LEBRON GOAT THREAD - Strive #4 Greatness

If he can finish the job and keep them out of the playoffs..... AGENT 23 will be immortalized:pimp:
 
LeBron 'Throwing People Under the Bus' Like Never Before, and NBA Is Baffled

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https://bleacherreport.com/articles...-the-bus-like-never-before-and-nba-is-baffled

It was after a deflating loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the first-round series in the 2018 playoffs when LeBron James memorably took umbrage with the idea that he'd willingly and publicly criticize his teammates.

This was a series that the Cleveland Cavaliers were trying not to lose control of, at a time in James' second Cleveland tenure when he was required to carry a Herculean burden. Asked about the lack of contributions he was getting from his supporting cast to that point in the series, James snapped: "What are you guys looking for? You want me to throw my teammates under the bus? No, I'm not going to do that. I'm not about that."

Almost a year later, in new surroundings with a whole new set of challenges piling up on James' broad shoulders, his tune has changed.

Playing with LeBron has always been demanding, the way playing with the great ones always is. His booming voice has always carried, from the practice court to the locker room to the huddle on game nights. In addition to dictating and dominating the action on the floor, James has had a tendency to "suck all of the oxygen out of the room," one of his former assistant coaches told Bleacher Report.

But as this Lakers season continues to spiral toward the likely possibility that James will not make the playoffs for the first time since his second year in the league, James has grown increasingly vocal in challenging his teammates publicly.

He has stepped out of character, and it does not seem to be helping. The Lakers (30-35) have lost four in a row and six of seven, putting them 6.5 games out of the eighth seed in the West. Most of the analytics gurus put L.A.'s chances of making the postseason at less than 1 percent. Las Vegas is equally bearish, making the Lakers a plus-600 bet to make the postseason as of Sunday, according to the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.

"I've never seen him like this, and I'm a little shocked because I've been around him and thought he was more of a leader," a Western Conference executive said. "All of a sudden, I'm seeing a different LeBron. Dude, don't do that; you're hurting yourself. The best thing he can do is tell everybody, 'My guys have been great, I can do better, and we need to continue to improve as a team.' He hasn't done that. Instead, he's throwing people under the bus."

Perhaps the clearest signal that James was changing his usual approach came in a calm but biting postgame interview after a 128-115 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Feb. 23. New Orleans was playing without Anthony Davis, whom James' agent, Rich Paul, had unsuccessfully tried to steer to the Lakers via a bold and public trade request prior to the Feb. 7 deadline.

"Basketball—is that the most important thing?" James told reporters after the loss. "Why are we doing this? Is this the most important thing in your life at this time? ... If you feel you gave it all [in that game], then you have nothing to look back on. You can go on and do other things. But if you feel like you're not giving as much as you can, then you can't focus on anything else."

It came across as a lecture, a loaded statement suggesting James believed his teammates' focus was not where it needed to be. He also questioned his teammates' experience and "sense of urgency."

"How do you know what's at stake if you've never been there before?" James added, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

After the Lakers' next game—a 110-105 loss at lowly Memphis—James issued his now-much-talked about "distraction" diatribe. The context, provided by ESPN's Rachel Nichols, was a question from a reporter about whether the Lakers' push for a spot in the playoffs was causing distractions that were affecting the team's performance.

"At this point, if you are still allowing distractions to affect the way you play, then this is the wrong franchise to be a part of," James said. "… Just come and do your job."

Why the about-face from LeBron on his supposed rule to never publicly criticize his teammates? Why all the angst?

It all started on Christmas Day, when James went down with a strained groin in a victory over the Warriors. The Lakers were 20-14 at the time and well positioned to make the playoffs—as if James or anybody else would expect any different given that he's made it to the NBA Finals eight years in a row. Since the injury, the Lakers are 10-21 and on postseason life support.

While it's fair to criticize James' leadership style and level of engagement at times this season, a person familiar with James' approach said: "I think all of that is far and away less significant than the injury. I think the injury is about 70 percent of it."

Still, it's not hard to see something appears off. Just check any of the clips making the Instagram rounds showing James taking plays off on defense—including an especially damning one in which Kyle Kuzma literally forced James to close out on Danilo Gallinari by shoving him in a loss to the Clippers on Monday night. This is not James Harden we're talking about; LeBron has been a lot of things in his career, but a loafer isn't one of them. Indeed, the Lakers all but admitted James needs a break when Yahoo! Sports' Chris Haynes reported the 34-year-old four-time MVP would be on a minutes restriction the rest of the season and might be held out of any remaining back-to-backs.

It's also difficult to ignore the lingering impact of the power play James' agent tried to pull with Davis' trade demand, which resulted in most of the Lakers' useful players having their names dragged through trade rumors for days.

"How would you feel if you're Kyle Kuzma and you're living in L.A.—where it's 75 degrees every day—and you think this is going to be your home for the next 15 years?" another Western Conference executive asked. "Those guys don't want to go to New Orleans."

But the broader topic is what leadership means today for the modern NBA superstar. In ancient times (like, you know, 15 years ago), leadership meant that NBA stars embraced the challenge of making those around them better. Now, in large part due to the player-movement era that James ushered in when he left Cleveland to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami in 2010, superstars have been conditioned to give up on their current circumstances and demand better teammates, a new home or both.

"Now it's all about deferring and putting blame on somebody else," one of the Western Conference executives said. "Instead of being like an old-school guy and saying: 'I've got to do a better job. I've got to make my teammates better.' Great players and great leaders, that's what they do. That's what Kobe [Bryant] would've done. That's what Michael Jordan would've done."

Not to get romantic about the Jordan era, but in those days, the likes of Bill Cartwright and Steve Kerr needed Jordan to elevate them. How well the biggest star on your team did that defined how effective a leader he was. Today, with star players perpetually angling for better teammates and more attractive markets, the narrative has shifted. Suddenly, it's become the job of the supporting players to make the superstars better. And if the superstar struggles, it must be his teammates' fault.

And it's not only LeBron’s teammates who are getting the blame. Just this week, in a subtle backhanded slap at the team's decision-makers, he told reporters, "You have four guys in our top-eight rotation that you have to really rely on, and it's unfair to them to ask for so much when they're in their second or third year."

"These new-school guys always want to put it on somebody else," one of the Western Conference executives said. "It's an immediate-gratification society, and it's always someone else's fault."

To be fair, Bryant also made a public and messy trade demand in 2007. And it's not implausible to think that Jordan's approach might have been different if he had to go through a team like the Warriors—with five All-Stars and two former MVPs—just to make it to the Finals. But that's also part of the problem James is facing. In some ways, he's experiencing the boomerang effect of the team-jumping, ring-chasing NBA culture that he helped create.

"That's going to taint him now when he finishes," one of the execs said.

Is this about LeBron James? A lot of it is. But it's also about a generational shift in the definition of superstar leadership in the NBA. Why bear the burden of elevating others when you can just make a lot of noise and force the front office to get you better teammates…or go find a place that already has better players and join them?

"Is everyone just a pawn to help the great players achieve success?" one of the execs asked. "Or is the great player the genesis of that success?"

I think we have our answer. And so does LeBron James.
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On a Night When Lakers Fans Should Celebrate LeBron James’ Feat, It Feels Awfully Gloomy


Lakers' LeBron James celebrates his basket against the Denver Nuggets as he passes Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list Wednesday at Staples Center. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-lebron-james-lakers-20190306-story.html

They cheered him, but only after booing him.

They stood, but not all of them, and not immediately, and not for long.

He surely heard them, but never acknowledged them.

LeBron James passed Michael Jordan to move into fourth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list Wednesday night, leaping over the legend in a monumental accomplishment that felt like an enormous dud.

Epitomizing this embarrassment of a season, the history-rich Lakers couldn’t even enjoy making history.

It wasn’t the franchise’s fault. The Lakers did everything they could to make it a special moment. The NBA wouldn’t let them stop the game immediately, so at the first stoppage of play after James’ layup against the Denver Nuggets with 5 minutes 38 seconds to play in the second quarter gave him 32,294 points — two more than Jordan — an attempted celebration ensued.

The scoreboard displayed a video. Lawrence Tanter boomed an announcement. The timeout gave everyone time to soak it in.

But nobody soaked. Everyone just sort of stared. James sat on the bench with a towel over his eyes, seemingly in tears, three seats between him and anyone else, starkly alone. The fans stood and cheered, but it was mostly politely, and somewhat uncertainly, as if they were applauding an impromptu speech given by a distant uncle at an acquaintance’s wedding.


Lakers' LeBron James, left, is congratulated by Rajon Rondo after his basket against the Denver Nuggets passing Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list on Wednesday at Staples Center. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

James was never given the game ball. The fans were never given any indication that James even knew they were there. Once play resumed, any thoughts of the milestone disappeared while a sullen truth was once again revealed.

Even six months into his first season as a Laker, James isn’t yet a Laker. The fans don’t consider him family. His team doesn’t consider him their leader. His lack of physical and emotional investment in the basketball portion of his great Los Angeles adventure is paying the sad dividends of a man who, on the court, appears very much distant and alone.

This truth was obvious Wednesday not only in the weird environment, but on that colorful scoreboard, where nearly all of his highlights were accomplished in the uniforms of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat.

His records are not Lakers records. His greatness is not yet Lakers greatness. He may have scored more points than Jordan, but he is going to fail to lead his first Lakers team even into the playoffs, and that’s all that matters to this town.

He has been a big hit in Hollywood, but the Lakers aren’t Hollywood, they are Olympic and Figueroa. Their fan base is not this town’s glitz, they are its heart, and that heart has rarely been more hurting than it has been at the end of a season that began with such optimism and is ending with such gloom.

This night, which concluded with the Lakers losing for the 14th time in 19 games in a 115-99 defeat to the Nuggets, began with fans booing James as he missed four first-quarter free throws. He missed them without a make, equaling the worst free-throwing shooting in one quarter in his career.

The only surprise about the booing was that it was not a surprise. James was individually booed for the first time Monday in a Lakers loss to the Clippers. He surely will be booed again. While his stat line remains strong, his failure to play defense, make free throws and display any sort of leadership has drawn the public’s ire.



LeBron James passes Michael Jordan on NBA’s all-time scoring list

MAR 06, 2019 | 11:25 PM

It was several years before most fans dared boo Shaquille O’Neal or Kobe Bryant, but they will not cut James the same slack. From his initial decision to forgo an introductory news conferencelast summer to his Culver City prank pizza tweet to his pregame announcements of movie releases in the middle of playoff pushes, he has never really reached out to the fans, and now they are holding him accountable for the Lakers’ failure.

On probably the most unusual milestone night in Lakers history, so much felt different, so much was lost.

This passing of Jordan should have been another brick in the foundation of a local debate that James is the greatest player ever. Instead, because James scored less than 5% of his points as a Laker, it’s a debate that works better in Cleveland. In fact, considering James’ lack of impact here, it would have made more sense if James had passed Jordan while still in Cleveland.

James is also now, quite reasonably, three more seasons from becoming the league’s all-time leading scorer. But even with this monumental history looming, Lakers fans are focused on a different, more uncomfortable milestone.

At his current rate, James will easily pass Bryant next season for third place on the all-time list — with 32,311 points, he’s 1,332 points behind, and he has averaged 2,042 points in the previous three seasons.

On the night he passes Bryant, if the Lakers are still struggling, can you imagine how conflicted fans will be? If it happens in Staples Center, Bryant would show up and who do you think would get the most cheers? At this rate, James should probably plan on doing it on the road. Interestingly, the NBA allowed the game to be stopped when Bryant passed Jordan in 2014 in Minneapolis.

Maybe the saddest part of Wednesday is that this really meant a lot to James, and he wasn’t able to share it with anybody.

Before the game, he tweeted, “Can’t even front. This is going to be UNREAL!! Wow man.”

Then, before entering the game, he wrote Jordan’s name on his shoes.

View image on Twitter


NBA on TNT✔@NBAonTNT
“Thank you, MJ.”

3,515
12:23 AM - Mar 7, 2019
638 people are talking about this

After scoring the Jordan-jumping points, James’ feelings were on display when he sat on the bench hiding his eyes in that towel.

“It was very emotional, very emotional, lot of things going on inside me at that point in time,” James said. “At the same time, I didn’t want to show what was going on behind that towel.”

You could hear that same emotion afterward when he talked about modeling his career after Jordan.

“For a kid from Akron, Ohio, that needed inspiration and needed some type of positive influence, MJ was the guy for me,” James said. “I watched him from afar, I wanted to be like MJ. … I wanted people to look at me at some point like MJ. It’s crazy, to be honest, it’s beyond crazy.”

On a night when James’ career point total surpassed Jordan’s, it felt as if Lakers history was made by a visiting player without a team, and that is indeed beyond crazy.
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@1:50
 
erupt said:
Let us gather to appreciate the Greatest Basketball Player of All Time. The Man, the Myth, the Legend.

LeBron James.

You will encounter many Bronophobics who will attempt to deceive you.

"Jordan had 6 rings!" They may scream.

"He has lost 5 times in the finals." They will quip.

"He had to go to Miami to win!" They will suggest.

"Dummy moe rey lose ard gahhh!!!!" They will shout unintelligibly, before posting a music video.


Do not let the naysayers convince you to believe a lie. LeBron is the GOAT.
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Did you type this with a straight face?

dland24 said:
Can you imagine thinking someone who has 3 wins and 5 losses in the Finals (and where the MVP in the majority of those 5 losses went to the guy he was matched up with), is the GOAT? I cant.
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100 Percent Facts I cant understand a GOAT with 5 Finals Loses its like when you talk to a Lebron Lover they conveniently forget that fact LOL.
 
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