Personally? I resent LeBron because from the first time I read about him in his high school days, I wanted him to be "the One." He was an immensely talented basketball player, and it seemed like there really was no limit to what he could do in the NBA. It was really exciting to think that I would get to see the development and career of a stone-cold, potentially "best ever" basketball legend. Now I recognize he is still immensely talented, but I don't think of him in that way anymore. Basically, he's human, and as unfair as it may be, I resent him for that. Not his fault at all, really. But I don't really feel like I need to radically reassess my mindset here, because who cares? Liking and disliking players, for whatever reason, is part of what makes the sport so interesting to follow. So FUCK LeBron, go OKC.

ya thats what i was hoping for too and didnt get. he just isn't a likable dude to me. i wasnt around for Jordan but I think the concensus was that he was loved by almost everybody. the majority of people now dont want him to win a championship because hes such a prima donna that really only cares about winning a championship for himself and no one else. i know what youre saying about him being human and i completely agree. unfortunately for us he is human and has lots of faults.

anyways, for miami to win theyre gonna have to get something big out of D-Wade in at least a couple of games and bosh is gonna have to play like 35-40 mins a game. really hope the thunder win though. its pretty close as to whether id rather watch the celts win or watch the heatles lose.

Hate to break it to you but that's all Jordan wanted to do too.

you think jordan wasnt a team player? theres nothing that ive ever heard about him that would suggest that. also theres no way you can win 6 championships without good team cohesiveness no matter if you have the best player to ever step on the floor or not. i know he cared about getting those rings for himself but i just have never thought of lebron as a "team player" at least not to the extent of jordan.

Sure there is. Pro athletes hate each other all the time and win. Did you see Wade vs. Spoelstra during the Pacers series? They're in the Finals, now.

i'd say that, if anything, it is incredible that he has become anywhere near as great as he has... because 90+% of the time these super prodigies don't pan out, for one reason or another.... remember when sebastian telfair was anointed to become the greatest point guard of his generation while in high school?

I just learned something I never knew.

If the offense has the ball and the defense gets a tie up and a jump ball, the shot clock does not reset. If the offense gets the tip they only have whatever was on the shot clock at the time of the tie up to get off a shot.

Fantastic game by the Thunder. It is a testament to how well they've played this year that I had no doubt they would come back from that deficit. Durant and Westbrook were fantastic obviously but I want to call out some special contributors. Fisher but especially Sefolosha and Collison played like absolute studs. The Thunder's switching defense with their athletes is so good when everyone is buying in like that. And Scott Brooks had another phenomenal coaching performance. His adjustments in the second half to go with that lineup and especially his decision to leave Harden planted to the bench for a good part of the 4th was exactly what OKC needed. It was also a joy to watch them just swing the ball around.

Miami on the other hand played right into OKC's hand. They played like they were playing an unathletic team like Boston rather than a team that outdoes them at most positions in athleticism and it hurt them. Even when they were up 13 I never felt like they really outplayed OKC so much as they knocked down more shots. Throughout the game OKC easily created the better shots they just weren't hitting them early. Miami better figure out something quick or they're in trouble. This game could have been a lot worse.

Lebron is a big team player. All of his teammates always seem to like him and he's always willing to pass them the ball even in big moments (more than Jordan ever was). And Jordan's teams were cohesive yes. But they were cohesive because they were terrified of Jordan. Jordan has a singular desire to win. That desire to win was only for himself though. Jordan was so great because he didn't like losing personally.

I assume the rule works differently in college with the possession arrow but having watched far more pro ball I did always know that.

yeah no doubt. whatever criticisms LeBron gets, whether deserved or not, "selfishness" has never been and never should be one of them. he's unselfish as hell. and his teams almost always have good off-the-court chemistry. aside from some rumors of prima donna behavior during the olympics, i've never really heard a bad LeBron story in terms of him as a person or teammate.


as for Jordan, its been said (and he's alluded to it as well) that he was very different during the second stint after he'd done the Minor League Baseball thing and saw how hard those guys worked and how hard it was to make it without supreme natural gifts. but during the first stint, while he was always loved by the media and fans and generally was seen as a good guy, he was demanding, hyper-competitive (well, he still is), selfish at times (some would argue he needed to be), vindictive, etc.

haha dont you think he might be willing to give up the ball in key moments because he's afraid of them? there's plenty of evidence of him not getting it done in clutch moments.

Someone hasn't been following the last few pages of this thread. Their is tons of evidence that Lebron does get tons of things done in clutch moments.

0-2 and about to be 0-3 in the nba championship

it's 5 on 5 on the court