BS. Much lesser players scored on Shaq whereas Bron is one of the best in the history 1-on-1. Few have had his combination of quickness, size, power and skill
Bron settled for jumpers when the Mavericks had Tyson Chandler prowling the middle. he wouldn't challenge Shaq. That's not the kind of player he is. Ability? yes. mentality? no.
The MVP thing is tricky, and a cause for a lot of debate. From the 80s on (Kareem actually won MVP in the 70s for a mediocre team), it has gone to players who have had great seasons for contending teams. Jordan's first MVP was for the 1987-88 season, when he lead the league in scoring and was defensive player of the year (amazing), and the Bulls went 50-32, and that's one of the weakest records in which a player won MVP. MVP is not really "best player in the NBA", sometimes the winners are just players who have a great season for a serious championship contender. Steve Nash won consecutive MVPs as he led the Suns to excellent seasons and was extremely valuable to that team, but no one in their right mind thought he was the best player in the NBA. He wasn't better than Dunca, or Kobe, who put up 35 PPG in 2005-06 (lots of perimeter players had great seasons due to rule changes and officiating), but didn't win MVP because his team was barely a .500 team. Derrick Rose won MVP for the 2010-11 season and had an excellent season, you can say Lebron & Dwyane Wade sort of "cancelled each other out" because voters were thinking "well they can't be THAT valuable to their teams, they have each other and Chris Bosh to back them up". But Lebron ended up winning MVPs in the next 2 seasons. Best Player in the NBA 1986-87: Magic Johnson 1987-93: Michael Jordan 1993-95: Hakeem Olajuwon 1995-98: Michael Jordan 1999: Tim Duncan 2000-02: Shaq 2003: Tim Duncan (2003 is one of the best postseason runs ever). 2004-05: I don't know 2005-08: Kobe 2008-15: Lebron 2015-16: Stephen Curry Some of these are close and debatable. For 1999-2003 especially with Shaq and Duncan. Duncan didn't have the awesome offensive impact that Shaq did, but he also wasn't lousy at defending the pick-and-roll like Shaq was, and did so many great things that don't show up on the stat sheet (rim protecting, closing out to contest shots, setting great picks, etc...). Duncan also led a pretty average squad to the 2003 title, Robinson was old, Parker and Ginobili were still improving and weren't what they became. Shaq had probably the 2nd greatest shooting guard ever playing with him. You can argue for the last couple years....maybe Durant or Curry over LeBron. Being from the Bay I naturally root for the Warriors, but I didn't really think Curry was better than LeBron last year when he won MVP. LeBron said during the 2015 finals that he was the best player in the world and some people didn't like that. I agreed, but didn't care, because I just care about what team was better. But Curry surpassed him this year. He's improved defensively, is even more amazing of a shooter than before, has become an excellent finisher with his floaters, and has a lot of impact spacing the floor with his insane range. He doesn't just have 3 point range, he has like 30 feet range LOL
Yeah, the Bad Boy Pistons and the Bulls of the 90s were all excellent defensive teams. Both football and basketball have changed a lot, football with the passing game, basketball with the 3-ball, but defense is always going to be important. That saying is "defense wins championships"...well both defense and offense win it. There have actually been some NFL teams that have won Super Bowls with average-rated defenses...but it's still the exception. Most of the time you need both, and I still value a great defense slightly more than a great offense.
Defense is most important in every sport. Defense wins tennis even (being able to get to and return near impossible balls).
Yeah, I haven't forgotten that Thompson choked in the playoffs last year. I'm giving the brotha the benefit of the doubt this year. So, whilst Cavs fans can say that Love and Kyrie were injured last year, it can also be said that Thompson played like complete basura and the Dubs still won.
REED Doesn't Get How Curry "Surpassed" Bron This Year... For the Last 2 Seasons, Bron has BLATANTLY Taken His Foot OFF the Pedal in the Regular Season....He Does JUST Enough to Keep his Squad in the 55-60 Win Range, 1st or 2nd Seed in their Conference and #'s Around 25, 7 and 7...But Come Playoff Time, Bron Ramps it Up... In Last Year's Finals, THE Best Player on the Court was Unquestionably LeBron James....Even in a Losing Effort... Bron - 35.8pts, 13.3reb, 8.8ast Steph - 26pts, 5.2reb, 6.3ast Bear in Mind, Bron Had Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala (Who Obviously Ended Up Being Named MVP of the Series) "Guarding" him, While Steph Dealt with Matthew Dellavadova... Until Steph Outplays Bron in a Playoff Series, REED Think's it's a TAD Premature to Remove the "Best Player in the League" Crown from King James' Head... REED
Curry is Indeed a Very UNIQUE Talent and an Extremely RELATABLE Basketball Player... But he's NOT the Best Player in Basketball, in REED's Opinion...Not Quite... REED:nono:
The Thing is "Best Player in the League" ISN'T Something You Anoint a Dude w/After Just 1-2 Seasons... Think of it This Way, How COMICAL Would it Have Been to Call Steph Curry "The Best Player in Basketball" a Mere 3 Years Ago???...That Would've Been a Fucking JOKE, a Basketball Opinion that NO ONE Would have Taken Seriously...Curry's had 2 GREAT Season's, Nonetheless, Bron SHITTED On Him Head to Head, in Last Year's Finals...That CANNOT Be Overlooked, when Attempting to Remove King James' Crown... That Designation is about LONGEVITY, More than Anything Else & 2 Years just AIN'T a Large Enough Sample Size... REED:hammert:
While I agree that Lebron is a better player I don't agree with your reasoning brother REED. Two years is more than enough sample size in any sport. If this question is who is the best right now then what happened three years ago is irrelevant
It's a Bit Different in Hoop, Brother Sly... For Example, if Not for Voter BOREDOM, Bron Could Easily Have 6 MVP's, Instead of 4...But the Media Grew TIRED of Giving it to Bron... Bron's at a Stage of his Career Where he INTENTIONALLY Downsizes His Minutes, Productivity, and Games Played for PLAYOFF Preservation...The Regular Season is a Necessary Evil for a Player of Bron's Ilk, Just as it Became for Other Legends Like Jordan, Kobe, etc...Coincidentally, Curry Fans are Giving Him Bron's Spot on the STRENGTH of the Last 2 Regular Season's.... If Bron Had Shown NOTICEABLE Signs of Physical and or Statistical Decline, REED Would Have No Qualms About Elevating Curry to the Top Spot, But That HASNT Occurred as of Yet... In the NBA, the Norm is about 3-4 Regular And Playoff Seasons of SUSTAINED Excellence, Before the Crown is Acquired... REED
Reed has a very good point but I am not sure if you can say that Bron shat on Curry in the las year's finals since it is a team sport. Lebron was fantastic, but part of the reason is that he had to be since he had nobody to help him. Curry had the chance to share the ball more, which makes the team harder to beat. If Curry had to do it all by himself too, who knows what he would have done.
No more need for talk. Dubs in 6. Curry wins Finals MVP, Lebron fails again, Lebron groupies will once again counter with "Lebron needs more help".
We have the same debate every year but I still don't get it: why is a player punished for reaching the finals (Lebron) but not for getting eliminated before them (MJ)?
And How Can a Player Be Deemed a "Failure" for AVERAGING 36, 13 and 8, Against the So-Called "Best Player in Basketball"??? REED
Sorry if I came across as if I disagREED with you... He had the better regular this year and I also think this alone cannot put him past Bron.
If Bron can do something like this again, the Cavs should win. Love and Irving especially have a very good post season so far.
No, if Bron does that again they will lose, because that will mean those guys got hurt in the first game and Bron had to fill up his score sheet instead. Lebron took nearly 33 shots per game in last years finals, and consequentially ended up shooting pretty terribly. In comparison, Steph took about 20 shots per game.
Brother REED I need your assistance. Please explain/justify how ESPN rated Lebron as the #3 greatest player in NBA history over Kobe, Shaq, Duncan, Wilt, Bill Russell, Bird and Magic? Thank you sir.
Bron Won't Average 36 This Series (Unless Love and Kyrie Get Hurt Again, as Brother Nobes Stated), but REED CAN See him Putting Up a HIGH 20's Triple Double for the Series... Something like 27, 12 and 12...Definitely DOable... REED:hammert:
brother REED cannot answer that anymore than pro Curry fanboys can explain why ESPN rated Curry the 4th best point guard of all time. All those ratings are ridiculous and cannot be legitimized.
REED Ain't Saying he Agrees, Necessarily, but ALL Things Considered, it's Not an Outrageous Opinion... Skill, Talent, Accomplishments (ie., RINGS), Era, Status within the League, Bron's Right There... Skill - For his Size, Bron's an UNCANNY Dribbler/Passer...And he Possesses a RELIABLE Jumper...He's Also Got UNDERRATED Footwork in the Post... Talent - 6'8, 260, Ran a 4.3 in High School, 40 inch Vert w/GUARD Skills...Bron Has a Strong Case for Being THE Most Physically Gifted Man to Ever Touch a Basketball... Accomplishments - 2 Rings, All as THE Man on his Team...6 CONSECUTIVE Finals Appearances, Something No Other NON 60's Era Boston Celtic has Achieved... Era - This is Where Russell and Wilt Suffer...Though they Likely COULD Have Been Elite Players Today, They were Elite Players in an Era where NON-Elite Current Guys Would Excel...If Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan Played in the Wilt-Russell Era, they'd Be a Considered a HISTORIC Back Court by Now...But by Today's Standards, they're Good, yet NOT Earth Shattering or Even Terribly Memorable... Status - Bron's Been Considered THE Best Player in the League for the Better Part of 10 Years Now...There was SOME Dispute from the Kobe Side, Early, and Now There's SOME Dispute on the Back End w/Steph...But the CONSTANT has Been Bron... As for the Players You Listed, Bron is BETTER than Kobe, Period...And Bron was Never a Sidekick on Any of his Championship Teams...Shaq LACKED Bron's Skill Level...Duncan Wasn't as Naturally Gifted AND Was Never Considered THE Best in the League...Though it's NOT Their Fault, but Wilt and Russell Played in an INFERIOR Era...And Bron SHITS on Bird and Magic Athletically... REED:hammert:
I never bought into the athletic argument. A dunk is worth the same amount of points as a bank shot off the glass. Plus, it could be argued that with more teams it waters down the talent level. Fewer teams means better talent that makes the squad. I still don't get how he's better than Kobe. Fewer titles despite Kobe being #2 for three of them plus Kobe's #3 all time in scoring. How is that overridden by a sub .500 finals record? Making six straight finals is more about how crappy the east is than anything else in my opinion. It's like staying in the church parking lot then wanting credit for going to church. Winning is everything when you're at the E-LITE level. Funny you mentioned DeRozan and Lowry...was having this conversation earlier today about how shitty the East is. Damian Lillard didn't even make the western conference all-star team because the guard position is so deep. I think Lilliard shits on both of them. Athletically or not, Magic has 5 rings. Bird has three with career averages of 25 pts, 10 rebs and 6 assists. Lebron is 27 pts, 7 rebs and 7 assists.
