22-23 NBA Season Thread

[DG_ThenNowForever]

20 minutes ago, who do you think said:

Also the Celtics acquired Mike Muscala from whichever Home Depot he was working at, so... yeah.

 

Lol. Mike Muscala crushed the Lakers on LeBron's big night. Big dude hit almost every three he saw.

 

Speaking of, Lakers are on TNT tonight. First game without Russ, and it looks like they don't actively hate each other for the first time this season.

 

(Hyperbole, but only kind of. )

[BBTV]

I'm old enough to have seen every one of Jordan's championships, as well as his years coming up short to the likes of the Pistons.  But I never got to see him live and in person.  I have seen Lebron live and in person (several times, including from super up close.)

 

Lebron is the more talented/gifted/athletic player.  He's the best "basketball player" I've ever seen.  All things being equal, he can do things that Jordan couldn't.  If we're talking pure talent, it's Lebron.

 

However, all things aren't equal, and Jordan is just a winner, whereas Lebron is not as mentally tough and simply doesn't quite have the same level of killer in him.  If I was building a team to win one game, I would choose Jordan.  All the good things people have said about Lebron are true - he single-handedly carried teams to the playoffs on his back, whereas Jordan always had Pippen, Grant, eventually Rodman, and a host of other talents.  But Lebron also had Wade, Bosh, et al, then eventually Davis and whoever else along the way.  

 

Lebron can do things effortlessly that Jordan simply couldn't (though Jordan always put in the effort to close whatever gap there was.)  Passing for example - Lebron could make passes with the flip of a wrist with his eyes closed that nobody else - not even Magic - could ever do.  Jordan can get the same job done, but had to work harder.  But that's fine.

 

So two things can be true - Lebron can be the better player, while Jordan is the better winner.  I'll choose winning.

 

Also any top x list that doesn't include Wilt is ridiculous.  They literally changed rules and had to change the shape of the court just to stop him.

 

[Sport]

14 hours ago, the admiral said:

I don't know. Kobe fans always seem to get unhinged pretty fast. 

 

 

https://www.vibe.com/news/sports/kobe-bryant-meet-me-in-temecula-beef-248382/

 

The famous "meet me in Temecula" twitter beef was a fight about Kobe. A guy actually got in his truck and drove to Temecula to defend Kobe's honor. To my knowledge Lebron has never inspired that level of psycho. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Sport said:

 

https://www.vibe.com/news/sports/kobe-bryant-meet-me-in-temecula-beef-248382/

 

The famous "meet me in Temecula" twitter beef was a fight about Kobe. A guy actually got in his truck and drove to Temecula to defend Kobe's honor. To my knowledge Lebron has never inspired that level of psycho. 

Reminds me of Robert De Niro's character in the movie The Fan (1996).  

[OnWis97]

17 hours ago, Unocal said:

 

GSW's home/road splits are scary. 

And really bizarre. Veteran team with championships should be able to approach .500 on the road.

[OnWis97]

3 hours ago, BBTV said:

I'm old enough to have seen every one of Jordan's championships, as well as his years coming up short to the likes of the Pistons.  But I never got to see him live and in person.  I have seen Lebron live and in person (several times, including from super up close.)

 

Lebron is the more talented/gifted/athletic player.  He's the best "basketball player" I've ever seen.  All things being equal, he can do things that Jordan couldn't.  If we're talking pure talent, it's Lebron.

 

However, all things aren't equal, and Jordan is just a winner, whereas Lebron is not as mentally tough and simply doesn't quite have the same level of killer in him.  If I was building a team to win one game, I would choose Jordan.  All the good things people have said about Lebron are true - he single-handedly carried teams to the playoffs on his back, whereas Jordan always had Pippen, Grant, eventually Rodman, and a host of other talents.  But Lebron also had Wade, Bosh, et al, then eventually Davis and whoever else along the way.  

 

Lebron can do things effortlessly that Jordan simply couldn't (though Jordan always put in the effort to close whatever gap there was.)  Passing for example - Lebron could make passes with the flip of a wrist with his eyes closed that nobody else - not even Magic - could ever do.  Jordan can get the same job done, but had to work harder.  But that's fine.

 

So two things can be true - Lebron can be the better player, while Jordan is the better winner.  I'll choose winning.

 

Also any top x list that doesn't include Wilt is ridiculous.  They literally changed rules and had to change the shape of the court just to stop him.

 

This is roughly how I feel and why I would rate Jordan #1. I'm the opposite; I've seen Jordan in person (once from some really good seats) and not James.  And some of those things like threading needles while blindfolded on passes were definitely not Jordan's thing. But he was so determined and it was like every game was made up of about 50 one-on-one games and he had to win every single one. That and the ability to turn on a dime in mid-air and make the ball find the hole.

Anyway, I agree that LeBron was more gifted and could do more things but that MJ was the bigger "winner." That doesn't make LeBron a "loser." It just means that there's this semi-tangible thing that puts MJ over the top because to actually choose one, we have to split hairs. Honestly, it all probably points to LeBron being a happier person because he's probably more like the rest of us while MJ can't handle loosing a basketball game or a game of pick-up sticks. Does Jordan win in 2007? Maybe not. But he does win in 2011.

[Digby]

As a Celtics fan, I've twice lived through LeBron single-handedly dragging a broken team back from a 3-2 deficit to beat my team in the ECF, so any suggestions that he's not a competitor or a winner don't hold up for me personally. The big missed opportunity with his legacy for me was that those Miami teams should probably have won all four Finals they were in. I view the second Cleveland stint less negatively because I don't think Jordan (or, for that matter, Kobe) ever had a foe as competitive as those Warriors teams (no offense to the Jazz). 

 

Generally I think the comparing across eras is folly for a number of reasons. Sure, Bill Russell was playing against plumbers and firemen, but he also did that in a time where there wasn't load management, travel was way more of a slog, and sports nutrition was a cigar and whiskey at your locker postgame.

[Digby]

22 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

The East is the lesser conference again. Sad it came and went so soon.

Nah. Sad for the Nets to simply give up but neither of the talents they traded to the West have been in any ECF’s lately, so not much has really changed until proven otherwise.

[DoctorWhom]

Bucks & Celtics are still the top 2 teams in the NBA. 

 

Only comparable team in the West  is the Nuggets. Maybe KD on the Suns will change things. 

[GDAWG]

Speaking of the Bucks:

 

 

[The_Admiral]

On 2/10/2023 at 7:21 AM, Sport said:

To my knowledge Lebron has never inspired that level of psycho. 

Yeah, psychotic defenses of LeBron James never make it past articles on Defector.

[TrueYankee26]

 

[Cujo]

Not a popular decision.

 

 

[FinsUp1214]

8 hours ago, Cujo said:

Not a popular decision.

 

 

Yeah…suffice to say, a LOT of baggage there with his awful allegations. I’m pretty uncomfortable with this too. If the NBA was going for a Jazz legend to fill that spot, they should’ve had Adrian Dantley or Darrell Griffith (Dr. Dunkenstein himself!) do it instead.

 

The NBA ought to know better than this.

[Digby]

Bucks needed 40 from Holiday and 36 from Giannis to beat an entirely second-string Celtics team, and even that took going into overtime. Got lucky that the game ended on a missed TO opportunity from the TO-hating interim coach and a classic Grant Williams fumble.

[Indigo]

2 hours ago, FinsUp1214 said:

Yeah…suffice to say, a LOT of baggage there with his awful allegations. I’m pretty uncomfortable with this too. If the NBA was going for a Jazz legend to fill that spot, they should’ve had Adrian Dantley or Darrell Griffith (Dr. Dunkenstein himself!) do it instead.

 

The NBA ought to know better than this.

The problem is, the casual NBA fan from New York only knows 2 players from the Jazz: Malone & Stockton (because of the 90s Finals runs).  This is likely the reason the chose him, as he's agruably the most well-known player of that franchise.

On the other hand, the NBA has consistently tried to (and done well with) educating the younger generations of the history of the league, and having Darrell Griffith would've been a great opportunity to do so.

[dont care]

I don’t see what the controversy is. The matter has settled over 2 decades ago. It’s not some new revelation. It’s honestly just meme culture picking apart his past to make new content for there views.

[Indigo]

1 hour ago, dont care said:

I don’t see what the controversy is. The matter has settled over 2 decades ago. It’s not some new revelation. It’s honestly just meme culture picking apart his past to make new content for there views.

All of that would be true is Malone actually settled or (even acknowledged) the matter. Had he decided to say something----maybe not even to the pubilc, maybe something to the mother----we'd be able to move on. But the internet is rightfully hanging this above his head until he addresses it.

[dont care]

31 minutes ago, Indigo said:

All of that would be true is Malone actually settled or (even acknowledged) the matter. Had he decided to say something----maybe not even to the pubilc, maybe something to the mother----we'd be able to move on. But the internet is rightfully hanging this above his head until he addresses it.

He acknowledged in 2008 it’s too late for them to have a real father son relationship, but has had a relationship with him since 2014. So once again what’s the big deal? There are plenty of dead beat fathers out there.

[SailorOfSilence102]

I don't think the issue with Malone is just that he wasn't there for his kid, I think the issue stems from the fact he had sexual relations with a 12 year old, and then left her and her family to take care of another kid, well he was making millions in the NBA. I agree that most NBA fans who bring this up, probably aren't doing it because they care about SA or anything like that, given that most NBA fans are overtly sexist, but I also think it's plenty reasonable and completely understandable someone doesn't wanna see a genuine...something or other, be actively propped up by the NBA.