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Lebron is gonna go down as a Top 4 player. Whoever needs to be moved out, doesn't matter. The totality of his game, the breadth of his dominance is something very, very, rare...
Who says Bird's prime was better? Lebron isn't in his prime anymore; last year showed his first sense of decline, and he STILL dominated the Finals...
I don't know why some of you older guys hate Lebron so much. If he's able to win two more rings, its gonna be him and Jordan in a two-man convo for GOAT. As it stands now, he's already top 5, definitely not less than top 8. Even ESPN agrees:
I'm not older, but that doesn't mean I totally disregard what other greats did before I was able to watch. There's no consensus on Lebron being top-4. There are solid arguments to be made for guys like Kareem, Jordan, Russell, Magic, Bird and a few others. Heck, I'm sure some will argue that Duncan > Lebron.
I'm not sure how much Lebron "dominated" the Finals considering his team only won 2 games. From the field he went 11-35 in game 2, 7-22 in game 4 and 13-33 in game 6. He did have a monster game 1 though.
I'm not older, but that doesn't mean I totally disregard what other greats did before I was able to watch. There's no consensus on Lebron being top-4. There are solid arguments to be made for guys like Kareem, Jordan, Russell, Magic, Bird and a few others. Heck, I'm sure some will argue that Duncan > Lebron.
I'm not sure how much Lebron "dominated" the Finals considering his team only won 2 games. From the field he went 11-35 in game 2, 7-22 in game 4 and 13-33 in game 6. He did have a monster game 1 though.
He dominated in the way he scored, he ate up the paint. He bodied every defender they put on him--Igoudala had the most success, but that was really for games 5-6. Lebron bodied every defender they put on him...
There's no consensus to Lebron's stature because he's still playing, and human nature is to take for granted what you have today. When he walks away from the game, in 10-15 years, when we're able to describe him to an enitre planet of fans who never got to watch him play...he IS the Jordan of this generation, far and away the best player of his era. There's that much seperation between him and the next great players of his era--Curry will need to equal Lebron in MVP's and have 4-5 more seasons like this to really enter that convo; Durant and Westbrook have already hit their ceilings; Anthony Davis hasn't matured yet, etc...
I don't take for granted the old greats. I also don't take for granted I grew up able to watch one of the most talented guys to ever touch a court before. Lebron WILL finish as Top 4-5. Don't let him win any more rings--he's gonna leapfrog a ****load of people...
I'd say with Curry winning MVPs, it sorta takes away from the Lebron legacy as far as being the current gen Jordan....especially if the Warriors go back-to-back.
Curry could possibly win his 2nd MVP, 2nd ring and be part of a team that broke the wins record held by Jordan's Bulls. If all of this happens I think we can say Curry's greatness at least rivals Lebron's (if not surpasses it). How does this relate to MJ? Well, no one rivaled Jordan during his prime.
I'd say with Curry winning MVPs, it sorta takes away from the Lebron legacy as far as being the current gen Jordan....especially if the Warriors go back-to-back.
Curry could possibly win his 2nd MVP, 2nd ring and be part of a team that broke the wins record held by Jordan's Bulls. If all of this happens I think we can say Curry's greatness at least rivals Lebron's (if not surpasses it). How does this relate to MJ? Well, no one rivaled Jordan during his prime.
No it doesn't, thats even silly of you to suggest. Curry winning his second MVP is still two short of Lebron; Curry winning back to back titles is equal to Lebron. Curry has only dominated the game for less than two seasons. Lebron was the undisputed best player in the league for 5 years running. The years it was disputed (15-16, Curry; 09, Kobe), he was clearly no less than number 2...
Curry has only been in the discussion for best player for two seasons. Him winning another championship and MVP (I predict he'll get both) pushes him closer to James, but ultimately still considerably behind. Lebron has been a Top 2 player since 2008-2009 season. Thats 8 consecutive seasons, no argument. Curry has been a top 2 player for two seasons. Let's get real here. While he may be a better player than Lebron now (even thats debatable), he's no where near close to "threatening Lebron's legacy"...
No it doesn't, thats even silly of you to suggest. Curry winning his second MVP is still two short of Lebron; Curry winning back to back titles is equal to Lebron. Curry has only dominated the game for less than two seasons. Lebron was the undisputed best player in the league for 5 years running. The years it was disputed (15-16, Curry; 09, Kobe), he was clearly no less than number 2...
Curry has only been in the discussion for best player for two seasons. Him winning another championship and MVP (I predict he'll get both) pushes him closer to James, but ultimately still considerably behind. Lebron has been a Top 2 player since 2008-2009 season. Thats 8 consecutive seasons, no argument. Curry has been a top 2 player for two seasons. Let's get real here. While he may be a better player than Lebron now (even thats debatable), he's no where near close to "threatening Lebron's legacy"...
Lebron James, in his prime, had no rivals...
It's not about him having more than Lebron (he's only 27) - it's about Curry claiming his stake as arguably the best player DURING Lebron's prime. Who did that while Jordan was 30-31 yrs old? Malone? Barkley? Nope.
The only guy other than Wilt Chamberlain who could dominate the game on both ends of court.
Oh, and props to Tim Duncan!
Thing is - Hakeem never won it all with Jordan at his best. He may not even get the '94 MVP if Jordan doesn't retire. Curry is winning in Lebron's prime. If he wins this year, he's 2-0 in the finals and his team is considered among the best ever with 72-73 wins. And I would guess Curry and the Warriors will be favored to win in 2017. If the Warriors go back-to-back the NBA officially belongs to Curry while Lebron is only 30-31 years old. At 32 Jordan was still the MVP, won 72 games and a title.
For the last year or two it has felt like the torch was being passed to Curry...the same way Kobe had it off and on until 2010, but Lebron officially took it after winning his 2nd MVP in 2010.
Last edited by eddiehaskell; 04-12-2016 at 11:44 PM..
One thing you have to consider, at 31, Lebron is in his 13th season. At 31, Jordan wasn't even playing (93-94 season), so he only had 9 seasons under him anyway, it would have only been his 10th...
Curry is 28, only in his seventh season. In Lebron's seventh season was his last year in Cleveland; he was 25. In the year he turned 28 (2012-2013), he was on the second of his back to backs, just like Curry is now, in his age 28 season...
You do anything to diminish Lebron's greatness, won't you?
Point of fact is Lebron James is by FAR and away the greatest player of his era. 8 seasons and counting of being, at WORST, a Top 2 player; for the large majority of these 8 seasons he was undisputedly the number one player on the planet...
Stephen Curry, or Kevin Durant, or somebody we don't know yet, has a LONG way to go to accomplish Lebron's overall impact on the game. A long way. As it stands now, yes, Steph Curry just may be the best player in the game, but he is nowhere close to equaling Lebron. Stop the comedy...
and yet, absolutely ZERO of all that has anything to do with tim duncan and kareem!
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