Do You Finally Respect LeBron James?

[Predicto]

I agree. Throw Kobe in there as a master of his craft as well. People kept saying oh well Kobe can't win without Shaq! Guess what he did? Elevated his game to another level as a veteran and won back to back Ships with LA in 08-09 and 09-10. .

Yeah he won a title without Shaq. After they got all star Pau Gasol to help him. Something the Cavs never did for LeBron.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I wish Lebron played 18 holes of golf before a playoff game like Jordan did. Or spent a night gambling in Atlantic City before a playoff game like Jordan did.

Lebron is obsessive about his game, idk where you come up with that. You dont get to be as good as he is without being obsessive. And lets not pretend Jordan was an average talent too.

And Jordan is the very symbol of the fake athlete. Be real here. The biggest corporate whore of a bball player of all time, yet you make it out that he was something else.

Jordan never let any of that get in the way. LeBron is obsessive about his game but it wasn't noted that much until now. All of a sudden there's glowing articles about him about how he called Hakeem last summer to work on his post game, how he reads before games to stay focused...whatever.

Jordan is/was a corporate whore but he was never making comments about how he wanted to be a global icon before he did anything significant. He just took opportunities that were placed in front of him, can't fault him for that.

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

at 18 he knew exactly what he was doing when he got on SI and all of those media interviews/stories. Keep using his age as an excuse.

he was actually 16

I just like this because I bet you regret nothing you did as a 16-18 year old and was not impressionable.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Yeah he won a title without Shaq. After they got all star Pau Gasol to help him. Something the Cavs never did for LeBron.

BTW, Jordan never had a true big man on any of his teams. The closest was Rodman.

[I_Bleed_B&G]

at 18 he knew exactly what he was doing when he got on SI and all of those media interviews/stories. Keep using his age as an excuse.

I would of done the same thing. At 18 yrs old??? Are you kidding me. I would have done 10x worse than Lebron. Am I a jerk? Maybe. Think about all the dumb crap you probably did at 18? I know I have done some dumb stuff and I never had magazines and nike all up in my grill

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Well here's Bird saying he never would have left Boston: http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4689454/simmons-and-bird-talk-nba

Bird almost never went to Boston in the first place. He was demanding the biggest rookie deal ever or he was going back in the draft. Then he won a title in Year 2.

Here's Jordan saying he never would have called up Larry and Magic: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2010/07/jordan-i-wouldnt-have-called-up-larry-and-magic/1#.T-UC8StYu_o

Jordan did not join Magic and Bird. He did get a coach fired. He did call his teammates "my supporting cast." He did refuse to play for the Dream Team if Isiah played. He did humiliate a future teammate in the Olympics. He did run off numerous teammates who were not worthy of him. He did burn the Bulls to the ground when he left for good.

[skinsfan07]

Yeah he won a title without Shaq. After they got all star Pau Gasol to help him. Something the Cavs never did for LeBron.

2 titles. Back to Back. I don't care who you have, that is NOT easy.

[skinfan2k]

I would of done the same thing. At 18 yrs old??? Are you kidding me. I would have done 10x worse than Lebron. Am I a jerk? Maybe. Think about all the dumb crap you probably did at 18? I know I have done some dumb stuff and I never had magazines and nike all up in my grill

I went to college and had a full-time job and went to UMD. I didn't do any dumb stuff that i can't tell my kids

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Jordan never let any of that get in the way.

Except when it did prior to '91.

Again, I feel like I am the only person who was alive when Jordan was considered the second coming of George Gervin - a great scorer who can't win big games because he did not trust his teammates.

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

Jordan never let any of that get in the way.

thats fine, but that didnt make him a model professional did it?

LeBron is obsessive about his game but it wasn't noted that much until now.

you mean you didnt know about it until now.

All of a sudden there's glowing articles about him about how he called Hakeem last summer to work on his post game, how he reads before games to stay focused...whatever.

Kobe did the same thing the summer of 2009, was Kobe not obsessive about his game until 2009?

Jordan is/was a corporate whore but he was never making comments about how he wanted to be a global icon before he did anything significant. He just took opportunities that were placed in front of him, can't fault him for that.

you know why he said that? Because he saw what Jordan did and wanted to be that. Why fault him?

And whats funny is that HE HAS BECOME A GLOBAL ICON. He said it and did it, why be mad about that? And more than anything, why use his words as a 16-18 year old against him?

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

2 titles. Back to Back. I don't care who you have, that is NOT easy.

Kobe never won a title when he did not have either the best or second best post player in the league on his team.

And he would have left LA had Jerry West not given them Gasol.

[I_Bleed_B&G]

I went to college and had a full-time job and went to UMD. I didn't do any dumb stuff that i can't tell my kids

So is that the remedy to not do dumb stuff

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

I went to college and had a full-time job and went to UMD. I didn't do any dumb stuff that i can't tell my kids

yeah, now lets talk about you in high school. But then again your poo dont stink. Fair enough

Except when it did prior to '91.

Again' date=' I feel like I am the only person who was alive when Jordan was considered the second coming of George Gervin - a great scorer who can't win big games because he did not trust his teammates.[/quote']

Rings make people forget things.

If Lebron wins 4-5 more titles over the next decade a lot of these posters will be telling young kids something different about Lebron.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Jordan is/was a corporate whore but he was never making comments about how he wanted to be a global icon before he did anything significant. He just took opportunities that were placed in front of him, can't fault him for that.

Are you kidding me?

Jordan was a brand before he played one second of basketball. I had the sweetest poster of him dunking on a Chicago playground in my room in '85. He looked like a security guard for Kurtis Blow.

---------- Post added June-22nd-2012 at 07:06 PM ----------

Speaking of George Gervin and speaking of posters.

I owned this. I was badass:

[skinfan2k]

So is that the remedy to not do dumb stuff

there is a difference between being indian than being white. sorry

[Spaceman Spiff]

Bird almost never went to Boston in the first place. He was demanding the biggest rookie deal ever or he was going back in the draft. Then he won a title in Year 2.

Jordan did not join Magic and Bird. He did get a coach fired. He did call his teammates "my supporting cast." He did refuse to play for the Dream Team if Isiah played. He did humiliate a future teammate in the Olympics. He did run off numerous teammates who were not worthy of him. He did burn the Bulls to the ground when he left for good.

So what's your point? If you were the owner of the Bulls, who would you keep? Jordan or the coach? He did refuse to play for the Dream Team because he didn't like Isiah. But Isiah was a ***** anyway. Again, who would you rather have on the team?

Jordan was hyper competitive by all accounts. He ran off teammates who couldn't hang with him to find the ones that could. Humiliating Toni Kukoc in the Olympics out of sheer spite because the Bulls were going to give him Scottie Pippen's money? Big deal.

So Jordan had a mean streak, ok fine. I still think LeBron is soft in comparison.

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/iceman.jpg

Nike released a Tshirt of this 10 years ago. I bought it. Still own it.

[I_Bleed_B&G]

there is a difference between being indian than being white. sorry

what's that supposed to mean

[skinsfan07]

yeah, now lets talk about you in high school. But then again your poo dont stink. Fair enough

Rings make people forget things.

If Lebron wins 4-5 more titles over the next decade a lot of these posters will be telling young kids something different about Lebron.

Don't think Lebron will win 4-5 more titles. He's already 27. How much good ball does he really have left? I say he may win 1 more. Miami won't be good for much longer, with Wade on the downside of his career (injuries have killed him) and Bosh being far from stellar (needs to be 100% healthy). The rest of those role players probably wouldn't even start on most other teams in the league. Plus the talent in the East will only get better.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Are you kidding me?

Jordan was a brand before he played one second of basketball. I had the sweetest poster of him dunking on a Chicago playground in my room in '85. He looked like a security guard for Kurtis Blow.

---------- Post added June-22nd-2012 at 07:06 PM ----------

Speaking of George Gervin and speaking of posters.

I owned this. I was badass:

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/iceman.jpg

Yeah, Nike made a shoe for him. Jordan never actually said "I want to be a global icon." like LeBron did. There's a giant difference there. He was down to choosing between Adidas and Nike...Nike basically needed to pin their hopes on someone and (wisely) chose Jordan.

[Predicto]

BTW, Jordan never had a true big man on any of his teams. The closest was Rodman.

No, but he had several all stars with him, including a first ballot hall of famer. The triangle offense made a big man less important.

I'm not knocking Jordan in any way. I'm reacting to the excessive hatred of James, which I find odd. I don't even like James, or the Heat. I was rooting for OKC. But I think people are nuts the way they react to James. They hate him worse than Mike Vick, or Ben Roethlisberger, or AJ Pierzinsky, or Kurt Busch, or Ndamukong Suh, or Ron Artest, or any of the other true jerks of sports. And they feel the need to deny how good he is, which is even weirder, because he is truly great and from all accounts, he works as hard as anyone can to be great.

I just don't get it.

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

I Thought this pic was good for this thread,

http://jeffreylin.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Jordan-vs-Kobe-vs-LeBron.png

someone should do one of Kareem

He would own them all.

---------- Post added June-22nd-2012 at 08:20 PM ----------

Don't think Lebron will win 4-5 more titles. He's already 27. How much good ball does he really have left? I say he may win 1 more. Miami won't be good for much longer, with Wade on the downside of his career (injuries have killed him) and Bosh being far from stellar (needs to be 100% healthy). The rest of those role players probably wouldn't even start on most other teams in the league. Plus the talent in the East will only get better.

well for one, I said "if"

2nd, Jordan won his first title at 28.

[Predicto]

2 titles. Back to Back. I don't care who you have, that is NOT easy.

Who said it was easy? Kobe won titles because he earned them AND because he had the help around him to get them. James never got that kind of help in Cleveland, and he never would.

[I_Bleed_B&G]

No, but he had several all stars with him, including a first ballot hall of famer. The triangle offense made a big man less important.

I'm not knocking Jordan in any way. I'm reacting to the excessive hatred of James, which I find odd. I don't even like James, or the Heat. I was rooting for OKC. But I think people are nuts the way they react to James. They hate him worse than Mike Vick, or Ben Roethlisberger, or AJ Pierzinsky, or Kurt Busch, or Ndamukong Suh, or Ron Artest, or any of the other true jerks of sports. And they feel the need to deny how good he is, which is even weirder, because he is truly great and from all accounts, he works as hard as anyone can to be great.

I just don't get it.

I agree 100%. These people hate him like he did some heinous act. Just like the example of people you listed who some are just bad people in what they did. Killing dogs, rape, fighting people and jumping into stands and fighting fans, etc... All this guy did was leave a butthole of a city (state) and did some immature things and then think he is the worst of the worst. Its nuts. it really is

[Spaceman Spiff]

No, but he had several all stars with him, including a first ballot hall of famer. The triangle offense made a big man less important.

I'm not knocking Jordan in any way. I'm reacting to the excessive hatred of James, which I find odd. I don't even like James, or the Heat. I was rooting for OKC. But I think people are nuts the way they react to James. They hate him worse than Mike Vick, or Ben Roethlisberger, or AJ Pierzinsky, or Kurt Busch, or Ndamukong Suh, or Ron Artest, or any of the other true jerks of sports. And they feel the need to deny how good he is, which is even weirder, because he is truly great and from all accounts, he works as hard as anyone can to be great.

I just don't get it.

It's because he so desperately wants to be liked. He's like that kid in school who so desperately tries to hang out with the cool kids instead of just being himself.