Playoff LeBron...

[murksiderock]

Between the Raptors and Celtics, they was like top seed or at worst #2 the last 2 or 3 years Bron was in the East. Hell his last year wasn’t the Cavs like a 4th seed?

Before the injury PG in Indy was getting crowned

Did Bron sit out the season Wade and Shaq went to finals?

Tell that to the DRose stans..... I dare you


The Big 3 all them niccas had like 5-6 more years in them... fukk that excuse

Detroit, 2 years or not he still had to see them


Again in the West, niccas can gas up all them other teams not named Lakers, Spurs, and GS all they want but at the end of the day they was nothing more than food too and would’ve got worked by some them Wade, DRose, Big 3C, Raptors lead teams

The way people gas up The West you'd think they had 5 dynastic teams lol...

Here's an objective look at who the dominant teams were in the '10s, by who made it to their conference championship round at least twice:

•Warriors 5-0 WCF, 3-2 Finals
•Spurs 2-2 WCF, 1-1 Finals
•Thunder 1-3 WCF, 0-1 Finals
•Rockets 0-2 WCF

Rest of The West was food the entire decade. 15 of the 20 WCF slots (75%) were held by just these 4 teams; 8 of the 10 Finals appearances were by the Top 3 teams. Mavs caught lightning in a bottle one year and were ass the rest of the decade, Lakers started the decade riding momentum from the previous decade ('00s) and were ass the rest of the decade...

There were 4 B-level organizations in The West in the 2010s. LeBron beat the Top 3 in The Finals and the only one he had a losing record to, The Warriors, every other GOAT in NBA history woulda lost at least 2/4 matchups to that team...

 

[Swagnificent]

Why hasn't any other great player dominated The East, then? In the last 20 years, the following guys played all or most of their primes in the East:

Pierce, Allen, Melo, Iverson, Wade, PG, Mac, Dwight, Butler, Rose...

These are all guys who at some point were considered Top 10 active players or right now are debatably Top 50 All-Timers...

So why couldn't any of these guys do it if it's that easy?

They did. Did you forget Iverson in 2001? How about Kidd in 2002 and 2003 after he came over from the Western Conference? D-Wade in 2006? Obviously after that it was the Big 3 Celtics and then the Heat's Big 3. Then Bron goes back to Cleveland and has no other legit superstars to contend with so he makes it back to the Finals. And finally Kawhi goes from the West to the East and dominates.

We've seen several of those superstars dominate the East only to lose to the West in the Finals. Nobody has done it longer than Bron but we've seen guys do something similar for short periods.

Stop, the Bulls were seen as favorites to win it all in '11, don't minimize and get revisionist on how people viewed Rose and that squad...

The Celtics were threats every year until Bron deaded them twice, we're gonna talk about them being "old" but a)if the Celtics won those last two series over Bron we wouldn't say that, and b)Bron is "old" now and none of you guys give him the "old" pass...

The Pacers were title contenders, led by Next Big Thing (George) and the best D in The League at the time...

Ended the Pistons run, you can call em what you want but they were 2x Finalists and were in the ECF six years in a row, that team is underrated to this day and was every bit a mini-dynasty...

These were all squads that had multi-year runs and were champions and/or championship contenders in real time, but no thoughts on that? Hahahaha...

Stop it. You cited the Heat years. Obviously after LeBron stacked the deck with 2 other top 10 players alongside him they were able to beat 1 superstar in D. Rose. Who cares what the media was saying. Everyone knew D. Rose by himself ain't beating prime LeBron, Wade, and Bosh.

Then you got the Celtics Big 3 who were all in their mid-30s. I would expect 3 superstars aged 27-29 years old to beat 3 former superstars aged 33-35 years old. Maybe if Bron beat a younger Celtics Big 3 it mighta meant something. But beating them when they were old only stopped an embrassing loss. It didn't make what the Heat accomplished impressive.

Now onto the Pacers. Those were gritty teams but are you seriously expecting me to be impressed that Bron/Wade/Bosh beat a team led by Paul George? Stop it. This is not that different from the Bulls teams led by D. Rose. Paul George is not that much better than Bosh. I would expect a player on LeBron's caliber to take them out.

And finally the old Pistons. By 2007 they were on their last legs. If you want to give LeBron credit for that as if he dethroned some great team, then you can't excuse him getting swept in the Finals by the Spurs. That would then become an embrassing loss rather than just being excused. So how do you want it? Did Bron beat an aging Pistons team in 2007 only to get exposed by the Spurs in the Finals OR did he dethrone a great champion in Detroit in 2007 only to choke against the Spurs in the Finals? You can't have it both ways.

 

[Bboystyle]

rob parker is such a bum

Is that yauzee in your avi?

 

[murksiderock]

Just for comparison's sake, East top teams in the '10s:

•Heat 4-0 ECF, 2-2 Finals
•Cavs 4-0 ECF, 1-3 Finals
•Raptors 1-1 ECF, 1-0 Finals
•Celtics 1-3 ECF, 0-1 Finals
•Pacers 0-2 ECF

Staying consistent, if I'm saying there were only four consistently good West teams, then in The East there were only three, not counting Bron's teams...

Two different versions of the C's made the Final Four last decade, those mid-decade Pacer squads were every bit as good as the Rockets, and we all know the Raptors biggest issue was they couldn't beat LeBron...

So all this West revisionism, I mean really on balance at the top of both conferences, there was Warriors, Bron teams, and everybody else. This idea he couldn't have won in The West is kinda crazy---->he beat the best West teams and woulda beat the Rockets if he got em in either '15 or '18. Rockets the 4th best West squad of the decade and woulda got peeled back by Bron...

 

[Swagnificent]

Hater logic never makes any sense. Haters turned 6 rings on Jordan into shyt back in the day. They mostly gave up hating on him now, but for a few years they hated hard. You still occasionally see people saying Jordan only got rings because he played against out of shape white boys and skinny janitors....

A hater can twist ANY sort of achievement and excellence into a form of failure. Period.

The same people saying Lebrons Playoff stats don't count in the "Weak East" will gloss over his historic statlines against the best the West has produced in decades:

Kyrie won that championship with his game-winning shot.

And maybe you been in a coma but we now live in the era of inflated stats. Westbrook just averaged a triple double for 3 straight seasons after only happening once before in NBA history. James Harden is scoring the ball at a rate we haven't seen since Wilt. Guys like Luka Doncic and Giannis are annilating LeBron's numbers at the same age.

If you wanna pump up LeBron's stats compared to players from the past, then I hope you're ready to argue that Westbrook, Doncic, and Giannis are all better than him as well since they're blowing his stats outta the water now.

 

[Bryan Danielson]

How old are you?

The West had several years where the playoffs teams from 1-8 had 50+ wins. In addition to the Lakers, Spurs, and Mavs, you had CP3's Clippers teams that were perennial contenders. You had the Gasol/Randolph/Conley Grizzlies teams that were elite. How couls forget the KD/Westbrook Thunder?

You tripping for trying to act like the West didn't have juggernauts for damn near 20 years.

Them 50+ teams wasn’t beating or a threat to them Lakers and Spurs teams

So what if they even got past them.....

A say 50 win Denver wasn’t about to beat the Pistons or Celtics come finals.

It is what it is

 

[murksiderock]

I don't know... maybe had something to do with the fact he quit on the Cavs to go ringchase in his prime with a super team in MIA, then quit on the heat to go ringchase with a new younger super team after that ?

Like the east was already weak as fukk..but the fact he hopped around as an in-prime top 10 all time player swapping teams with multiple in-prime All-NBA/Allstar teammates ain't exactly some insignificant minor detail... LeBron's playing with dwade and Bosh and muhfukkas talking bout the threat of a pacers team led by like a 22 year old Paul George and Roy Hibbert ... then have the nerve to cry when the rabbit has the gun when the KD dubbs was sweeping that ass out the finals

Salute the championships, but this "dominated the east for 8 years" shyt is one of the most overblown moral victory ass lowered expectations thing in sports to me...

We will disagree on the context of the details, so let's move it here---->how is any of that a rebuttal to him being arguably the greatest postseason player in league history, and LeBron in the playoffs being one of the most electrifying athletes ever?

We can do a lot of dancing around context but he clearly has the resume to prove his playoff record is worthy of high esteem...

 

[Bryan Danielson]

Niccas be killing me with that “last legs” shyt

Nicca just cuz you over 30 don’t mean you washed....


Then I guess that 96-98 Bulls team was on they “last legs” as MJ was 33-36....

...older than the KG, Ray Allen, Paul Peirce and Rondo that Bron faced and dethrone.... niccas was still AllStars

 

[Swagnificent]

Them 50+ teams wasn’t beating or a threat to them Lakers and Spurs teams

So what if they even got past them.....

A say 50 win Denver wasn’t about to beat the Pistons or Celtics come finals.

It is what it is

Playing a 50 win team in the first round is more taxing when going on a deep playoff run than playing a sub-500 team. Sure the 2010 Thunder weren't gonna beat the Lakers but they took them to 6 games. If Kobe had played in the weak eastern conference he wouldn't have had to exert as much energy in the early rounds just to make it out of the conference so by the time he makes it to the Finals, his legs aren't shot in Game 7 against the Celtics where he shot 6-24.

This is what makes LeBron's 3-6 Finals record even more embarrassing. He had the benefit of coasting in the East while the Western Conference teams beat each other up and still couldn't take more advantage of it in the Finals to knock off a team that had exerted more energy just to reach the finals.

 

[MoneyTron]

Is it playoff mode activated season yet?

Bron definitely one of the top playoff performers ever but this whole “Playoff Bron” thing is way overblown.

 

[Swagnificent]

how is any of that a rebuttal to him being arguably the greatest postseason player in league history, and LeBron in the playoffs being one of the most electrifying athletes ever?

Cause quality of competition matters. Ain't nobody calling the Harlem Globetrotters the greatest basketball team of all-time because they beat up on the Washington Generals. You keep acting like LeBron doesn't have a 3-6 record in the Finals. How on earth can you say he's the greatest postseason player when he keeps losing in the most important round?

Also electrifying is extremely subjective. I personally found D-Wade to be more electrifying to watch than LeBron. Bron has always been a perimeter version of Shaq to me. Like Shaq there are moments he's fun to watch but because his game is based more on power and strength versus grace and skill its simply not that exciting to me. You can consider LeBron electrifying but just know most people disagree with that. Most people enjoy watching graceful artists of the game like Jordan and Kobe over guys who do it with power and strength like LeBron and Shaq.

 

[Long Live The Kane]

We will disagree on the context of the details, so let's move it here---->how is any of that a rebuttal to him being arguably the greatest postseason player in league history, and LeBron in the playoffs being one of the most electrifying athletes ever?

We can do a lot of dancing around context but he clearly has the resume to prove his playoff record is worthy of high esteem...

I mean, damn near anything that's not an objective fact is "arguable"...IMO ihe's certainly one of the best playoff performers, him along with a bunch of other of the greatest players ever... I don't think he's definitively separately himself in that regard from say a Shaq...and hasn't significantly separated himself head to head against a contemporary like KD (regardless of the outcome of their 3 series)... or reached the level of the consensus greatest playoff performer MJ...

But yeah, the argument could be made... His domination of the east during his Heatles and 2nd Cleveland run just isn't a singular compelling part of said argument to me... especially considering I think with the talent he's played with I think he should have more than 3 rings to show for it

 

[Swagnificent]

Niccas be killing me with that “last legs” shyt

Nicca just cuz you over 30 don’t mean you washed....


Then I guess that 96-98 Bulls team was on they “last legs” as MJ was 33-36....

...older than the KG, Ray Allen, Paul Peirce and Rondo that Bron faced and dethrone.... niccas was still AllStars

In 97 and 98 Jordan was playing Stockton and Malone. Guys his age. If 33-35 year old Bron/Wade/Bosh were playing 33-35 year old KG/Pierce/Allen then you might have an argument. But what we're pointing out is the obvious age difference. Sure you can still be great at 33-35 years old but its a different story when you face an adversary who is as good as you but is aged 27-29 years old. I'm pretty sure I heard Bron stans using age as an excuse earlier this year when Kawhi dominated him in their matchups. I remember ya'll saying its because Kawhi is 29 years old while Bron is 35.

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

 

[Bryan Danielson]

Playing a 50 win team in the first round is more taxing when going on a deep playoff run than playing a sub-500 team. Sure the 2010 Thunder weren't gonna beat the Lakers but they took them to 6 games. If Kobe had played in the weak eastern conference he wouldn't have had to exert as much energy in the early rounds just to make it out of the conference so by the time he makes it to the Finals, his legs aren't shot in Game 7 against the Celtics where he shot 6-24.

This is what makes LeBron's 3-6 Finals record even more embarrassing. He had the benefit of coasting in the East while the Western Conference teams beat each other up and still couldn't take more advantage of it in the Finals to knock off a team that had exerted more energy just to reach the finals.

Na man.... no one trynna hear that..... I would put respect on it if was like in the NFL where in the NFC and given team could be in the Super Bowl.


But like them Brady/Manning teams, they had a monopoly over their division and really only had to worry bout each other.

Also again, you acting like most of Brons teams were on par with say a GS team. Even Brons best team wasn’t that good.

If we gonna actively shyt on all the top teams in the East.... then why stop there.....

We may as well not respect the finals wins from the West teams since they played terrible East teams and call out how their matchup was easy and they weren’t challenged so their titles should have asterisks.

But Na, no one wants to do that and all y’all would call that “stupid” questioning Kobe and Duncan’s wins.

So let’s just be a little bit more respectful overall