At this point, its getting hard to deny LeBron is the best to ever pickup a Basketball

[Ron Mexico]

If he really was what yall claim he is there wouldn't be this need to constantly prop up every little thing he does. His resume would just speak for itself.

The Lebron GOAT shyt continues to be the most forced thing in sports.

 

[Professor Emeritus]

missing that DPOY award, 09 was his imo

Tough to argue in the Dwight era.
Probably deserved it over Gasol in 2013 though

Bron made the chasedown block famous in 2009, but I really underestimated how good an overall defender he was back then. Bron led the Cavs to the #3 defensive rating in the NBA despite a starting lineup of Mo Williams, Delonte West, washed Zydrunas Iglauskas, and washed Ben Wallace trading starts with Varejao.

Mo
Delonte
Lebron
35yo Wallace / Varejao
34yo Z

How the fukk is that the #3 defensive team in the NBA? Their starting backcourt is 6'1" / 6'3" lol. Outside of Varejao playing backup minutes and Wallace looking like an undersized shell, it's literally just LeBron and scraps.



Houston that year had

Brooks/Lowry
McGrady
Artest
Battier
Yao/Hayes

And somehow finished behind the Cavs in defensive rating.


Celtics had:

Rondo
Ray Allen / Tony Allen
Pierce
reigning DPOY Garnett
Perkins

And finished just barely ahead of them.


Dwight fairly deserved the DPOY in 2009, but Bron definitely had a DPOY-level impact.



2013 is a weird case. Marc Gasol was the most important defender on the 2nd-best defensive team, but Tony Allen, Mike Conley, and Tayshaun Prince (half the season) were absolutely elite too. Heat were only the 9th-best defensive team partly because their offense was so elite that they didn't have to try the whole game on defense. But when they needed to lock in they were among the best in the league. And everyone else on the '13 Heat was just a cog at best on the defensive end, Bron was the only one who had an elite impact on that side.

I've repeatedly said that Game 2 of the 2013 Finals is the greatest defensive performance I've ever seen from a player. Heat held an all-time elite Spurs offense to just 84 points on 41% shooting (their lowest score of the season where the starters played more than a half). Bron stole the ball from every Spurs ballhandler (Parker, Ginobli, and Neal) and got a block on every big (Duncan, Splitter, and Kawhi), including one of the most replayed blocks in Finals history plus a constantly replayed block-assist-steal-dunk sequence.








Spurs had just 71 points with 4:45 left in the game when Miami took the starters out.

 

[Tha_Mac]

If he’s the better player how comes he ain’t win as much or dominate his era like MJ did his? We went from rewarding someone that does more in less time to making exceptions for someone that does less with more time

Competition in LeBron's era is/was fierce. Kobe, Gasol, Odom & Artest. Duncan, Parker, Ginobili & Leonard. KG, Pierce, Ray Allen & Rondo. KD, Westbrook & Harden. KD, Steph, Klay & Dray.

Not to mention the evolution of basketball (the 3 ball emphasis & stretch 4 & 5's).

Jordan would win now but I think he would have a blemish or two as well.

 

[MVike28]

nikkas will be in wheelchairs hating on Bron while he wraps up his final season

 

[the cac mamba]

pleas tell me this isnt a reactionary thread to that fake ass tournament

 

[the cac mamba]

If he’s the better player how comes he ain’t win as much or dominate his era like MJ did his? We went from rewarding someone that does more in less time to making exceptions for someone that does less with more time

isnt it all kinda relative? does MJ have 2 3peats if he gets drafted by the cavs in 2003?

 

[Left.A1]

Lebron winning this tournament might be the best thing ever to create longterm legitimacy around it's existence... His diehard are obviously going to hype this event no for legacy purposes and his detractors will add to the conversation to try to negate it's relevance...however this only creates more and more engagement on the topic either way... Really a win win for the NBA.. Slendermsn Silver clearly put in that call

 

[inndaskKy]

Here's a crazy stat: even though this is his 21st season in the league, LeBron has finished in the top 3 of MVP voting more than half of all the seasons he's played (11 top 3 finishes, which is the record and two times more than MJ).

 

[MyApps]

Who's alt account is this?

 

[Hacksaw Jim Thuggin]

If he’s the better player how comes he ain’t win as much or dominate his era like MJ did his? We went from rewarding someone that does more in less time to making exceptions for someone that does less with more time

basketball is a TEAM sport....its not boxing...golf or tennis....

either compare the individual stats or dont but stop acting like mj won those chamouinships alone...

 

[Ukbrotha]

All of a sudden this is now a Micky mouse tournament. Shameless.

 

[Elim Garak]

Lost everything there is to lose also.

 

[murksiderock]

Anyone saying he isn't the greatest ever is just an established and rooted hater. It is what it is...

Thru 13 seasons, like Mike's Chicago career, was 2016. He's been the greatest of all time since then...

15 total years like Mike was 2018. Nighas be like "longevity is irrelevant", nikka he was the GOAT before all this added time. Bron coulda retired in '16, '17, or '18 and it was already established in my eyes...

as I've said aplenty, what he's done since then, is just created separation...

Mike could played longer, he didn't want to. We not penalizing no one for being greater at a later stage than Mike was, fukk outta here. And if Mike would've played longer he wouldn't have looked like this...

There was bound to be someone to come along greater than Mike, and there's bound to be someone to come along greater than LeBron. This bar is super fukking high, though. This nikka still in his prime. Longest prime ever, arguably highest peak ever, arguably most dominant player ever, arguably greatest postseason player ever...

It's a high bar. The person who challenges that on an All-Time scale is gonna be mind-blowing...

 

[etrofllenrod504]

missing that DPOY award, 09 was his imo

Absolute disgrace they gave it to a guy who wasn’t even 1st 2013 all defense smh

 

[Conan]

Absolute disgrace they gave it to a guy who wasn’t even 1st 2013 all defense smh

That's because of the stupid rules around having only 1 center in 1st team. And Tyson Chandler got more stats but he wasn't the anchor of the second best defensive team in the league.

LeBron is excellent but this isn't the battle y'all want to have trust me. If Gasol didn't win it then Tyson or Tony Allen would have.