Try calling out Kobe fans individually because I have not nor will I rip LeBron unless you make me. I have been a LeBron supporter for years unless it comes to comparing LeBron and Kobe. I really don't feel like discussing why Shaq forced himself out, not Kobe. The Lakers chose Kobe. End of story. Shaq said it's him or me and they chose Kobe. Nuff said. Ripping Kobe at this point does nothing for your argument. I have to take up for Kobe against you instead of siding with you on why it's okay for LeBron to do what he wants to do. I am not your enemy on this. Quit trying to make me the enemy. I want to argue with you not against you. Leave Kobe out of this. Please.

 

Him having a triple double means nothing if he is giving 50% and it would have been a quadruple double if he had gotten 1 more turnover. Imagine if he would have tried. He may have beaten the Lakers in the Finals.

 

I don't see how anyone couldn't tell what side of this you're on. Heck you like the 1-hour special idea more than I do :thumb:.

Maybe I just want it to be this way but I think he is doing all of this garbage like having it in Connecticut and waiting till after the Camp in Akron to build suspense. There is no drama in resigning with Cleveland, unless the public has no clue where he is really going to. If he resigns with Cleveland, I'll be the happiest person this side of the Ohio River.

 

Man I know you love Lebron like I do, and I know you just said you gave your allegiance to Cleveland, but the best thing that could ever happen to Lebron would be to get out of town. If not he'll be the next Craig Ehlo x100.

I actually like Kobe. Are you really going to say LBJ quit on his team? They played against a BETTER team. A team that would have beat Kobe twice in the last three years if Perkins didn't get hurt. Possibly 3 times in a row if not for KG injuries. Kobe's front office was inept b/c they were listening to him and doing everything he wanted. He would have been gone or in a complete riot if it weren't for one of the most unfair trades in NBA history. I'd stay off that rape indictment too if I were a Kobe loyalist.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say no one on here is half as big of a LeBron fan on here as I am, but he didn't try against the Celtics after game 3 for whatever reason. If the LeBron from that series is the real LeBron, he doesn't need a max deal from anyone because he's on a quick decline.

He didn't try? Maybe he just underperforms when the going gets tough. Lebron's a baby.

Man I know you love Lebron like I do, and I know you just said you gave your allegiance to Cleveland, but the best thing that could ever happen to Lebron would be to get out of town. If not he'll be the next Craig Ehlo x100.

 

I say he has to finish the mission. Forget legacies, they're all opinion anyway. Die hards will never say he's better than Jordan, and the age group below them will never say he's better than Bryant. LeBron's family is there, he's pretty much from there. Cleveland will try to do anything to keep the King happy going forward. They will get some help, I truly believe CP3 is a Cav as soon as his FA hits because of LBJ and Byron Scott, provided LeBron stays. Think of the challenge it would be next year for LeBron. You have the defending champion Lakers, Boston a veteran nemesis that has knocked him out both years they were healthy, they could get pay back on Orlando, and taking down the trivium of Wade-Bosh-Riley. Maybe they aren't the favorites to win, but with LeBron I think they always have a chance. Who would have a more impressive championship than that? An average roster taking down loaded teams in the NBA.

 

100 years from now it won't matter where LBJ played to sports fans. But, I think that for him as a person Cleveland is where he wants to be if they could become a real winner. I think he should be happy, and I think it's obvious Cleveland is where he'd be the happiest off the court. If it wasn't they would have been out of the running as soon as the season was over IMO. He also can make more money and no other market is going to really change his value, if anything I think it could really devalue him because of the way he's handled free-agency. JMO.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say no one on here is half as big of a LeBron fan on here as I am, but he didn't try against the Celtics after game 3 for whatever reason. If the LeBron from that series is the real LeBron, he doesn't need a max deal from anyone because he's on a quick decline.

 

That's crazy. Maybe he was hurt. Maybe he was distracted. Maybe he was deflated b/c none of his teammates were any good. All I know is he has hardly ever played a bad game and when he finally had a couple people think it's b/c he didn't try. If I thought for one second he didn't try I'd put him in a different category. I hope for his sake he leaves Cleveland. He can't win there.

He didn't try? Maybe he just underperforms when the going gets tough. Lebron's a baby.

 

Only a fool would think that LeBron against the Celtics was giving maximum effort. Blind men could see he wasn't hustling, attacking the rim, or being aggressive. I'm not saying they would have won the series, I think Boston was the better team, but LeBron shut it down.

That's crazy. Maybe he was hurt. Maybe he was distracted. Maybe he was deflated b/c none of his teammates were any good. All I know is he has hardly ever played a bad game and when he finally had a couple people think it's b/c he didn't try. If I thought for one second he didn't try I'd put him in a different category. I hope for his sake he leaves Cleveland. He can't win there.

 

Deflated and distracted and even hurt would lead to him not putting out his maximum effort wouldn't it? He didn't attack the rim at all, didn't make hardly any plays, and wasn't even aggressive defensively. It's not the bad game that gets me, it was just his body language on the court and overall lack of doing the things that are all effort and can be done even on an off night offensively.

Only a fool would think that LeBron against the Celtics was giving maximum effort. Blind men could see he wasn't hustling, attacking the rim, or being aggressive. I'm not saying they would have won the series, I think Boston was the better team, but LeBron shut it down.

 

Or the Celtics shut him down. Whenever a defender was shutting me down I had the tendency to want to quit too. It's not fun when opponents play good defense. He noticed things weren't coming easily and he stopped trying. That's what I took from that series. Just furthermore proved that Lebron can't handle pressure.

I haven't read every last post in this thread, BUT reports from the Bulls front office after they signed Boozer today is that all signs point to Lebron signing with the Knicks.

 

That means we could have a situation where Miami, New York, Chicago, Boston, Orlando all win 50 games next year. The East could be more than a 2 team race and maybe actually have some balance for the first time in a while.

Or the Celtics shut him down. Whenever a defender was shutting me down I had the tendency to want to quit too. It's not fun when opponents play good defense. He noticed things weren't coming easily and he stopped trying. That's what I took from that series. Just furthermore proved that Lebron can't handle pressure.

 

He stopped trying, you said it. Thank you argument over, you contradicted yourself.

 

Yes, I do agree the Celtics had alot to do with it. But, whatever his reasoning LeBron's performance was more a lack of effort than anything else. There is no defense for chase down blocks, dunks and lay-ups from picking good spots to try for them (i.e. cuts, fastbreaks,etc.) , smart passes, or being aggressive. That has nothing to do with the Celtics for the most part.

 

As for not being able to handle the pressure if that's serious, that's the last conversation I'm going to have with you in this discussion. If you want to just block out the previous 6 years of LeBrons (or anyone elses) playing days I cannot have a serious basketball discussion with you. Let's see he made it to the Finals by himself. Let's look at the last few teams to beat him.

-Spurs- Veteran team, maybe the best team San Antonio has had. Duncan was at the end of his prime, Ginobili and Paker were better than ever. The Cavs responded with Daniel Gibson and Donyell Marshall. You think anyone else beats the Spurs with that team, Jordan included? Fat chance. They also took down a pretty good Pistons team, and by they I mean LeBron did single handedly in epic fashion.

-Celtics in 2008- Umm, let's not even compare these teams for sake of time. LeBron did drop 45 and some crazy other numbers in game 7 though.

-Orlando- Most evenly matched team talent-wise that has beat Cleveland in LeBron's days. Cleveland had the better record, but could not guard Turkoglu, Lewis or Howard. LeBron averaged nearly 40 points and almost double digits in rebounds and assist with big shots all over the series. Not much more he could have done.

-Celtics this year- Cavs were the favorites, but the Celtics were better at 4 positions on the floor and their bench outplayed Clevelands. LeBron was absent and played like garbage, Mo Williams showed his true colors and the world realized that Antawn Jamison couldn't check the average resident at a nursing home.

 

I'll ask again, at what point in his career other than this Boston series could LeBron have possibly have done more or lived up to your lofty expectations?

I haven't read every last post in this thread, BUT reports from the Bulls front office after they signed Boozer today is that all signs point to Lebron signing with the Knicks.

 

That means we could have a situation where Miami, New York, Chicago, Boston, Orlando all win 50 games next year. The East could be more than a 2 team race and maybe actually have some balance for the first time in a while.

 

NY if they could get Parker wouldn't be bad. Parker, LeBron, Stoudemire, Gallinari if they keep him. I'd hate it but I would prefer it over Miami. It would be a poor choice for his future IMO, I give Stat about 3 more years of being productive.

I agree with everything Cats said X10. Especially post #179. All of your posts were well said.

 

I'll also add that in 2008, the Cavs weren't as good of a team as they were this year. The Celtics were better in 2008 than they were this year. LeBron singlehandedly took the 2008 Celtics to game 7 in the ECFs. In 2010 with a better Cavs team around him and an older-not-as-good-as-they-were-in-2008 Celtics team he couldn't even take them to a game 7 in the ECSFs. Watching his last two games, as Cats said, a blind man could see that was not the same LeBron we are accustomed to seeing and it had nothing to do with defense, it had to do with lack of effort. He NEVER penetrated nor did he take it to the hole....EVER...and the body language was horrendous. The lasting image of him I have is during the timeout he is sitting on the bench near the end of the 4th quarter of game 6 with a look that lacked concern on his face. Like he'd rather be somewhere else. Plus, he shook hands after the game. That let me know he didn't care that they lost.

 

 

Granted, if I knew the guy next sitting next to me had some "issues" and was "friendly" with my mom, I'd probably rather be somewhere else too. I feel you, Bron Bron.

 

Anyone else notice that the Cavs were putting Delonte West in on the sign and trade deal? Just asking........

So are we not giving the Celtics credit? They have a plan for scorers especially if it's just one scorer. Rondo was leaps and bounds better than he was two years ago. Kobe didn't have a great series against Boston either. Boston is really good defensively. Wade had one good game. No wing from Orlando had any good games.

A TV reporter in Cleveland says that the address for James' LLC was changed to a Chicago address today.