2021-22 NBA Thread

[MJWalker45]

3 minutes ago, DoctorWhom said:

Lakers should just clean house. Get rid of Westbrook & LeCancer. Start from scratch like OKC. 

LeBron has to be worth at least 2 first round pick, maybe 3? 

 

Carried the team, then quit on them when it mattered most.

If he plays another game, it's proof he cared more about the scoring title than the chance of getting his team in the playoffs. 

He's been dealing with injuries and still showing up because he has to. Because the other stars on this team have not been pulling their weight. Namely Westbrook and Davis. Yes, Davis has been injured, but he still hasn't done anything close to what he did to help last year. Plenty of other guys on that team have quit ages ago, and you can tell when watching some of these games who those guys are.  So if he doesn't play the rest of the year he's a good guy, but if he does, it's all about him?  I will say the front office needs to tell LeBron it's about making the team competitive every year, not just the years he ahs left with them when the season starts next year. Because other than a second homecoming to Cleveland, which I'd be against just because we've already done that once, he's probably not moving or getting moved anywhere else. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

"LeCancer"? Just when I think people can't get any stupider.

 

Since LeBron joined the league, he has more titles than any other franchise and is tied with the Spurs. He has three more titles than the Celtics, and four more than their last one in 2008. He won a title just two seasons ago and was potentially an AD injury away from repeating last year.

 

There's no sports brain more broken than the Boston sports fan.

[DoctorWhom]

44 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

"LeCancer"? Just when I think people can't get any stupider.

 

Since LeBron joined the league, he has more titles than any other franchise and is tied with the Spurs. He has three more titles than the Celtics, and four more than their last one in 2008. He won a title just two seasons ago and was potentially an AD injury away from repeating last year.

 

There's no sports brain more broken than the Boston sports fan.

Weren't you JUST Saying that Lebron should never be allowed to pick his teammates again? 

His winning is irrelevant, it's a fact that he's always been known for throwing fits and walking out on his team when they are losing. Remember last year against the Suns? And again this year, he had the team HE wanted, and he's still complaining. 

 

55 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

He's been dealing with injuries and still showing up because he has to. Because the other stars on this team have not been pulling their weight. Namely Westbrook and Davis. Yes, Davis has been injured, but he still hasn't done anything close to what he did to help last year. Plenty of other guys on that team have quit ages ago, and you can tell when watching some of these games who those guys are.  So if he doesn't play the rest of the year he's a good guy, but if he does, it's all about him?  I will say the front office needs to tell LeBron it's about making the team competitive every year, not just the years he ahs left with them when the season starts next year. Because other than a second homecoming to Cleveland, which I'd be against just because we've already done that once, he's probably not moving or getting moved anywhere else. 

Kobe played on a torn leg just to get his team into the playoffs. 

Lebron sat through the most important games of the season for his team when it was do or die to get them in the playoffs. 

The only reason he has left to play now is  for the scoring title, and if he playing for that it's clear what was more important to him. 

If he's really hurt, he shouldn't be playing another game. 

 

[Digby]

 

[Digby]

LeBron playing GM is bad but also was enabled by the Lakers' front office being a cesspool of nepotism, parlor intrigue and bad decisions. They're closer to the Knicks than they'd like to think, just LA got saved by the two generational superstars in short order that the Knicks haven't found. On balance, LBJ still saved them from themselves more than made it worse.

[Indigo]

37 minutes ago, DoctorWhom said:

Weren't you JUST Saying that Lebron should never be allowed to pick his teammates again? 

His winning is irrelevant, it's a fact that he's always been known for throwing fits and walking out on his team when they are losing. Remember last year against the Suns? And again this year, he had the team HE wanted, and he's still complaining. 

 

Kobe played on a torn leg just to get his team into the playoffs. 

Lebron sat through the most important games of the season for his team when it was do or die to get them in the playoffs. 

The only reason he has left to play now is  for the scoring title, and if he playing for that it's clear what was more important to him. 

If he's really hurt, he shouldn't be playing another game. 

 

When another Boston fan is calling you out on your BS, that’s how you know you’re really wrong.

 

Kobe shot a free throw on a torn meniscus and proceeded to miss the rest of the season and never be the same player. That same Kobe wanted a trade from a Lakers team that wasn’t winning, despite the numbers he was putting up. Same :censored:, different decade.

 

“LeBron’s winning is irrelevant”, yet you want to criticize him for not playing through injury to try to win? You’re contradicting yourself at this point, just you you can say “LeCancer”, “LeMickey”, and other things. Go suck Skip Bayless off.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

2 minutes ago, Digby said:

LeBron playing GM is bad but also was enabled by the Lakers' front office being a cesspool of nepotism, parlor intrigue and bad decisions. They're closer to the Knicks than they'd like to think, just LA got saved by the two generational superstars in short order that the Knicks haven't found. On balance, LBJ still saved them from themselves more than made it worse.

 

LeBron got intoxicated by Westbrook the same way KD did, James Harden did, and Bradley Beal did. Those guys are all really good at basketball, and maybe if everyone were healthy it could have worked. But those who saw it as risky ended up being right.

 

The Lakers best bet now is to hope LBJ can remain really good (but top ten now, not top five), AD returns to form, someone picks up Westbrook (who is expiring next year at $47M, which is super attractive), and they can find more gems like Malik Monk. The fact of the matter is most NBA teams would take that in a heartbeat. The other fact of the matter is the Suns and Bucks have a better core, the Clippers and Warriors have better benches and coaching staffs, and guys like Ja and Donovan are taking bigger leaps every year.

 

The Lakers still got a title out of the James signing in LA, which makes everyone involved in the James/AD efforts right. They whiffed bigtime on Westbrook, which makes them wrong, but less so because most of them already had a title.

 

KD and Kyrie are lucky the Lakers have been so bad, because they've been lucky to be hidden in the 8 spot in the East.

[DoctorWhom]

8 minutes ago, LA Fakers+ LA Snippers said:

When another Boston fan is calling you out on your BS, that’s how you know you’re really wrong.

 

Kobe shot a free throw on a torn meniscus and proceeded to miss the rest of the season and never be the same player. That same Kobe wanted a trade from a Lakers team that wasn’t winning, despite the numbers he was putting up. Same :censored:, different decade.

 

“LeBron’s winning is irrelevant”, yet you want to criticize him for not playing through injury to try to win? You’re contradicting yourself at this point, just you you can say “LeCancer”, “LeMickey”, and other things. Go suck Skip Bayless off.

Point is Kobe did everything he could to put his team in the playoffs. Lakers had at least 2 games where they needed to win to have any hope at the playoffs, and their best player was sitting on the bench. And then when his team starts losing, he walks out on them. 

And what will it say about Lebron if plays the last few games that are now meaningless outside of his own personal accolades?  Not a good look after sitting those do or die games. 

 

Lebron being a diva isn't a new thing, it's well documented.  It's just overshadowed because his teams rarely lose. The fact Lakers fans don't want him picking his teammates again proves my point. 

 

There's a lot of blame to go around for the Lakers, but considering the clear influence Lebron shares a great deal of it. 

[Indigo]

20 minutes ago, DoctorWhom said:

Point is Kobe did everything he could to put his team in the playoffs. Lakers had at least 2 games where they needed to win to have any hope at the playoffs, and their best player was sitting on the bench. And then when his team starts losing, he walks out on them. 

And what will it say about Lebron if plays the last few games that are now meaningless outside of his own personal accolades?  Not a good look after sitting those do or die games. 

 

Lebron being a diva isn't a new thing, it's well documented.  It's just overshadowed because his teams rarely lose. The fact Lakers fans don't want him picking his teammates again proves my point. 

 

There's a lot of blame to go around for the Lakers, but considering the clear influence Lebron shares a great deal of it. 

LeBron has done everything he could. It’s not his fault he’s fighting against age and has been dropping 30 a night to save a doomed roster (which was his fault). 

What will it say if LBJ plays these last 2 games? It’ll say he’s not hurt. If he feels like he’s not able to play through his injury, it’s not a good idea to force it and risk further injury. And don’t act like LeBron load manages like Kawhi Leonard (speaking of which, I don’t hear you complaining about that). Bron played on a broken hand in the 2018 Finals because they had absolutely no chance without him.

 

Is LeBron wearing a “That’s all folks” shirt? Did he request a trade? Him being injured is not walking out on his team. If that’s the case, Kawhi, Jamal Murray and Lonzo Ball have walked out on their respective (playoff) teams. Dame and Collin Sexton “walked out” midseason. 
 

If you don’t like LeBron, the Lakers, or both, just say it. But stop spewing BS and comparing his situation to Kobe’s when they are not similar at all.

[MJWalker45]

1 hour ago, DoctorWhom said:

Weren't you JUST Saying that Lebron should never be allowed to pick his teammates again? 

His winning is irrelevant, it's a fact that he's always been known for throwing fits and walking out on his team when they are losing. Remember last year against the Suns? And again this year, he had the team HE wanted, and he's still complaining. 

 

Kobe played on a torn leg just to get his team into the playoffs. 

Lebron sat through the most important games of the season for his team when it was do or die to get them in the playoffs. 

The only reason he has left to play now is  for the scoring title, and if he playing for that it's clear what was more important to him. 

If he's really hurt, he shouldn't be playing another game. 

 

So . . . He did the same thing Kobe did but now he's still bad for not playing every game?

[DoctorWhom]

Just now, MJWalker45 said:

So . . . He did the same thing Kobe did but now he's still bad for not playing every game?

Kobe played through an injury to get his team in the playoffs 

Lebron sat through the games that his team needed to win to get in the playoffs. 

How is that the same?

6 minutes ago, LA Fakers+ LA Snippers said:

LeBron has done everything he could. It’s not his fault he’s fighting against age and has been dropping 30 a night to save a doomed roster (which was his fault). 

What will it say if LBJ plays these last 2 games? It’ll say he’s not hurt. If he feels like he’s not able to play through his injury, it’s not a good idea to force it and risk further injury. And don’t act like LeBron load manages like Kawhi Leonard (speaking of which, I don’t hear you complaining about that). Bron played on a broken hand in the 2018 Finals because they had absolutely no chance without him.

 

Is LeBron wearing a “That’s all folks” shirt? Did he request a trade? Him being injured is not walking out on his team. If that’s the case, Kawhi, Jamal Murray and Lonzo Ball have walked out on their respective (playoff) teams. Dame and Collin Sexton “walked out” midseason. 
 

If you don’t like LeBron, the Lakers, or both, just say it. But stop spewing BS and comparing his situation to Kobe’s when they are not similar at all.

This only further proves my point. If Lebron was willing to play with a broken hand, why couldn't he play the past few games when his team needed to win to make the play in? 

And when I say "walked out" I'm talking about last year when he walked out on his team when they were losing in the playoffs to the Suns.  

 

I have no clue why you are all getting so upset trying to deny what a diva Lebron is. Like him or not, it's always been a fact & criticism levied against him. Especially when his teams fail. 

[MJWalker45]

7 minutes ago, DoctorWhom said:

Kobe played through an injury to get his team in the playoffs 

Lebron sat through the games that his team needed to win to get in the playoffs. 

How is that the same?

This only further proves my point. If Lebron was willing to play with a broken hand, why couldn't he play the past few games when his team needed to win to make the play in? 

And when I say "walked out" I'm talking about last year when he walked out on his team when they were losing in the playoffs to the Suns.  

 

I have no clue why you are all getting so upset trying to deny what a diva Lebron is. Like him or not, it's always been a fact & criticism levied against him. Especially when his teams fail. 

Playing with a broken hand is much easier than playing with a busted ankle.

[Indigo]

23 minutes ago, DoctorWhom said:

Kobe played through an injury to get his team in the playoffs 

Lebron sat through the games that his team needed to win to get in the playoffs. 

How is that the same?

This only further proves my point. If Lebron was willing to play with a broken hand, why couldn't he play the past few games when his team needed to win to make the play in? 

And when I say "walked out" I'm talking about last year when he walked out on his team when they were losing in the playoffs to the Suns.  

 

I have no clue why you are all getting so upset trying to deny what a diva Lebron is. Like him or not, it's always been a fact & criticism levied against him. Especially when his teams fail. 

Whatever bro. You obviously won’t see my side, and you just want to hate LBJ. So be it. All I’m saying is he didn’t play since he was hurt. Don’t act like that’s the only reason LA crumbled this year. And leave Kobe out of this. The situations were different, and so are the players. Last time I checked, Bron was chasing the ghost of Jordan, not Bryant.

[DoctorWhom]

11 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

Playing with a broken hand is much easier than playing with a busted ankle.

Yet Kobe did it just to get his team an 8 seed in the playoffs. 

Lebron put himself in a terrible spot because now he’ll just look worse if he plays another game. Because it will show he cares more about the scoring title than getting his team to the playoffs. 

If he's really hurt, then the Lakers should have shut him down for the season. 

 

[who do you think]

LeBron is a barely-literate frontrunner who needs to get the hell off of Instagram. No wonder Laker fans love him so much, the guy is LA incarnate.

 

Really interested to see how far Cleveland goes and how good their young guys look in the process. If they're able to get into the second round, hoo boy I think I smell a trade demand coming.

[Cujo]

Silver created this monster by expanding the playoffs to include 80% of all teams

 

 

[who do you think]

55 minutes ago, Cujo said:

Silver created this monster by expanding the playoffs to include 80% of all teams

 

 

 

"Load management" was around way before the play-in tournament was implemented.

 

As for how to fix it... well, regular season games have to mean more. Nobody will sit their stars in a game that they can't afford to lose and risk losing without all hands on deck. One possible roundabout solution is to get rid of lottery odds and give the (now) 10 non-playoff teams an equal chance at one of the top 3 picks. If bad teams playing out the string no longer have incentive to tank for more lottery balls, they'll provide more spirited competition against teams that still have something to play for.

[BBTV]

Or reduce the amount of regular season games so that a "schedule loss" (as Glenn Rivers calls it) means a lot more than what it currently does, so the good players will have to play.  Space the games out over the same time frame to bake in the "load management".

 

Maybe the Lakers should trade LeBron, pick up some assets, and embark on a "process".  Don't be shocked if Sam Hinkie is brought in as their next GM.

[MJWalker45]

5 hours ago, BBTV said:

Or reduce the amount of regular season games so that a "schedule loss" (as Glenn Rivers calls it) means a lot more than what it currently does, so the good players will have to play.  Space the games out over the same time frame to bake in the "load management".

 

Maybe the Lakers should trade LeBron, pick up some assets, and embark on a "process".  Don't be shocked if Sam Hinkie is brought in as their next GM.

I think basketball and baseball could both benefit from this, but the owners will want those 41/81 days at home for revenue. Adding two weeks to a month to the season to spread games out could work too, but I think starting on October1 and finishing in July won't be possible either. Worrying about ratings vs football should not be a reason to not help out the players if it means players are missing less games because they have four games in a certain week instead of two. Setting up back to backs to be within a set distance could help as well, by making that only affect teams traveling to the other conference. I'm not sure if that's done already but it could help. 

 

As far as the Lakers trading LeBron, where would he potentially fit? Maybe the Knicks, Heat or someone that has a lot of cap room but not enough star power? I think that last one is what limits the ability to move him because he'll still have a say in the matter. What about the Hornets? I'm joking about this one but having arguably two of the best NBA players in the same building every night would be an interesting prospect, and LaMelo Ball's assist stats would jump up tremendously. Could he go to the Clippers? That would cause Lakers fans to implode, but then again does LeBron help them (Clippers) or hurt them? I don't see Cleveland as workable, because all of the guys that helped get them to the playoffs would have to be shipped to LA and Dan Gilbert would be chasing another ring with a player on borrowed time who will get local fan support from half the fans, and be hated by the other half for coming back a second time. 

 

[Lights Out]

On 4/7/2022 at 7:57 AM, BBTV said:

a "schedule loss" (as Glenn Rivers calls it)

 

One of the best parts of the Clippers the last couple seasons is not having to listen to Glenn's dopey excuses/deflections after he chokes again.  This just gave me a PTSD flashback.

 

"It's a make or miss league" was another one of his favorites. I feel bad for Sixers fans that The Process culminated in that guy coaching your team.