Minnesota Sports Forum

What would you have done differently if you were in Lebron's position in Cleveland? He was on a treadmill of good enough to get his team there, but he was essentially a one man wrecking crew. Stay in Cleveland and be the bridesmaid his whole career while journalist call him out saying he is "not clutch" and "can't get it done when it counts". He's a competitor and wants to be great and Cleveland FO wasn't putting the pieces around him to win. Just a few years prior KG had wasted away his most talented years in Minny unable to win a championship in a similar scenario. Hard to fault the man for leaving, yes he does get calls he's a superstar and superstars get calls its part of the game.

Do you think Lebron is friends with K-love, I don't. I think he just wants to win (he is afterall chasing Kobe & MJ, I'm sure he wants to be the greatest basketball player ever) and knows that formula Himself + play making guard + talented big man = a really good chance at a championship. Win as many rings as possible helps his legacy as potentially the greatest player of all time.

What ever happened to actually running a play at the end of a game?

Star players get star calls is a joke. A foul is a foul. Nothing more annoying then star players getting calls just because they are star players. And to call it part of the game is ridiculous. I want to see great basketball, not some organized reffing to get a guy to the championship.

And as far as legacy, Lebrons legacy would have been 10 times greater had he stayed in cleveland and won than it is now. They made it deep in the playoffs and were a lot more fun to watch then. Lebrons career has been a disappointment in my eyes compared to what it could have been.

crazysauce wrote:Star players get star calls is a joke. A foul is a foul. Nothing more annoying then star players getting calls just because they are star players. And to call it part of the game is ridiculous. I want to see great basketball, not some organized reffing to get a guy to the championship.

And as far as legacy, Lebrons legacy would have been 10 times greater had he stayed in cleveland and won than it is now. They made it deep in the playoffs and were a lot more fun to watch then. Lebrons career has been a disappointment in my eyes compared to what it could have been.

I don't like Lebron and I root against him but you have crazy high standers if you think a top 6 player in NBA history has been a disappointment.

Thats exactly the problem, Lebron could have possibly been the best ever. I think his game took a huge step back after he left for Miami and I think became complacent. Hell, he wasnt even the guy there at the beginning, that would have been Wade. Playing second fiddle was terrible for his legacy, and his game. Its a travesty what happened. Maybe it was Lebron, maybe it was posse, but it was the wrong "decision."

LeBron never played second fiddle. He was never the sidekick. He is a top-five player of all-time when he decides to hang it up. You're pretty clearly being a LeBron hater and it's unjustified.

I never said star players getting star calls wasn't an annoyance, but it is part of the game and in a way they've earned the benefit of the doubt on the 50/50 calls.

What if Lebron had stayed in Cleveland and never won it all, what would that say about his Legacy? I wish he would have stayed in Cleveland, but I'm not so self righteous to think that it wasn't a logical or rational decision to leave to go to Miami to play with friends and win. I mean that sounds like a dream come true to go to Miami for a few years, work with some of your best friends, and be successful. Who here among us wouldn't jump at that opportunity. And this is coming from a guy that rooted against Miami when he was there, but be reasonable.

Cam you must not have watched them too much if you dont think Lebron played second fiddle to Wade for a few years, As the years went on it slowly rolled to Lebron, but Wade was the one with the higher usage percentage and also played much better than lebron the first few years. Am I a Lebron hater? Absolutely.
And you are crazy if you dont think James teaming up with two other stars didnt prevent us from seeing Lebron at his greatest. Its unfortunate really.

As far as if he didnt win a championship, in my eyes they are less significant when you have to leave your team to chase one. The greats dont need to chase. And Reggie Miller may not have won, but I respect the hell out of him for sticking it out. Especially when your an all time great, you shouldnt have to leave your team, you should be able to lead your team. He showed his true character when he left.

Wade had a 31.6 usage rate compared to LeBron's 31.5 in 2010. Big deal. LeBron also had pretty much every other statistical category over Wade that year and the other three. You don't want to pull up the numbers or you'll be discredited with the quickness.

Apparently it's you who didn't pay attention, or ignorantly chose to not pay respect to LeBron's greatness in Miami. Any team he plays for, he becomes "the guy". That's the way it goes. That's what the best basketball player of this generation brings to the table.

He's been great. He still is great. Why do some people choose to hate on greatness for no reason? I couldn't tell you. I didn't like the way he handled "The Decision", but he even acknowledged that it was the wrong way to go about it. Get over this nonsense.

Camden wrote:LeBron never played second fiddle. He was never the sidekick. He is a top-five player of all-time when he decides to hang it up. You're pretty clearly being a LeBron hater and it's unjustified.

Cam, did you watch 2011 finals between Dallas and Miami. LeBron's whole playoff performance was clearly inferior to Wade and his finals performance was abysmal. It is true that he was not second fiddle, he was basically third fiddle to Wade and Bosh in that series.

LeBron's finals averages that year 17.8 pts per game and his free throw percentage was .60. He was even worse in 4th quarter in that series by shooting 33% from the field and scoring just 7 field goals in six games series. Wade averaged 26.5 pts in same finals with better shooting percentages than LeBron.

For me LeBron's that year finals performance alone prevents him to be ever considered on par with Micheal Jordan. Could you imagine that MJ would have performed ever as bad in the most important games during season?