The Barnyard

LMAO

Don't think they would have, but one huge difference was that MJ was the complete opposite of a choker, he was clutch all the way. Lebron has that tag until he proves otherwise. I also think most of the fan animosity towards Lebron is about the circus around the big decision of him taking his "talent to South Beach". Bad PR move. Had he done the same thing and announced he was staying home it may have played out differently. The Heat compounded the the whole thing by having the Big Three on the rising stage with all of the smoke and nonsense. I honestly think most people do not fault the guy for working and living where he wants to and wanting the best chance to win, but he needs new PR advice. When Shaq left Orlando for LA, he didn't have an hour long absurdity on ESPN about the BIG DECISION. He made his choice and went out there and went to work, and yes, followed it up with winning.

Yeah, that was funny, Bird called them "S-O-F-T, soft." You will also never hear Bird complain about hard fouls or anything like that. Gosh, I wish him and Magic still played!

I agree that they have not backed it up like they hoped they would. I don't know that most people thought they would win 2 games, though.

There is no doubt that LeBron and Wade are one of the top 3 duos in the league. I enjoy watching them play. Most of the time, my jaw is on the floor when I watch them, to be honest. It is unbelievable, some of the things they can do with a basketball. LeBron is the most physically talented player that I can think of, ever. On defense, there has never been a guy like him.

That said, I just wish that, especially Wade, would conduct himself differently. Almost all of the guys on USC's football team are more mature than he is. He could benefit from some time spent with Marcus, no doubt about it.

Lebron can guard 5 positions on the floor effectively, that is what separates him from Jordan defensively.

Jordan's six rings (six for six in the finals) to go along with ten scoring titles and nine times all-defensive is separation enough for me. Lebron is an incredibly gifted athlete but so far he has been all hype and no hero. We'll see at the end of his career how he measures up, but right now he is nowhere near MJ.

Not sure how you can say he has lived up to the hype? He is in his ninth season and has yet to win a title. Maybe he gets his first this year, we'll see. The excuse has always been he doesn't have the team around him, which was the whole reason for moving to Miami. You are obviously a Lebron fan, and I acknowledge that he is a freakish athlete that can do special things. My point is that MJ was a freakish athlete as well, but he was also a great basketball player who made every team he was on including the players around him better, and most of all, he was a winner. Lebron may end up with six or more titles, but I doubt it. He's got all the tangibles in the world (with the exception of his shooting form), but it is the intangibles that produce titles that we have yet to see, and so far, that is the universal knock on King James.

What is not off of the charts with all of his physical gifts and "basketball IQ" is the ability as the star player to hit the big shot at crunch time to produce championships. Jordan, Magic, Bird, Isaiah and more recently Kobe could all do that. I think that gets back to fundamentals, or lack thereof in his shooting form. Lebron is a great defensive player. He sees the floor very well and is a great passer. He's a scorer, not a shooter, though and I think that is what has hurt him most when it gets to crunch time in the huge games. Magic didn't have the prettiest form but it was fundamentally sound with his elbow in the proper position and held up when it counted most. Heck, he would even threw in baby hooks to win some of the big championship games. Lebron has his elbow out and slings line drives in. He is streaky, but is by no means a great outside shooter and time and time again the big games come down to your star player's ability to hit the big shot from the outside. With the way NBA officials swallow their whistles at the end of games, you have to be able to be able to knock them down from long range.

Never heard Tragic in relationship to Magic Johnson unless you are referring to his medical situation. He was a winner at every level and was a big winner from day one in the NBA, unlike Lebron. At 27 ppg career average Lebron is in fact a scorer by anyone's standards. What he is not is a good outside shooter and that is what has hurt him most when it counts the most.

Scoring points doesn't necessarily make you a scorer. Scorers look to score first and foremost, it doesn't matter if they are 1 for 12. They think the next one is going in, if it doesn't, then the next one will. Lebron looks to make the right basketball play every possession.

By anyone's standards? Kobe Bryant "I think that the player I would probably play with the most where the pieces would fit would be myself and LeBron [James], believe it or not, because he’s more of a facilitator and I’m more of a scorer. … He’s a modern version of what Oscar [Robertson] was."

Tragic Johnson is from the 84 finals.

Careers aren't judged mid career. Lebron has work to do.

Scoring points doesn't necessarily make you a scorer? Like the Guiness commercial says, Brilliant. What Lebron is is third all time in career ppg, which again, I thinks qualifies the guy as a S C O R E R. What he is not is a clutch S H O O T E R, and he has yet to step up and prove he can hit the big shots at the end of the big games like the all time greats. You say he's mid career? He's nine years in the league and if he is going to rank up there with those guys he better pick up the pace.

Whatever you say hoss.

It wasn't just me saying it hoss

Saying what, that he is not a scorer? He is third all time in career ppg for crying out loud. Of course Kobe wants him on his team, he's a good defender and unselfish and the last thing he wants is the ball at crunch time when the big shot has to be made and that is exactly what Kobe wants - the frickin ball at crunch time. I really don't know what point you are trying to make other than Lebron is great he just isn't a "scorer" and he needs to "atone" for last year's finals? He's hit a lot of clutch shots he just hasn't done it in June, yet? Come back to me when the guy has a few rings.