Who is the GOAT

[pdub]

Or he could have stayed in Cleveland with GM's poor decision after poor decision and kept loosing because he didn't have players like Scottie Pippen or Horace Grant.

[pdub]

Cavs management blew it for the beginning of LeBron's career...but LeBron was good enough to keep the Cavs out of the lotto ( by his 2nd year - they almost had Andre Iguodala which would have changed things )...so they never had a chance for a guy like Pippen.

Pippen was drafted by Seattle, then traded to the Bulls that night. Cavs could have done that with a top 5 pick if they were serious about building a title team around LeBron.

Bulls had the no. 8 pick - they only had to trade up 3 spots.
After LeBron's 1st year, they never picked lotto again.
But yes, they had years of opportunity to find the right players to team with him and never did.

[ousdahl]

Buddy ball with Pierce and KG!

[Deleted User 289]

There was that game 7 Bron v Truth where both dudes scored 40+ points.

Of course, Cleveland had Delonte West, Wally Szcerbiak and 100 year old Ben Wallace starting with LeBron and the Truth had Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo.

It's funny, Wallace seemed like he was "100 year old Ben Wallace" but he was actually 34 year old Ben Wallace.
Interesting that Garnett turned 33 the very next day and Allen was 33.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Cavs management blew it for the beginning of LeBron's career...but LeBron was good enough to keep the Cavs out of the lotto ( by his 2nd year - they almost had Andre Iguodala which would have changed things )...so they never had a chance for a guy like Pippen.

Pippen was drafted by Seattle, then traded to the Bulls that night. Cavs could have done that with a top 5 pick if they were serious about building a title team around LeBron.

If we want to get real nitpicky--and when we're talking about GOAT argument, I'd argue we should--the East that LeBron played in was definitely not the East that MJ played in.

As great as LeBron and the Heatles were, it still couldn't balance out what has been a weird and way too long of an imbalance. The Knicks deserve a lot of the blame.

[pdub]

If we want to get real nitpicky--and when we're talking about GOAT argument, I'd argue we should--the East that LeBron played in was definitely not the East that MJ played in.

I would argue it was better in terms of overall talent.
In terms of imbalance, yes, LeBron had to knock off the Celts on that Miami team, but beyond that, the East was far weaker compared to the West.

Yet LeBron's faced some really tough teams in the finals.
OKC with Durant, Westbrook, Harden.
The Golden State Warriors.
The Spurs would mop the floor with the 90's NBA teams.

[Deleted User 289]

If we want to get real nitpicky--and when we're talking about GOAT argument, I'd argue we should--the East that LeBron played in was definitely not the East that MJ played in.

I would argue it was better in terms of overall talent.
In terms of imbalance, yes, LeBron had to knock off the Celts on that Miami team, but beyond that, the East was far weaker compared to the West.

Yet LeBron's faced some really tough teams in the finals.
OKC with Durant, Westbrook, Harden.
The Golden State Warriors.
The Spurs would mop the floor with the 90's NBA teams.

Which Spurs team/s are you referring to?
The 07 Spurs that beat the Cavs 4-0?
The 13 Spurs LeBron and the Heat beat?
The 14 Spurs LeBron and the Heat lost to?
Which 90s teams are you referring to when you say the Spurs would mop the floor with them?

[Cascadia]

If we want to get real nitpicky--and when we're talking about GOAT argument, I'd argue we should--the East that LeBron played in was definitely not the East that MJ played in.

I would argue it was better in terms of overall talent.
In terms of imbalance, yes, LeBron had to knock off the Celts on that Miami team, but beyond that, the East was far weaker compared to the West.

Yet LeBron's faced some really tough teams in the finals.
OKC with Durant, Westbrook, Harden.
The Golden State Warriors.
The Spurs would mop the floor with the 90's NBA teams.

Which Spurs team/s are you referring to?
The 07 Spurs that beat the Cavs 4-0?
The 13 Spurs LeBron and the Heat beat?
The 14 Spurs LeBron and the Heat lost to?
Which 90s teams are you referring to when you say the Spurs would mop the floor with them?

He’s just trolling for content

[pdub]

Any of

2007/2013/2014 Spurs would beat the 1991 Trailblazers, Spurs, Pistons, Lakers/1992 Jazz, Cavs, Knicks/1993 Rockets, Cavs, Celtics without issue.

Tim Duncan is a top 10 player all time.
Tony Parker and Ginobli were really good players.
Those 13-14 teams had Kawhi on them.

[Deleted User 289]

Any of

2007/2013/2014 Spurs would beat the 1991 Trailblazers, Spurs, Pistons, Lakers/1992 Jazz, Cavs, Knicks/1993 Rockets, Cavs, Celtics without issue.

Tim Duncan is a top 10 player all time.
Tony Parker and Ginobli were really good players.
Those 13-14 teams had Kawhi on them.

"Without issue"? I respectfully disagree.
Heck, I would take several of those 90 teams over the 07, 13, and 14 Spurs teams.

[pdub]

I wouldn't take any team in the 90's besides the 90's Bulls vs the 2007, 2013 or 2014 Spurs.
Not 90 Detroit.
Not 97 Utah.

[ousdahl]

Good point!

Maybe Lebron shoulda teamed up with the Spurs.

[pdub]

He'd have 5+ rings if he had.

[TDub]

I wouldn't take any team in the 90's besides the 90's Bulls vs the 2007, 2013 or 2014 Spurs.
Not 90 Detroit.
Not 97 Utah.

Im sorry you're so bad at watching basketball.

[pdub]

I would say the same to you.

[TDub]

I think you are suffering from recency bias

[pdub]

I think you are suffering from Jordanitis.

[TDub]

Jordan played on every team in the 90s? He played for the 90 pistons? The 95 rockets? The 91 lakers? The 92 blazers? The 97, 98 Jazz? I had no idea he played for all those teams.

[pdub]

The 07 Spurs and 14 Spurs won NBA titles in a league with more competition from top to bottom, more athletic players, more skilled international players, more players who benefited from state of the art training -- just generally a better product. The 13 Spurs were shocked by a Ray Allen miracle.

They also included one of the top 10 players of all time in Tim Duncan.
No other 90's team, besides the Bulls who I mentioned would challenge these Spurs teams, had a player of that caliber, nor did they have a trio of talent as good as Parker, Duncan, Ginobli or Parker, Duncan and Kawhi.

In order to make sure Jordan's legacy stays intact ( from the obsessive Jordan fans ), the teams he competed against also have to be better than the teams of 2000, 2010 and today, when in fact, the Spurs would have been at least the 2nd best team of the 90s.

[TDub]

Its ok that youre wrong