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He's also on fire from 3 so far this postseason. Shooting about 48% (compare to Curry's 40%).
I don't think the argument is that he doesn't have 6 rings. It's that he's lost a bunch of finals. People will never forgive him for sucking against Dallas. Many also blame him for 2014 against San Antonio, but really he was the only one on his team even trying. Wade's effort that series was pathetic. Jordan's big blemishes were getting swept out of the first round, but no one really remembers that. Nevertheless, if James beats Golden State and San Antonio over and over again, there's certainly a conversation.
Something Shannon Sharpe said recently: Cleveland hasn't lost a playoff series when the big 3 has been healthy yet. I'm not saying that's not in jeopardy, but I hadn't thought about that. In fact, they've only lost 5 total games in series when the big 3 were healthy (excluding Love's minor issues when he missed a couple games in the finals). When they went down 2-0 to GS last year, I thought they had to bring in Mozgov and let Lebron go 2015 all over the Warriors. I was wrong on that one. Now their bench players seem to be truly capable. I had no idea Deron Williams was still even in the NBA until a few months ago.
The major road block I see for any player encroaching on Jordan is not one but TWO 3-peats.
Put all the analysis, fandom, and "yeah, but..." excuses away and let that sink in. 6 titles in 8 years. Think on it really hard.
Since the Celtics dynasty 50 years ago, only 1 team not including MJ has had the mental fortitude to climb 3-peat mountain. It took TWO top 10 players all time (Kobe/Shaq) and the team was in shambles by the end...to hell with asking them to win 3 in a row AGAIN.
People can argue for their favorite player all day, but 6 of 6 is 6 of 6. It's a reign only interrupted by the ruler looking for other challenges in life. I don't see Lebron doing it. I don't see the Warriors approaching 6 titles in 8 years even if the team somehow stayed together.
He's also on fire from 3 so far this postseason. Shooting about 48% (compare to Curry's 40%).
I don't think the argument is that he doesn't have 6 rings. It's that he's lost a bunch of finals. People will never forgive him for sucking against Dallas. Many also blame him for 2014 against San Antonio, but really he was the only one on his team even trying. Wade's effort that series was pathetic. Jordan's big blemishes were getting swept out of the first round, but no one really remembers that. Nevertheless, if James beats Golden State and San Antonio over and over again, there's certainly a conversation.
Something Shannon Sharpe said recently: Cleveland hasn't lost a playoff series when the big 3 has been healthy yet. I'm not saying that's not in jeopardy, but I hadn't thought about that. In fact, they've only lost 5 total games in series when the big 3 were healthy (excluding Love's minor issues when he missed a couple games in the finals). When they went down 2-0 to GS last year, I thought they had to bring in Mozgov and let Lebron go 2015 all over the Warriors. I was wrong on that one. Now their bench players seem to be truly capable. I had no idea Deron Williams was still even in the NBA until a few months ago.
That's because those two first-round sweeps were in 1986 and 1987 and to the Celtics, who won 67 games and the NBA title that first season, 59 games and the Eastern Conference title the second season. No one save you thinks those are 'big blemishes'. I really doubt anyone thinks James' Cavaliers missing the playoffs entirely his first two seasons are 'big blemishes', either - even you (though how you could square that with making the playoffs yet getting swept in 3 games by a historically great team being a 'big blemish' is a mystery).
Those Bulls teams were crappy 30-40 win teams that didn't belong in the playoffs anyway. That's the whole point -- Jordan didn't really have any blemishes. It's all academic whether Jordan would have won any finals or even escaped the first round had he not been coached by PJ and had his all-star teammates not shown up (probably would have at least gotten out of the first round).
This actually is one of Kobe's blemishes. He could not get out of the first round without Gasol or Shaq. This is one thing Lebron did many times.
He's also on fire from 3 so far this postseason. Shooting about 48% (compare to Curry's 40%).
I don't think the argument is that he doesn't have 6 rings. It's that he's lost a bunch of finals. People will never forgive him for sucking against Dallas. Many also blame him for 2014 against San Antonio, but really he was the only one on his team even trying. Wade's effort that series was pathetic. Jordan's big blemishes were getting swept out of the first round, but no one really remembers that. Nevertheless, if James beats Golden State and San Antonio over and over again, there's certainly a conversation.
Something Shannon Sharpe said recently: Cleveland hasn't lost a playoff series when the big 3 has been healthy yet. I'm not saying that's not in jeopardy, but I hadn't thought about that. In fact, they've only lost 5 total games in series when the big 3 were healthy (excluding Love's minor issues when he missed a couple games in the finals). When they went down 2-0 to GS last year, I thought they had to bring in Mozgov and let Lebron go 2015 all over the Warriors. I was wrong on that one. Now their bench players seem to be truly capable. I had no idea Deron Williams was still even in the NBA until a few months ago.
Don't count your chickens before they've hatched. It's unlikely that the Cavs beat the Warriors this year. Sharpe has no business commenting on the NBA. The Warriors are the superior team.
What if Lebron never again wins a title, but has another 2-3 years of superb play? That looks like the single most likely future, to me. I think he remains in the nebula of the NBA's best: Jordan, Magic, Kareem, Russell. He is not distinguished from them.
The Cavs won't have much cap room in the next two years. The only players I can imagine them moving are Smith & Shumpert, neither of whom frees much space or is likely to draw a significant return. They need to replace Korver & Darren Williams next year with minimum salary players or the mini-mid level. Maybe Korver sticks around, but he'll be 37 and he's already a sieve on defense. And Lebron will be a year older--great as he is, time catches all players, eventually. Moving Kevin Love might still be the right thing to do, but it brings team cohesion risks.
Their current 6-0 run clears most doubts about their previous 23-23 run. We'll see what happens, or how serious Draymond's injury is. The Warriors can't win without Draymond. He's the only guy who even bothered showing up to game 7 last year. Even though I couldn't stand his whining or punching guys in the nuts over and over again, I respected his consistent effort.
I don't see why Sharpe should be commenting on the NBA any less than Skip should be. Skip tries to push this nonsense that Lebron has done nothing right and deserves 0 rings and is the worst shooter in the history of the NBA. Well, Lebron is currently shooting 48% from 3 this postseason. I'm assuming that's #1 (assuming a certain reasonable minimum number of attempts), but haven't looked at every player.
You think the Cavs are the superior team? I think they are the NBA's 4th best team this year.
I think they were the 4th best team, at best, in the regular season. They were tied with three other teams for the 5th-best regular season record. Of course, that really means nothing now, does it?
-in 2016, the best regular season team of all time, the amazing Golden State Warriors, finished #2, while the #3 regular season team (Cleveland) won it all...
- in 2012, Chicago and San Antonio tied for the best regular season record. Neither even made The Finals. However, the team with the #3 regular season record, Miami, won it all...
-in 2011, Chicago again was the "regular season champion", yet didn't even make The Finals. A team that was tied for the #4 regular season record, Dallas, won it all...
- in 2010, Cleveland was the regular season champion, yet failed to advance to The Finals. The Lakers had the #3 regular season record and won it all...
That's just this decade, and my point is to illustrate how faulty to base one's premise entirely off the regular season. I'd say since the playoffs began, they clearly look like a Top 3 team at worst, and that's more than we could say for them the week heading into the tournament. It's entirely within reason to believe they have a shot at defending the crown...
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