DJMUSIC wrote: Leadership wins love OR hate LBJ.

This post is not about show LBJ love, DJ could never do that but I can respect a guy that you see *guts, and will through fatigue
over $millions of dollars LBJ made. The man just eat, sleeps & sh_t's WINNING, fact & write it in stone.

There are two ways to look at a "franchise player"

From a marketing perspective for one. Then from a team/leadership perspective for another.

In terms of marketing, LBJ is fantastic. He sells the NBA image, he sells merchandise, he sells tickets. He's a one man event anywhere he goes.

In terms of team/leadership, he's an idiot. He's a coach killer and he doesn't play real team basketball. He meddles with personnel and drives his team into the ground and cap hell and asset depletion. He's an idiot the way Brett Favre was an idiot. Tremendous natural talent but needed/needs someone like Mike Holmgren to reel him in and keep him in check.

Steph Curry is rare in that he is both. He is a great player to market around, but not elite in this regard. And he's a great leader/team player. I've said this before, and it's sad. if Curry beat his wife, got some thot jumpoff stewardesses pregnant, shot up some nightclubs, dropped some rap videos, said stupid tampering type crap in the press, threw chalk in the air like a dolt and dressed after games like a part time porn stripper pimp maxing out his credit cards, then yes, I guess he would get more swag credit from many fans and the general public. But being a reserved quiet professional doesn't sell shoes does it.

LBJ does not offer real leadership. He pushes swag. To many fans and to some here, sadly, that to them is the same thing. Watching Ty Lue in a press conference trying to explain why he had to stop coaching this year, with some bizarre excuse, is one of the saddest things I've ever seen. A complete circus. If a player is dumb enough to think he can be a coach/GM/agent/icon all at the same time, then have at it.

LBJ has STATUS. That's not character. It's not leadership. It's not sacrifice. It's not teamwork.

He's a once in a generation player. But he's not full swag and status for that. He's got full swag and status because he sells shoes. Then again, there are people sitting in jail right now for killing other kids for their shoes. So what does that tell you?

Leadership and swag/status are two different things. He'd have more championships if he knew the difference.

This goes to show not LeBron’s greatness but how bad the Eastern Coference really was. All they do in the NBA is push agendas. Game sevens, getting the Marketable players in the finals. Let everyone know how great they are.

Curry is a great player and leader but no way he could have done what Lebron has done for the last eight years if surrounded with the same level of talent.

TripleThreat wrote:

DJMUSIC wrote: Leadership wins love OR hate LBJ.

This post is not about show LBJ love, DJ could never do that but I can respect a guy that you see *guts, and will through fatigue
over $millions of dollars LBJ made. The man just eat, sleeps & sh_t's WINNING, fact & write it in stone.

There are two ways to look at a "franchise player"

From a marketing perspective for one. Then from a team/leadership perspective for another.

In terms of marketing, LBJ is fantastic. He sells the NBA image, he sells merchandise, he sells tickets. He's a one man event anywhere he goes.

In terms of team/leadership, he's an idiot. He's a coach killer and he doesn't play real team basketball. He meddles with personnel and drives his team into the ground and cap hell and asset depletion. He's an idiot the way Brett Favre was an idiot. Tremendous natural talent but needed/needs someone like Mike Holmgren to reel him in and keep him in check.

Steph Curry is rare in that he is both. He is a great player to market around, but not elite in this regard. And he's a great leader/team player. I've said this before, and it's sad. if Curry beat his wife, got some thot jumpoff stewardesses pregnant, shot up some nightclubs, dropped some rap videos, said stupid tampering type crap in the press, threw chalk in the air like a dolt and dressed after games like a part time porn stripper pimp maxing out his credit cards, then yes, I guess he would get more swag credit from many fans and the general public. But being a reserved quiet professional doesn't sell shoes does it.

LBJ does not offer real leadership. He pushes swag. To many fans and to some here, sadly, that to them is the same thing. Watching Ty Lue in a press conference trying to explain why he had to stop coaching this year, with some bizarre excuse, is one of the saddest things I've ever seen. A complete circus. If a player is dumb enough to think he can be a coach/GM/agent/icon all at the same time, then have at it.

LBJ has STATUS. That's not character. It's not leadership. It's not sacrifice. It's not teamwork.

He's a once in a generation player. But he's not full swag and status for that. He's got full swag and status because he sells shoes. Then again, there are people sitting in jail right now for killing other kids for their shoes. So what does that tell you?

Leadership and swag/status are two different things. He'd have more championships if he knew the difference.

Sorry this is a very ignorant and embarrassing post. The icing on the cake is the irrelevant rambling about kids killing for sneakers.

Lebron Clowned. he stopped.
Lebron complained. He stopped.
Lebron Flopped. He stopped.
Lebron took days off. stopped.
Lebron wants what he wants. He wins. His nemesis is GSW and that they basically roll injury free with a young team. Bulls thwarted Knicks, then Hakeems Rockets, Lebron by GSW.
Lebron Is not Jordan, and Jordan is not Bill Russell.
Lue is not Phil.

Cartman718 wrote:Praise Lebron for what this year...? Let's recap shall we?
First of all if you think any of these trades were made without Lebron's blessing you are very naive.
A flawed but bigtime scorer in Isiah Thomas was traded away to Lakers for Clarkson and Nance.

In the series against boston when Lebron needed someone to shoulder the scoring load, would that have been Isiah Thomas or Nance+Clarkson. Advantage Isiah Thomas. and Lebron had him traded away so that he could be what...?
- the only big dog on campus?
- struggle against 2 teams (Pacers + Celtics) that he's never struggled against before?

With Isiah Thomas on the team, he could have had an easier path to the Finals. You think Nance and Clarkson with 0 Finals and Playoffs experience until now are suddenly going to take him to the promised land..? don't think so.

The 3 team trade...jae crowder gone, derrick rose gone some worthless picks gone, they get arturas gudaitis, george hill, rodney hood. Of this only george hill has panned out. rodney hood already acting out by refusing to enter 4th quarter in a blowout game.

crowder and hill have both been hit or miss this post season so this trade is kinda even as far as this year is concerned.
But...you think isiah thomas' scoring could have helped against the pacers?

ESPN's Brian W writes...

In the past 15 years, stories about LeBron James' body have become a bit legendary with teammates.

Seeing him turn his ankle nearly 90 degrees only to tighten his shoelaces and finish with a triple-double. Watching him show up four hours before a playoff game to get in a sweat-soaked workout, then play more than 40 minutes and score 40 points. And the topper: the time James gained seven pounds during an Eastern Conference finals game.

Some Miami Heat teammates saw the scale and attest to it in amazement. James himself just shrugs and calls it "weird as hell." The truly wild part is that it was from 271 pounds to 278 pounds, though James is much lighter these days.

really...? how does that happen? easiest and most probable answer is PEDs.

lets go back to 2014/15 season for a min..
There was a lot of coincidence in the NBA's HGH testing policy announcement during the 2014/2015 season and his weight/athletic loss when he went back to Cleveland.

We know LeBron is high up in the players association which negotiates these things, and HGH/other PED's can take months to cycle off...so the timing.

He slimmed down to play a more perimeter oriented game yet somehow got noticeably less athletic within a few months from the end of the 2014 season to beginning of the 2015 season despite not suffering any major injuries.

so basically every player could take it except the best player in the game? oh what a freakish athlete he is, isn't he?

also, in his own words...
"if it's the rules, it's the rules," James said after Cleveland's final practice before hosting Boston on Sunday in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. "It shouldn't be a problem." LOL thats basically accepting that yes I did, but now that the rules are in place, I'll abide (to some extent).

now lets come to the east conference finals...pounding his chest after game 6 and game 7 was pretty much in the bag.
against who...
a Celtics team where players who have been in the league < 3 years were dunking on him?
a Celtics team devoid of their 2 stars Kyrie and Hayward?

lol what a false sense of accomplishment. With Kyrie...the Celtics would have blown Lebron James and the Cavs out the building and the series would have never gone to 7 games. So what the hell is he pounding his chest for... for beating a team missing their best 1-2 punch?

Like Melo said...FOH.
and here's some insight to how toxic of a personality he is..he couldn't even keep Kyrie around, meanwhile Steph, Klay, Draymond, Iguodala (who was finals MVP btw) have coexisted for how long now? and KD is in the same mix too.

How exactly is Cleveland going to defend the Hampton 5? The Rockets who are full of wide-bodied but agile players and were BUILT to stop GSW couldn't stop them in game 7. What is a Cleveland team that had trouble beating an undermanned Celtics team going to do? We are about to find out.

Guess its my turn to be Suze, lol. The thought had crossed my mind. If LeBron wasnt one of the smartest players in the league. Could have made the HOF just as a PG. Also smart enough to hire the best trainers, find the latest training techniques, nutrition, to continue to play at a high level.

One more thing. If LeBron was still maturity wise, the same player more or less that he was entering the league, immature. The caricature that some are expanding to apply to LeBron's entire career, I might have been more suspicious. James has become a voice for those who dont have as much representation in govt (and society), has become a savvy business man, while staying out of the Tabloids, for the most part. All LeBron has achieved to this point, while taking large doses of PEDs, while keeping his #$%%^ together all these years, would be very difficult.

No issues in the Olympics. If it really was that important to his success, we would have seen a big drop in performance, unlesss they're in it as well.

As for Thomas, he was a ball dominant PG who was calling his number too much and an injury risk.

Nalod wrote:Haters hated when pass first Lebron passed first and team did not execute.
Now he is hated because he wins.
He is hated because he has leverage on his roster.
Lebron don’t have HOF’s on his roster like Jordan did.
Lebron did not have a HOF coach transform his mind to the team concept. He already was “team”.
Jordan punches his teammates to perform. Lebron engages the team concept.
One better than the other? We can argue it for years. Chisle them both on MT Rushmore and enjoy it.

+1000

Uptown wrote:

KNICKSBIGCATS wrote:Say all you want negative about MY CELTICS.
You're just jealous.
The Knicks are light years behind the Celtics(and also the 76ers for that matter)
in their development. The Knicks won't sniff the second round of the playoffs for at least 5 years.
On the other hand, the Celtics will be a serious FINALS contender every one of those 5 years.
Just another current example of BOSTON sports teams OWNING new york sports teams.

Why do have "Knicks" in your screen name if your not a Knick fan?!? I actually, I will do you one better, why are you HERE if you are a Celtic fan? GTFO!!!!

Who the living **** is knicksbigcats ?
At least DJ has a sense of humour about his raptors, but y put up a fake name to he here the definition of troll