well, especially after Game 6. I think people harp on him too much.
And the fact is, Lebron will never enter the upper tier of all time NBA greats with his move to the Heat. He will always be remembered as the guy who had to leave town to get a ring. He has good company in guys like KG & Ray Allen. But if he really wanted to threaten Jordan's legacy, he absolutely had to stay in Cleveland and win, rather than defect to Miami to play with two more All-Stars. And ultimately, that's all Lebron is - a really good player who came into the league with great marketing and great PR. The reputation and aura surrounding him has - to this point - far exceeded his actual worth on the basketball court.
LOL. If he wins a championship, nobody is going to remember him for going to the Heat in order to do it. They'll just remember that he became a champion in the long run. It's much the same way that nobody brings up the fact that Jordan didn't win a championship before or after Pippen. All people remember is that he was a multiple time champion. I have to think that the Heat, with all of their additions (Juwan Howard is supposedly on board as well now too, so they have depth) are the odds on favorites to win a championship this year. The only teams I see capable of defending them are Boston and L.A. Even then, I don't really see anywhere where Boston matches up favorably with them right now. Not one position. The only exception could come at Power Forward, but that match-up is much closer than most Celtics fans would probably admit. It's by no means a clear cut Boston advantage there. But, then again, that's why they play the games. So we'll see. Really looking forward to next season.