2014 NBA Playoffs thread

Muhammad Ali is actually 56-3. His losses to Holmes and Berbick don't count because they happened after his prime.

 

I thinking including Jordan's Wizards years are ridiculous.

If we must compare the two, compare their primes, hard to do considering James is still in his.

 

Durant scoring vs. LeBron 32.0 vs. 27.1
Durant shooting vs. LeBron 50.3 vs. 56.7
3-pt. shooting: 39.1 vs. 37.9
Rebounds: 7.4 vs. 6.9
Assists: 5.5 vs. 6.3
Steals: 1.3 vs. 1.6
Blocks: 59 vs. 26

I think Durant is a vastly underrated defender and LeBron is somewhat overrated. Not that he isn't a great defender, but he's not quite the lock-down guy people make him out to be. Here's a good analysis, comparing his defensive performance with other MVP candidates, including Durant:

http://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1u8jvo/tale_of_the_tape_defensive_comparison_between/

So I think this "LeBron is clearly better than Durant" talk is based on assumptions which, while true in 2012, are no longer true. Unlike the Jordan era "let's give it to somebody else" MVPs, Durant had the best year this year and was the best player.

 

Duncan only has four NBA titles. This year's doesn't count because he's 38 and well past his prime.

 

This is the gold standard for reasonableness to date in this discussion.

 

So, we shouldn't look at his Wizards years.

We also shouldn't look at the nine years Mr. "Never Lost a Championship" didn't win a championship.

Anything else?

Comparing primes is a whole different animal.

When you're debating all-time greatness, the player's whole fucking career counts.

 

Bill Walton is the greatest center of all time because only his Portland years count.

 

That was ... phenomenal.

"Give me a double pecker."

 

It's possible to do other things besides score. 17-10-10 means some things were being done. Perhaps not enough, but this "he didn't score, so he disappeared" is nonsense. How many times was Bill Russell ever accused of "disappearing" just because he didn't score a bunch of points (in any quarter)?

You see, it's not enough to be the best player on the court anymore. You have to TAKE OVER THE GAME because, well, Jordan would have done it. Except, of course, those times when he clearly didn't do it. That graphic that showed "Bulls 9 points --- all by Jordan" also says something else. No assists. If he doesn't take the last shot, he's the decoy. Ah, the decoy! If LeBron doesn't take the last shot, "he didn't want it." That's the double-standard I find so maddening.

 

That was a Baronesque comparison.

Fine we will use their whole careers, that means we should not be discussing this since we have yet to see Lebron at 38.

 

I would have been curious how different the series would have been if the Heat has won Game 1, which they almost certainly would have if LeBron hadn't had the cramps issue. Woulda, coulda, shoulda I know. It will be interesting to see what happens from here.

I'm curious what happens going forward because in order for the Heat to make big changes, all three would have to opt out and I can't imagine Wade doing that when he's getting $20 mil per over the next two seasons and wouldn't sniff anything close to that on the open market.

 

You say that jokingly, but it is pretty silly to try and decide on where LeBron fits against Jordan when LeBron probably still has 10 or so years left to play. I guess it would be too crazy to let things actually play out before pontificating on them.