Official 2017-2018 NBA Playoffs thread!

[Al Bundy]

We'll see if the Warriors recover from the end of the season stretch of stinkers.

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

I think the only thing that dumbass knows anything about is steroid acne.

I just did a double pec pop in your honor.

[ChiefsCountry]

Kobe is the Derek Jeter of the NBA. Overrated because of the franchise he played for.

[dj56dt58]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

My take is simple. On a better managed franchise, LeBron wouldn’t have the pull that he does. He wouldn’t need to push for certain players if he had a front office that he could trust.

So yes, I agree that he’s pushed for players and some haven’t worked out. No player should have that much pull though. I place that issue squarely on the Cavs front office.

LeBron wouldn’t be on a team where he didn’t have a lot of pull

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

It's not an either/or. LeBron can force their hand to make certain decisions, the decisions themselves can be poor, and those decisions can still be no worse than what the Cavs would have done w/o LeBron's influence. What did the Cavs do before or after LeBron that showed they had any idea how to build a good roster?

Anthony Bennett is one of the biggest busts in NBA history. Wiggins, who they traded for Love, is the third best option on a mediocre Timberwolves team. Dion Waiters has worn out his welcome at multiple stops and can only put up stats on a bad team. The only guy you can point to is Irving, who is both injury prone and a sieve on defense, but because he can score, he's overrated by NBA casuals.

I'm sure the Cavs would have continued making terrible decisions with or without LeBron's input. And FTR, it wasn't LeBron that forced out Irving, either.

Different front offices. Chris Grant was a disaster. But Danny Ferry built a decent enough team in Atlanta. Pat Riley has built a contender in Miami even without a superstar. David Griffin made the critical chess moves that turned the Cavs around after a disastrous first half-year. Lebron got him fired. These are all decent enough GMS to build a team around Lebron.

Lebron has been coddled at every stop. In Miami, they at least put their foot down but it infuriated Lebron. The first time in Cleveland I blame on immaturity. Ferry & Gilbert over-coddled him in a desperate attempt to get him to stay. The second time, over-confidence in his own abilities. You gladly take that because it gets you Lebron. But in the GOAT conversation, you have to factor in the baggage. He undermined every coach he's worked with (Ty Lue is the exception because the dude barely coaches). He is notorious for demanding perks for his entourage, and that includes signing his buddies to cap-crippling contracts. And then he wonders why their GM with no money or draft picks can't make moves, then tries to get them canned or threatens to leave. In 3 separate instances, he's left behind a team that needed to be wrecked apart.

Maybe the GMs would do poorly without Lebron calling the shots. But I don't think it could be much worse than all the moves attributed to Lebron.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by dj56dt58

LeBron wouldn’t be on a team where he didn’t have a lot of pull

He had to have pull because the franchise wouldn't give him jack shit to play with for years until they "relented" and said, "Here, you can have Mo Williams. Enjoy!"

So he said, "I'll have to make my own supporting cast."

Granted, I think he's done way too much since returning to Cleveland post-Kevin Love trade. The Tristan Thompson contract, specifically.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Different front offices. Chris Grant was a disaster. But Danny Ferry built a decent enough team in Atlanta. Pat Riley has built a contender in Miami even without a superstar. David Griffin made the critical chess moves that turned the Cavs around after a disastrous first half-year. Lebron got him fired. These are all decent enough GMS to build a team around Lebron.

Lebron has been coddled at every stop. In Miami, they at least put their foot down but it infuriated Lebron. The first time in Cleveland I blame on immaturity. Ferry & Gilbert over-coddled him in a desperate attempt to get him to stay. The second time, over-confidence in his own abilities. You gladly take that because it gets you Lebron. But in the GOAT conversation, you have to factor in the baggage. He undermined every coach he's worked with (Ty Lue is the exception because the dude barely coaches). He is notorious for demanding perks for his entourage, and that includes signing his buddies to cap-crippling contracts. And then he wonders why their GM with no money or draft picks can't make moves, then tries to get them canned or threatens to leave. In 3 separate instances, he's left behind a team that needed to be wrecked apart.

Maybe the GMs would do poorly without Lebron calling the shots. But I don't think it could be much worse than all the moves attributed to Lebron.

What the hell are you talking about? He's left TWO teams in his career. The first Cleveland team was an absolute abortion of a roster. Lebron didn't do anything to wreck that team-- it was ****ed from the beginning. And the Miami Heat team required a Chris Bosh injury and Wade getting too old in order for the GM to "blow it up" and that was one or two years after Lebron had been there.

You're acting like Lebron has gone into paradises and turned them into 3rd world shitholes. That's not the case at all.

He's been heavy handed with ONE deal, and that was the Tristan Thompson contract.

[Best22]

Jordan never carried a team like this to the Finals

Lebron has done it twice

This one may be more impressive than 2007. 2007 had a tougher field, though. One thing is for certain, Lebron is a better player now than he was in '07

Jordan was solid, though

[SAUTO]

Jordan was solid?

Jesus Christ both sides are ****ing idiots

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by RealSNR

What the hell are you talking about? He's left TWO teams in his career. The first Cleveland team was an absolute abortion of a roster. Lebron didn't do anything to wreck that team-- it was ****ed from the beginning. And the Miami Heat team required a Chris Bosh injury and Wade getting too old in order for the GM to "blow it up" and that was one or two years after Lebron had been there.

You're acting like Lebron has gone into paradises and turned them into 3rd world shitholes. That's not the case at all.

He's been heavy handed with ONE deal, and that was the Tristan Thompson contract.

No, I didn't say he went to paradise. I'm saying that the teams could have been good enough on their own merits if they didn't have to cater to Lebron. This most recent stint is the most obvious. He pushed the trade for Love, which I still think was terrible. He pushed signing Mike Miller, James Jones, Shawn Marion. Signing Tristan and JR Smith to outrageously bad contracts. And he used his short-term status to threaten that he'd leave if they didn't go through. What team is going to have any money or picks to build a roster with that haul? The first 2 stints, debatable how much Lebron impacted the bad roster he left with. But this time, there's no doubt this supporting cast is terrible primarily because of Lebron. The first stint... it was well known that the team coddled the hell out of Lebron, from allowing him to loaf in practice to demanding personnel moves like the awful trade for Antawn Jamison.

Again, don't take this as a criticism of Lebron. But in the GOAT conversation, it goes without saying that his baggage has included an enormous need for coddling (unusual perks for his entourage, even including not allowing coaches to push him) and having way too heavy a hand in bad roster decisions.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

No, I didn't say he went to paradise. I'm saying that the teams could have been good enough on their own merits if they didn't have to cater to Lebron. This most recent stint is the most obvious. He pushed the trade for Love, which I still think was terrible. He pushed signing Mike Miller, James Jones, Shawn Marion. Signing Tristan and JR Smith to outrageously bad contracts. And he used his short-term status to threaten that he'd leave if they didn't go through. What team is going to have any money or picks to build a roster with that haul? The first 2 stints, debatable how much Lebron impacted the bad roster he left with. But this time, there's no doubt this supporting cast is terrible primarily because of Lebron. The first stint... it was well known that the team coddled the hell out of Lebron, from allowing him to loaf in practice to demanding personnel moves like the awful trade for Antawn Jamison.

Again, don't take this as a criticism of Lebron. But in the GOAT conversation, it goes without saying that his baggage has included an enormous need for coddling (unusual perks for his entourage, even including not allowing coaches to push him) and having way too heavy a hand in bad roster decisions.

The biggest issue with Lebron is he will never commit to a team long term again. He will always only sign 1-2 year deals and that is a direct quote. It makes building a team substantially harder when you can't get a firm commit out of the guy.


KD is doing the same thing but at least for now he is being upfront and saying he will resign.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

The biggest issue with Lebron is he will never commit to a team long term again. He will always only sign 1-2 year deals and that is a direct quote. It makes building a team substantially harder when you can't get a firm commit out of the guy.


KD is doing the same thing but at least for now he is being upfront and saying he will resign.

It's not necessarily a bad thing. But it'll be his legacy. He's a guy who gives a team a quick chance to win & will orchestrate everything around him. But it comes at the price of win now at all costs as opposed to sustained dominance. I personally think he could have had a sustained superpower in Cleveland without his meddling, and that's especially true this time around. It would be one thing if this current Cleveland team benefited from the quick moves he orchestrated, but many of the early moves with his fingerprints crippled the team while creating no benefit whatsoever.

[ARROW2]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Kobe is the Derek Jeter of the NBA. Overrated because of the franchise he played for.

[dirk digler]

Iggy is out for Game 7. His bone bruise on his knee must be bad.

[New World Order]

Originally Posted by Best22

Jordan never carried a team like this to the Finals

Lebron has done it twice

This one may be more impressive than 2007. 2007 had a tougher field, though. One thing is for certain, Lebron is a better player now than he was in '07

Jordan was solid, though

Jordan never played the scrubs in the East that Lebron has played the past 8 years or so.

Boston's roster is terrible. They were missing their 2 best players and Lebron still went 7 games.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by New World Order

Jordan never played the scrubs in the East that Lebron has played the past 8 years or so.

Boston's roster is terrible. They were missing their 2 best players and Lebron still went 7 games.

When was Boston last in the ecf? Were those 2 part of that team?