LLLLLeBron 3-5 Finals Record Without SuperTeam

not to merge threads, but the discussion of lebron being favored by officials makes it relevant. my friend asked the other day: what if lebron was officiated like harden?

i view lebron's officiating more like shaq's--it's tough to figure out how to call someone so physically dominant. guys hitting him as hard as they can have trouble altering his course--does that mean it's not a foul? on the other hand, he takes advantage of that strength and speed by knocking defenders back on moves that, executed by others (say, jr smith), would create no such physical reaction. is something a foul due to outcome or process?

because guys like lou williams and james harden can't just blow by and hammer on the heads of defenders, they're forced to create odd bumps and such, which forces a whistle from officials on many occasions. what if lebron could do that? hell, what if kobe could have done it? they first cracked down on the swing-through when he started going to it frequently.

anyway, i'm not as concerned with how officials treat lebron because i see it as an actually difficult thing to call, whereas harden's stuff is easy to call, they just get it wrong.

the two areas where lebron is officiated generously are travels (these are officiated generously for all star-level players, but maybe moreso for lebron) and on defense: he gets to use his hands more than most perimeter defenders.

all that said, i view lebron's favoritism from officials to be in line with previous stars (jordan, kobe, shaq, duncan, etc.). i think guys like wade and harden essentially conjured superstardom via officiating whereas the aforementioned would have gotten there (DID get there, actually) regardless.

 

I could make an infographic using D'Andre Jordan shooting percentage in the paint and someone who had a higher 3 pt percentage, but I don't really care enough.

 

bruce bowen's best season with spurs: 52% 3pfg
erick dampier's best season with dallas: 70% in the paint

ok, i made those up, but they're probably close...

 

Not even as good as Dampier of Bowen?

SMH

NO2:

 

Since when was comparing regular season to playoffs a thing? Oh right it's Lebron and ESPN.

 

How many of his points come from contact? Does anyone have a chart of how much of his points come from dunks & feeds and how many come from the perimeter & 3pt line?

LeBron will probably have passed everyone statistically at the end of his career, but there are still some things/factors that won't allow me to call him the greatest ever.

 

Hair plugs?

 

What's this narrative about its going to be Lebron vs the Big 4? I've been hearing it a lot lately. Let's ignore the fact that Kyrie and Love are all stars. And wasn't it a season ago that Tristan Thompson was being called the next Rodman?

This is why I can't like the guy. When Kobe wins, oh he had Shaq and Pau. When Lebron wins, he carried his team, let's ignore Wade, Bosh, Kyrie, Love, etc.

 

yeah, love's a semi-perennial (is that a designation?) allstar, and i think irving could approximate harden's production in a dantoni type system (complete with lack of defense!). lebron's not playing with losers.

 

Well you know when it's LeBron, rules change, because of the desperation to make him the next MJ. Outside of Pau and Lamar Odom, when Kobe had Ariza, Shannon, Morrison for Pete's sake, DJ, Josh Powell people we haven't heard from anymore, nobody was going "Oh he needs help" when they were losing, not saying those guys were terrible (Ariza made some big defensive plays in our 2010 title run), but they weren't Kyrie, Iman, J.R. or Thompson either. Nobody was calling the Lakers "The Kobes" People were saying he needed Pau for two more titles. Anyone who plays with LeBron automatically becomes "The need more helps" no matter if they had a 30 ppg season prior to (Dwayne Wade) no matter if they're one of the greatest shooters in history (Ray Allen) one of the top pg's in the league (Kyrie) tied an all time record for double doubles (Kevin Love), I just don't get it. LeBron's career speaks for itself, he's outstanding on his own, he doesn't need to be buttered up all the time.

 

Besides my belly , am i more attractive than Leonardo DiCaprio ?

 

Have a nice trip?

 

^ that was a foul...

 

Flop

 

Bingo. Brilliantly done by LeBron, too. These Cavs have no competition in the East. LeBron has an excellent supporting cast along with another superstar in Irving and a very, very good player in Kevin Love.

This has been by far the worst playoffs I've watched in recent years. The East is a complete joke, injuries have derailed some of these series out West. If Kawhi is out, why don't we just cancel the rest of these series and go ahead with GSW/Cleveland?