Wizards play spoiler vs. the Bucks. We might've just pretty much ended their playoff hopes with that win.
I still think one Championship by Lebron and there is going to be massive - watch your head or the sail is going to smack you into the ocean - script flipping. Suddenly the guy will be praised for taking crappy Cleveland team to Finals, 60 wins, etc. He didn't win one as fast as Kobe and MJ, but his failure last season will turn into a success if he can win this season (didn't have the same talent around him as those guys, etc.). I'm hoping he stays on the LeChoke side, but I think a lot more people are going to start looking at him as one of the best ever if he gets the championship monkey off his back. Couldn't one argue that Kobe's teams when didn't have much help weren't as good as Lebron's with similar crappy sidekicks?
thing is, lebron is physically perfect for basketball....he has the body where as kobe has the skillset lebron can power his way to 30, kobe has to use finesse, more than ever it's like dwight, if he wasn't a genetic freak he wouldn't be a good player....his speed and strength for his size gives him that edge, same as lebron has there ever been as strong a man and quick at that size? i think it's unfair to compare him to kobe personally as james is much more physically dominant
The same thing happened with MJ in his career. Early on, he was viewed as just a selfish scorer who would never win a title. The Celtics and Pistons were the great teams and MJ was in the Rose, Iverson or Lebron role- great individual player but teams win titles and you can't win with a me first guy like MJ. Even when the Bulls won the early titles, people rationalized the wins to try to show why MJ wasn't really that great (e.g. the Lakers didn't have Worthy, Portland and the Suns didn't have good centers so MJ was the beneficiary of fluky circumstances and it was still a big man game). If you win enough, eventually people tend to forget about the things they wrote about you earlier in your career.
Wiz have some young talent. It's a matter of playing with maturity, playing like a team. But unlike Bobcats, their guys are athletic and have some skill.
Grommit is right, it wasn't until Jordan was about 30 that people started to say that he belonged with Bird and Magic. Until then they said he was selfish and wasn't a champion like them. In the 80s, Bird had Parish, McHale, Dennis Johnson. Magic had Kareen, Worthy, Cooper, AC Green etc. Jordan had ... yeah. Most of this "champion" stuff is about which guy had a great team around him. Not all, but most.
Agreed. And that's where Kobe and Jordan are so similar. And as much as I hate on Kobe, I will miss him. When he leaves the game I'm not too sure who carries the torch as the premier superstar sociopath. LeBron? Nope. Durant, Rose? Possibly... maybe they need to get their asses kicked a few more times in the playoffs
Didn't Kobe say he sees a bit of himself in Russ Westbrook? I'm not sure LeBron can win enough championships as the best player on his team to get into that conversation. You could say that he is still a year younger than when Jordan won his first, but I would use the counterargument that I do not expect LeBron to be as good at 35 as Jordan was.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc0ZSJHBnkA&feature=g-all-u&context=G2089edfFAAAAAAAADAA"]06/04/2012 Newcastle Eagles v Worcester Wolves - YouTube[/ame] this is the top standard b ball in the uk right here....
Alot of people forget, during shaq era Kobe was second fiddle. And he wasnt even regarded the best guard during those years, let alone the best player.I remember mcgrady or AI in early 2000's were better then Kobe. Lot of people would say, myself included you replace Kobe with Carter or Mcgrady on those lakers team and lakers would have still won 3 rings if not more. Its different with Lebron James, he been regarded the best in his position and league much early then kobe.He is still just 27, and been the face of NBA for as many years as Kobe been ( kobe been face of nba post-shaq, until bron took over). As I said I hope bron wins the ring, and what dark night says is very true.Once Lebron wins a ring, his failures will turn into accomplishments.Imagine the fact Lebron with less 100 playoff games then kobe has as many 40 point games in playoffs as kobe ( 12 v 9). Rings will give him the status he deserves, as the greatest ever alongside michael jordan
I think that's fair. LeBron didn't have the luxury of playing with Shaq as a young player. Wade did. That's why Wade has a ring and LeBron doesn't. It's not as if Wade is better, or even as good. No way Wade could have led those Cleveland teams to 65 wins. But he had Shaq on his side. Good planning, that.
basketball is so underrated, under appreciated, under-funded and just in general, ignored in this country! such a joke, for sports like tennis, badminton and rowing which get more money and we are generally shit at (except rowing)
People continue to ignore the Spurs. I always see them as the team that's always there. Quietly without much hype they've become the best team in the West, in terms of stats. And what the hell; Ginobili and Parker are playing out of their minds despite already being a bit "old" by NBA standards. As is Tim Duncan though not at the level of Parker. They just gave LA a complete spanking. Do the Spurs have any chance of going far in the playoffs?
how is it racist to observe that the starting lineups of most of the NBA teams are of West African descent? racist implies pejorative characterization. my statement points out the fact that West Africans were forcibly brought to the Americas as slave labor and it is their descendents, largely, who comprise the best NBA players. the Memphis Grizzlies, as a random example, are all black except Marc Gasol and Hamed Haddadi, neither of whom are from the Western Hemisphere. the "whitest" team, i think, is Minnesota, 5 of 14.
we all know americas AWFUL history, but to imply what u did can be seen as quite sensistive by some i would imagine?