holfresh wrote:

mreinman wrote:

crzymdups wrote:I wouldn't bother ranking Lebron until his career is done - but in his own era, it's hard to argue he was better than Duncan or Kobe - all three guys have two rings a piece in the past 8 years and Duncan and Kobe were older and on their second or third leg of their careers in those eight years, having each won three rings before that.

I can't rank Bron over Duncan or Kobe from his own era.

He deserves a full career and I think he'll certainly be an all-time top ten player when he's done. He might crack the top five by the time he's done, but I don't think he has yet.

if wins this year, top 5 is sealed.

nobody has won with a crappy team. This guy has already been to the finals with the bottom of the barrel teams.

who else has done that?

Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd and Dwight Howard..

true ...

he needs to win it to stand apart

mreinman wrote:

holfresh wrote:

mreinman wrote:

crzymdups wrote:I wouldn't bother ranking Lebron until his career is done - but in his own era, it's hard to argue he was better than Duncan or Kobe - all three guys have two rings a piece in the past 8 years and Duncan and Kobe were older and on their second or third leg of their careers in those eight years, having each won three rings before that.

I can't rank Bron over Duncan or Kobe from his own era.

He deserves a full career and I think he'll certainly be an all-time top ten player when he's done. He might crack the top five by the time he's done, but I don't think he has yet.

if wins this year, top 5 is sealed.

nobody has won with a crappy team. This guy has already been to the finals with the bottom of the barrel teams.

who else has done that?

Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd and Dwight Howard..

true ...

he needs to win it to stand apart

Playing and beating great opponents is what makes you great..LeBron has lost to Duncan twice in three tries..And Duncan wasn't in his prime...

holfresh wrote:

mreinman wrote:

holfresh wrote:

mreinman wrote:

crzymdups wrote:I wouldn't bother ranking Lebron until his career is done - but in his own era, it's hard to argue he was better than Duncan or Kobe - all three guys have two rings a piece in the past 8 years and Duncan and Kobe were older and on their second or third leg of their careers in those eight years, having each won three rings before that.

I can't rank Bron over Duncan or Kobe from his own era.

He deserves a full career and I think he'll certainly be an all-time top ten player when he's done. He might crack the top five by the time he's done, but I don't think he has yet.

if wins this year, top 5 is sealed.

nobody has won with a crappy team. This guy has already been to the finals with the bottom of the barrel teams.

who else has done that?

Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd and Dwight Howard..

true ...

he needs to win it to stand apart

Playing and beating great opponents is what makes you great..LeBron has lost to Duncan twice in three tries..And Duncan wasn't in his prime...

San Antonio had a better team

take Jordan away from the Bulls and they won 55 games (and would have probably won it all if not for Hugh Hollins)

holfresh wrote:

mreinman wrote:

holfresh wrote:

mreinman wrote:

holfresh wrote:

mreinman wrote:

crzymdups wrote:I wouldn't bother ranking Lebron until his career is done - but in his own era, it's hard to argue he was better than Duncan or Kobe - all three guys have two rings a piece in the past 8 years and Duncan and Kobe were older and on their second or third leg of their careers in those eight years, having each won three rings before that.

I can't rank Bron over Duncan or Kobe from his own era.

He deserves a full career and I think he'll certainly be an all-time top ten player when he's done. He might crack the top five by the time he's done, but I don't think he has yet.

if wins this year, top 5 is sealed.

nobody has won with a crappy team. This guy has already been to the finals with the bottom of the barrel teams.

who else has done that?

Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd and Dwight Howard..

true ...

he needs to win it to stand apart

Playing and beating great opponents is what makes you great..LeBron has lost to Duncan twice in three tries..And Duncan wasn't in his prime...

San Antonio had a better team

take Jordan away from the Bulls and they won 55 games (and would have probably won it all if not for Hugh Hollins)

The Heat was favored last year...They were favored against Dallas as well..Thats not greatness..MJ would not have lost to those teams..

was MJ's team a 55 win team without him?

Knixkik wrote:#2 behind jordan all time. No question about it. What he is doing is just amazing.

Same for me -- #2 best player I've even seen behind Jordan, whether the Cavs win the Finals this year or not.

Uptown wrote:Regardless, when his playing career is over, i think he is top 5. A championship will cement it for sure. However, the ding or criticim will be loud and boistrous especially from the Jordan fanatics. They take any compliment to Lebron as an insult to Jordan. I think Jordan is the best, but geez, it seems his myth grows each year he is away from the game.

Other than Jordan, Lebron is the most gifted basketball player i ever saw.

Kobe is closer to Jordan. LBJ has that incredible physique that really separates him from the guard-greats. But based strictly on skills, it's MJ-1 and Kobe-2, IMHO. LBJ definitely top 5 all time great.

WaltLongmire wrote:Winning a title with his present crew would be impressive beyond belief. Mosgov is probably the only other player on this team that can give you a consistent contribution on both ends of the court, even though they don't play him all the time.

The rest of their team has been inconsistent beyond belief, and you they have significant limitations in their respective games.

At this point you only want Smith and Shump catching and shooting, Dellavedova has been inconsistent on offense, especially his J, although he has hit some floaters, Thompson is a ghost on the offensive end unless there is a missed shot and doesn't add anything to the flow of their offense, and Jones is also a limited offensive player who is most effective standing in a corner and hitting the 3 off a James pass.

If you are Cleveland, you hope that the home court changes things for players not named Lebron or Timofey, but if it doesn't, and James can pull off the upset, this will be a truly great achievement- and one that has probably never been witnessed before.

Consistency is in the eyes of the beholder..Shump has been very consistent defensively..His and LeBron's defense sets the tone for the team...

holfresh wrote:

mreinman wrote:

holfresh wrote:

mreinman wrote:

holfresh wrote:

mreinman wrote:

holfresh wrote:

mreinman wrote:

crzymdups wrote:I wouldn't bother ranking Lebron until his career is done - but in his own era, it's hard to argue he was better than Duncan or Kobe - all three guys have two rings a piece in the past 8 years and Duncan and Kobe were older and on their second or third leg of their careers in those eight years, having each won three rings before that.

I can't rank Bron over Duncan or Kobe from his own era.

He deserves a full career and I think he'll certainly be an all-time top ten player when he's done. He might crack the top five by the time he's done, but I don't think he has yet.

if wins this year, top 5 is sealed.

nobody has won with a crappy team. This guy has already been to the finals with the bottom of the barrel teams.

who else has done that?

Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd and Dwight Howard..

true ...

he needs to win it to stand apart

Playing and beating great opponents is what makes you great..LeBron has lost to Duncan twice in three tries..And Duncan wasn't in his prime...

San Antonio had a better team

take Jordan away from the Bulls and they won 55 games (and would have probably won it all if not for Hugh Hollins)

The Heat was favored last year...They were favored against Dallas as well..Thats not greatness..MJ would not have lost to those teams..

was MJ's team a 55 win team without him?

Atlanta Hawks won 60 games..2013 Knicks won 54 games...Denver won 53 games..And what happened to the Bulls without Jordan, bumped in the 2nd round by the Knicks..

try to read the whole thing

mreinman wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:I'd want him to play at a very high level for more years before I put him in the top 5 and probably top 10 too. He's only 30. Others like Duncan have had hall of fame careers for almost 20 years.

jordan had a pretty short career

WaltLongmire wrote:

holfresh wrote:

WaltLongmire wrote:Winning a title with his present crew would be impressive beyond belief. Mosgov is probably the only other player on this team that can give you a consistent contribution on both ends of the court, even though they don't play him all the time.

The rest of their team has been inconsistent beyond belief, and you they have significant limitations in their respective games.

At this point you only want Smith and Shump catching and shooting, Dellavedova has been inconsistent on offense, especially his J, although he has hit some floaters, Thompson is a ghost on the offensive end unless there is a missed shot and doesn't add anything to the flow of their offense, and Jones is also a limited offensive player who is most effective standing in a corner and hitting the 3 off a James pass.

If you are Cleveland, you hope that the home court changes things for players not named Lebron or Timofey, but if it doesn't, and James can pull off the upset, this will be a truly great achievement- and one that has probably never been witnessed before.

Consistency is in the eyes of the beholder..Shump has been very consistent defensively..His and LeBron's defense sets the tone for the team...

Please read carefully.