2016-2017 NBA Thread

[Purpleisbetter]

Btw Chuck said if Lebron wins this championship, he'll pass Kobe on All Time Great list. His list (which Kenny agreed with) is:

1. MJ
2. Oscar Robertson
3. Kareem
4. Wilt
5. Bill Russell
6. Kobe
7. Lebron

Lebron JUST 7th?

When he'll retire and people will look back at his career (open minded), at his skillset, his motivation and his titles, no way one can place him BELOW the third place.

I'm a genuine LeBron hater, i hate is immunity from refs calls, i don't like his "holier-then-thou" attitude, nor i do like his playstyle but c'mon guys...

...the man is literally "history on the making".

[Blueobelisk]

Dude, that is textbook recency bias.

Can't really compare players with such wildly different circumstances. (and especially not based on "I didn't see them play so they can't be as good as the players I'm watching now" )

Very true, I'm biased.

And yet...I feel like we can compare players if we account for a few differences. Or at least compare each player against what they achieved and what the NBA was like during their tenure.

Lebron JUST 7th?

When he'll retire and people will look back at his career (open minded), at his skillset, his motivation and his titles, no way one can place him BELOW the third place.

I'm a genuine LeBron hater, i hate is immunity from refs calls, i don't like his "holier-then-thou" attitude, nor i do like his playstyle but c'mon guys...

...the man is literally "history on the making".

I agree, Lebron's skillset is fucking amazing. I'm not at liberty to compare but the excellence in every category of basketball and the way Lebron can impose his will on the court is pretty way better than those other 2-6 losers on the list. There's a reason I call him God.

-----

I'm not trying to start a "greatest ever" argument, I'm just telling everyone reading this to appreciate the greatness they get to witness as they're getting to see a historic Finals.

[Crissi]

yeah, I was a bit young for MJ's time (age 5 - 12) so its nice to watch and remember LeBron.

[sheffield]

but who was Magic Johnson
but who was Jerry West

[Blueobelisk]

Oh wtf I thought the Finals started Wednesday. June 1 is a Thursday.

I want to start nowwwwwwwwwwwwww. If GS and Cleveland didn't demolish their opponents all playoffs long then we'd still be watching games. I'm glad for the rest time it gives each team, though...but still.

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I said this, especially when I mentioned what Kyrie told Lebron during the game, but:

Career Scoring Leaders -- NBA Playoffs
Rank Player Points
1. LeBron James 5,995
2. Michael Jordan 5,987
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 5,762
4. Kobe Bryant 5,640
5. Shaquille O’Neal 5,250
6. Tim Duncan 5,172
7. Karl Malone 4,761
8. Jerry West 4,457
9. Tony Parker 4,012
10. Larry Bird 3,897

Lebron scored the most points in the playoffs. Of any human alive.

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You know, I never really liked that NHL and NBA Finals happened during the same week(s) but on different days. They seem to compete against each other. And places always seem to favor hockey over NBA...I wonder in actuality which sport gets higher ratings/views.

[Demoncrash]

I think this series will go down to which team picks up an injury/suspension first, and given their history with each other, we're bound to see at least one injury/suspension, or both. Having said that, even though the stats favor the Warriors, my gut feeling is..

Cavs in 7

[Blueobelisk]

Ohhhhh Demoncrash is about to mess up his lead.

[Demoncrash]

Surprised i even have one in the first place.

[Adp]

Yea it's pretty tough this time. The Cavs showed some weakness in the Boston series though and GSW has been dealing with injury addled teams (AGAIN) on their 4 4 4 path. I think this year though GSW take it.

GSW in 6.

[Purpleisbetter]

Yea it's pretty tough this time. The Cavs showed some weakness in the Boston series though and GSW has been dealing with injury addled teams (AGAIN) on their 4 4 4 path. I think this year though GSW take it.

GSW in 6.

There you go again, blind hate fueled by cherry picked truth!

[Blueobelisk]

There you go again, blind hate fueled by cherry picked truth!

I dont get what you mean. Make a prediction and explain your reasoning, so I can understand.

[SL1200]

Oh wtf I thought the Finals started Wednesday. June 1 is a Thursday.

I want to start nowwwwwwwwwwwwww. If GS and Cleveland didn't demolish their opponents all playoffs long then we'd still be watching games. I'm glad for the rest time it gives each team, though...but still.

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I said this, especially when I mentioned what Kyrie told Lebron during the game, but:



Lebron scored the most points in the playoffs. Of any human alive.

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You know, I never really liked that NHL and NBA Finals happened during the same week(s) but on different days. They seem to compete against each other. And places always seem to favor hockey over NBA...I wonder in actuality which sport gets higher ratings/views.

Basketball by a long shot. Only Football does better in U.S.

I'm picking Gsw in 5 vs Lebron.

[Adp]

There you go again, blind hate fueled by cherry picked truth!

Not sure what you mean... are you contesting the idea that the Cavs showed weakness against Boston by losing to them in a game at home without IT or that GSW swept the Spurs who didn't have a combination of Parker/Leonard/Lee over the course of the series.

[Purpleisbetter]

Not sure what you mean... are you contesting the idea that the Cavs showed weakness against Boston by losing to them in a game at home without IT or that GSW swept the Spurs who didn't have a combination of Parker/Leonard/Lee over the course of the series.

Its crystal clear what you mean with that "injury addled teams (again) "

[Adp]

Its crystal clear what you mean with that "injury addled teams (again) "

Ah yea when they beat the Cavs without Kyrie or KLove or Memphis without Mike Conley or Tony Allen for a few games. During those times I contested the idea of if GSW could handle a team with a legit and healthy point guard since they had never been tested there. The first time they played against one was Westbrook in the conference finals last year which went to game 7. Warriors won that due to Durant's choking though. Then they lost to the Cavs when they had Kyrie and Klove back.

Now they have Durant so I'm picking them to win it, but it's pretty clear that attacking and exploiting Curry's weak ass defense was and probably still is an effective strategy.

[Malmmoc]

attacking and exploiting Curry's weak ass defense was and probably still is an effective strategy.

I completely agree. During the Boston series, when they had those stretches where they ruthlessly sought out Thomas, I didn't think that was even about Boston. They really didn't need strats to take out Boston. I think that was live game practice to prepare for abusing Steph in the finals. On a side note, if Steph plays bad for a third finals in a row my personal view of him as a regular season stud, and prime time choker is going to be pretty firmly established.

[Blueobelisk]

So far:
6/18 chose Cleveland.
1/18 (@JibJabb) said the series would end in 4 because his nigga KD was gonna destroy his most hated player ever, Lebron.

I still don't know what to pick. It's not like Cleveland is definitely out. Golden State is definitely the better team...but God Lebron...

[-aiko-]

Pretty tough decision. Lebron has only had 1 bad game this whole postseason but it did lead to a loss. I dunno, if they both go at each other at full strength it is anyone's championship.

[Purpleisbetter]

Ah yea when they beat the Cavs without Kyrie or KLove or Memphis without Mike Conley or Tony Allen for a few games. During those times I contested the idea of if GSW could handle a team with a legit and healthy point guard since they had never been tested there. The first time they played against one was Westbrook in the conference finals last year which went to game 7. Warriors won that due to Durant's choking though. Then they lost to the Cavs when they had Kyrie and Klove back.

Now they have Durant so I'm picking them to win it, but it's pretty clear that attacking and exploiting Curry's weak ass defense was and probably still is an effective strategy.

Dont worry; 2016 Karma stroke back with Curry's ankle, Green bs suspension and Bogut's injury.

Not that this year has been much better coming to thid year's finals: Iguodala, Pachulia and Livingstone have questionably health.

Besides, yes this time Dubs can play some Iso when the team has not much juice left and SC defense improved dramatically, altho he's phisically and mentally unable to perform effective on ball D.


I hope refs start calling out illegal screens performed by GS, punish LbJ charges and travels and both Kyrie and Steph get some deserved attention with off the ball D.

Dunno if asking refs to do their job properly this time around is asking too much.

[Racthoh]

I dunno, if they both go at each other at full strength it is anyone's championship.

this is what i'm excited to see most. no injuries or suspensions.