2014 NBA Playoffs thread

Jordan would've willed those Dwyane Wade bricks into the basket.

He also would've willed the ball to stay in Wade's hands on the dribble.

 

It may not exist. I was simply saying if it did, it would still be irrelevant to that generation.

 

The biggest difference between Jordan and James is that Jordan is a raging asshole competitor of the highest order. James is a much nicer guy. Sometimes, that doesn't work in James' favor.

 

If 22/4/4 and shooting 40 percent from the field is the counter-example to my point, and that's what his worst game was, I feel pretty confident in my point then.

 

Rick, yes, Jordan passed off occasionally...but he wanted the shot when the game was on the line. Nike had an entire ad campaign about this...are you saying LeBron is as feared as Jordan was with the game on the line? I guess that's a subjective question but I'm just curious.

 

Check the 1:10 mark of that video, Rick. It says "Chicago Bulls 9 points in 4th Quarter, All by Jordan"

 

Okay, I drank the Kool-Aid on that one, but still think Rodman eats up the Heat frontline.

 

So an advertising campaign is valid proof that Jordan wanted to take the last shot?

I think Jordan is better but he passed to Paxson and Kerr to win playoff games. It was the right basketball play both times but if LeBron did that today, people would say he was afraid of the big shot.

 

By every metric I know including the evidence of my own two eyes, Jordan and Bill Russell are the 1 and 1A players of all time. James is a legendarily great player, the best of this era by far. He's among the immortals like Wilt, Oscar, Jerry West, Larry Bird and Magic. I just don't think he's as good as Jordan was. But James isn't done yet, and therefore has the chance to alter my opinion.

 

Don't know if it was his worst. Doubt it was. But not going to the line, not blocking a shot and not getting a single steal is the epitome of just standing around. And all his team needed were 79 points to win that game. They got only 73.

People bring up that Game 5 vs. the Celtics as LeBron "zoning out."

Well, he did go to the line 12 times, did grab 6 rebounds and had 7 assists.

Problem with that game was that it simply got out of hand. Final was 120-88. At some point when that happens you do take your foot off the gas. It's not your or your team's night.

The pre-flu game was up for grabs the whole way, and Jordan didn't seem willing to take over anything.

In the Heat's key loss to Dallas in Game 5 of the 2011 Finals, LeBron went 17-10-10. And yet THAT is considered one of his colossal failure games. A bleeping triple-double.

 

Might be time for you to realize that people outside of Northeast Ohio no longer give much of a shit about this. Your posts about Lebron always give me the impression that you're stuck in some 2010 time warp, thinking everyone should still be fuming and flaming about how he played the poor widdle Clevelanders.

And the notion that "people want to give him a pass" for The Decision is plain hilarious. Lebron took the most over the top exaggerated media beating I've ever seen for something that really wasn't that big of a deal. He announced his free agency decision on TV? Oh my god, crucify him! If there's one thing Lebron assuredly did not get for that, it's "a pass."

 

Just to add to that thought, but not really meant to "prove" anything: LeBron had more playoff triple-doubles in the 2011 postseason than Jordan had in his entire career.

Overall, James has 48 in 11 seasons. Jordan had 31 in 15 seasons.