Official 2018 NBA Preseason Thread - Jimmy Butler Does Things

getback · Jul 5, 2018

nako xl said:
George Lynch and Aaron McKie ain't walking through that door.

Todd McCullough and Toni Kukoc are walking through that door in the form of Amir Johnson and Wilson Chandler.

BIG FISH · Jul 5, 2018

Idk what makes y’all think Bron is gonna have some steep decline (barring injury).
Probably y’all just praying it happens vs actually believing it :lol:

Mark Antony · Jul 5, 2018

Let's gon head and end this Ryan Hollins media experiment.

amitt5504 · Jul 5, 2018

lil fish said:
Idk what makes y’all think Bron is gonna have some steep decline (barring injury).
Probably y’all just praying it happens vs actually believing it

Unable to get the Vibrainium injections lol

lovehateself · Jul 5, 2018

amitt5504 said:
Unable to get the Vibrainium injections lol

magic got something better

BIG LEEMELONE · Jul 5, 2018

N41D · Jul 5, 2018

lil fish said:
Idk what makes y’all think Bron is gonna have some steep decline (barring injury).
Probably y’all just praying it happens vs actually believing it

How many guys have played deep into their mid/late 30s at an insanely high level? One? And he mixed in like 5 years off.

Age and time don't lose.

Magic apparently cured AIDs, though... So maybe.

BIG FISH · Jul 5, 2018

N41D said:
How many guys have played deep into their mid/late 30s at an insanely high level? One? And he mixed in like 5 years off.

Age and time don't lose.

Magic apparently cured AIDs, though... So maybe.

Even if he doesn’t play at an “insanely high” level (last season wasn’t that btw) he’d still be a top 5 player in the league at worst.
He’s not gonna suddenly turn into Celtics Shaq over the course of 4 years.
Plus no player has ever invested as much into taking care of their body like LeBron has.

Quincy McCall · Jul 5, 2018

If IT should curve Orlando- He should give Heat/Bucks a chance

migu420 · Jul 5, 2018

What exactly are people expecting out of LeBron in the next 3 to 4 years?

CP1708 · Jul 5, 2018

N41D said:
How many guys have played deep into their mid/late 30s at an insanely high level? One? And he mixed in like 5 years off.

Age and time don't lose.

Magic apparently cured AIDs, though... So maybe.

Karl Malone was a tank, and died when he joined LA.
Steve Nash was a tank, and died when he joined LA.
Kobe Bryant was a tank, and died when he hit 34 in LA.

It's going to happen, just a matter of when.

N41D · Jul 5, 2018

lil fish said:
Even if he doesn’t play at an “insanely high” level (last season wasn’t that btw) he’d still be a top 5 player in the league at worst.

He’s not gonna suddenly turn into Celtics Shaq over the course of 4 years.

Plus no player has ever invested as much into taking care of their bodies like LeBron has.

1) History is weighted very heavily in the other direction on that point.
2) Who said he's going to turn into Celtics Shaq? Besides, Shaq hit a decline at 35, right around the same time every player in the history of the league has.
3) Based on what, exactly?

lovehateself · Jul 5, 2018

CP1708 said:
Karl Malone was a tank, and died when he joined LA.
Steve Nash was a tank, and died when he joined LA.
Kobe Bryant was a tank, and died when he hit 34 in LA.

It's going to happen, just a matter of when.

nash's back issues were already well known throughout the league before he even landed in LA

BIG FISH · Jul 5, 2018

Nash already had a bad back before coming to LA.
Malone was like 40 years old.
Kobe had been injured far more times than LeBron ever has.
Like I said ... y’all are just hoping he gets injured because no evidence suggests he will.

N41D · Jul 5, 2018

CP1708 said:
Karl Malone was a tank, and died when he joined LA.
Steve Nash was a tank, and died when he joined LA.
Kobe Bryant was a tank, and died when he hit 34 in LA.

It's going to happen, just a matter of when.

Bingo.

You've probably got 2 years of LeBron as we know LeBron. He's going to put another 7k minutes on his legs over the next 2 years. That'll push him into the Top 5 all-time at 35. Nobody's ever endured this kinda workload. Ever.

He's navigating uncharted territory in a league that historically sees sharp declines past 35.

N41D · Jul 5, 2018

lil fish said:
Like I said ... y’all are just hoping he gets injured because no evidence suggests he will.

The entire history of players past age 35 isn't evidence that suggests he'll start to drop off at that point?

BIG FISH · Jul 5, 2018

N41D said:
The entire history of players past age 35 isn't evidence that suggests he'll start to drop off at that point?

how many of those players are as good as LeBron and take care of their body like he does?

migu420 · Jul 5, 2018

CP1708 said:
Karl Malone was a tank, and died when he joined LA.
Steve Nash was a tank, and died when he joined LA.
Kobe Bryant was a tank, and died when he hit 34 in LA.

It's going to happen, just a matter of when.

I was thinking this same the other day, almost like la is the pasture these dudes went out to retire on. People aren't talking about wanting him to get hurt like those dudes who don't like the warriors, even. Talk about narrative. It's just reality.

CP1708 · Jul 5, 2018

lil fish said:
Nash already had a bad back before coming to LA.
Malone was like 40 years old.
Kobe had been injured far more times than LeBron ever has.
Like I said ... y’all are just hoping he gets injured because no evidence suggests he will.

Nash didn't break down because of his back.
Kobe had never torn his achilles.
Malone was playin 80 games a year his ENTIRE career. (minus the 49 of 50 strike year)

The evidence is every single other athlete that reaches their mid 30's. And not a one of them had the mileage LeBron already does. It's going to happen, period. Maybe not this year, maybe not next, but it will happen. It's just a fact of life.

Peep Game · Jul 5, 2018

lol

BIG FISH · Jul 5, 2018

Using 40 year old’s declining as evidence for why a 33 year old LeBron will have a sharp decline :lol:

Not even worth a quote.

N41D · Jul 5, 2018

lil fish said:
how many of those players are as good as LeBron and take care of their body like he does?

Aside from Jordan, go look at any all-timer past 35. Jordan's an exception because he took off like 5 seasons. I'd actually argue Malone's a pretty glaring exception, too. But that list is INSANELY short.

Lebron takes great care of himself but he's also logged significantly more mileage at this point in his career than anyone in history.

It's awfully hopeful to think he's going to play at an elite level past his mid-30s and and borderline stupid to suggest there's no evidence that points otherwise.

CP1708 · Jul 5, 2018

lil fish said:
how many of those players are as good as LeBron and take care of their body like he does?

There is zero doubt LeBron takes care of his body better than pretty much any athlete ever. No argument there. But the mileage is there, and at some point, 33, 34, 35, 36, it's going to get him. Something will pop, something will break, strain, whatever. Doesn't mean it will be career ending or anything, but he's not going to be putting up 27-8-8 at age 35-36-37, to think so is just shortsighted. He has another year or two of THIS LeBron, and then he will enter the Duncan/Dirk role where he has to play 28-30 minutes a night and won't be as effective as when he was 30-31.

ThePeoplesChamp_ · Jul 5, 2018

lil fish said:
Idk what makes y’all think Bron is gonna have some steep decline (barring injury).
Probably y’all just praying it happens vs actually believing it

Uh Father Time