What has Jayson Tatum done that justifies him being ahead of LeBron on All NBA again?

[og15]

Tatum is a beneficiary of being on stacked teams his entire career sadly.

Why sadly though? It's a reality, but I don't know if it's sadly. I would also say a lot of his career, but not all, right?

[shi-woo]

The answer here is defense. Tatum is an extremely good defender night in and night out. Lebron conserves all of his energy on defense, typically guarding the opposition's worst front court player. Lebron never closes out on shooters either. Lebron can still play good D in spurts, but those spurts are few and far between. (I'm not hating. It's reasonable for a 39-year-old with such an offensive load to conserve energy. But it does affect the Lakers' defense.)

it's a lot easier for Tatum to play defense when he plays next to the best defensive backcourt in the league in Jrue Holiday and Derek White

It's a lot easier to look like an All-NBA 1st teamer when you pair up with other All-NBA first teamers and hand pick your complimentary players. Am I doing this right?

It's kind of easy to put up stats if you don't play more than 50-60 games a year any more, and dont always play back to backs. It's easier to go hard 2 a week instead of 3 times.

Winning does matter in this regard too, because if LeBron was really as impactful as some people are saying, Lakers wouldn't have spent the last 3 years fighting just to make the playoffs. LeBron isn't even the best player on his own team, so unless you guys think the West is THAT GOOD where a team with 2 All-NBAers on can barely stay above what. (pstt the West isn't that good. Lakers should be better)

[Triple M]

When was the last time the best team not have a player make the All NBA1st team?

[SparksAC]

When was the last time the best team not have a player make the All NBA1st team?

No one said anything about Jaylen Brown not making it.

[nate33]

The answer here is defense. Tatum is an extremely good defender night in and night out. Lebron conserves all of his energy on defense, typically guarding the opposition's worst front court player. Lebron never closes out on shooters either. Lebron can still play good D in spurts, but those spurts are few and far between. (I'm not hating. It's reasonable for a 39-year-old with such an offensive load to conserve energy. But it does affect the Lakers' defense.)

it's a lot easier for Tatum to play defense when he plays next to the best defensive backcourt in the league in Jrue Holiday and Derek White

Tatum has been one of the better defensive forwards in the league for 3 years now.

[JRoy]

He’s on a better team.

[durden_tyler]

The Lakers are a play-in team. That's what LeBron has done so far this year.

[Godymas]

The Lakers are a play-in team. That's what LeBron has done so far this year.

they are going to finish with the same wins as a 4/5 seed last season.

[The Servant]

If you swapped Tatum and LeBron, do the Celtics get better and the Lakers worse?

Not sure what kind of defense 38 year old LeBron is playing when he stopped playing defense when he rejoined Cleveland.

[cupcakesnake]

The answer here is defense. Tatum is an extremely good defender night in and night out. Lebron conserves all of his energy on defense, typically guarding the opposition's worst front court player. Lebron never closes out on shooters either. Lebron can still play good D in spurts, but those spurts are few and far between. (I'm not hating. It's reasonable for a 39-year-old with such an offensive load to conserve energy. But it does affect the Lakers' defense.)

it's a lot easier for Tatum to play defense when he plays next to the best defensive backcourt in the league in Jrue Holiday and Derek White

Tatum has been one of the better defensive forwards in the league for 3 years now.

And he's built a solid track record on defense from the moment he stepped into the league. As a 19-year old, he was the starting small forward on the #1 defense in the league. That team still had good defensive personnel (the usual suspects of Horford and Jaylen, and also Marcus Smart off the bench) but wasn't quite as stacked with Kyrie and Baynes playing big minutes.

Rookie Tatum immediately stood out as an excellent defensive decision maker off the ball. I remember watching some of his defensive rotations and thinking 'is this wing Tim Duncan?'. This is hyperbolic and I'm not actually trying to compare him to Timmy, I'm just saying his defensive IQ really popped from day 1.

[cupcakesnake]

The Lakers are a play-in team. That's what LeBron has done so far this year.

they are going to finish with the same wins as a 4/5 seed last season.

That's not impressive, though.
Last year the 4-5 seeds were historically low-winning for a Western Conference team. Phoenix had Booker and Paul both miss half the season, then they traded for Kevin Durant, and he got injured and played in only 8 games. The Clippers had Kawhi and George miss half the season as well.

A typical 4 seed wins 47-54 games in the WC. Lower than that is a very weak 4 seed.
It would mean something if the truth was: theyr'e going to win as much as a typical 4-5 seed but that's not the case.

[SeattleJazzFan]

bottom line here is that it isn't a slam dunk either way. either guy has a case over the other.

[Marrrcuss]

If you swapped Tatum and LeBron, do the Celtics get better and the Lakers worse?

Not sure what kind of defense 38 year old LeBron is playing when he stopped playing defense when he rejoined Cleveland.

Why do you all keep trying to push that bullshyt narrative? While hes no all game defensive stopper, hes far from the speed bump yall try to make him just from hate.

[SweaterBae]

Rewards are dumb unless the player I like wins.

[The Servant]

If you swapped Tatum and LeBron, do the Celtics get better and the Lakers worse?

Not sure what kind of defense 38 year old LeBron is playing when he stopped playing defense when he rejoined Cleveland.

Why do you all keep trying to push that bullshyt narrative? While hes no all game defensive stopper, hes far from the speed bump yall try to make him just from hate.

Idk man I have been watching since 05 and catch about 40+ games a year and have seen him in his prime, and at all stages, and I have eyes. To say he is now who he was back during the first Cavs and Heat runs is to disrespect how high of a level he was at back then. To say he is currently a better defender night in night out than Tatum in the REGULAR SEASON is funny.

If LeBron is 1st team then how come with a running mate like AD they are only good for 41 wins. Lakers have had tons of good role players come through, hes got a top 15-20 player and hes in the play in on a 41 win team. LeBron is great. No one is saying he isn't. It's the reality of 39 playing the regular season.

[NyKnicks1714]

bottom line here is that it isn't a slam dunk either way. either guy has a case over the other.

Tatum is rightfully ahead of LeBron and pretty clear cut as the last guy on the 1st team, while LeBron is pretty clear cut 3rd team. If you swapped them I don't see the Lakers and Celtics having much different records though.

[chilluminati]

2 ppg extra bro

[CIN-C-STAR]

Lebron is overrated at this point.
I wouldn't say he's an empty-stats guy, but his stats oversell his impact and people that watch the games know why.

[UcanUwill]

Don’t midcurve the stats.

Celtics are literally the best team in the NBA.

Does winning count?

no it doesn’t count because winning is a TEAM stat and the All NBA teams are awarded for individual skill level.

SGA was 1st team All NBA last year on a 40 win team.

Steph Curry made 1st team and missed the playoffs.

I do subscribe to it is team sport mentality, but with that said, a lot of things count, including team wins. That actually still counts for a lot. I have no problem with guy being on first team all NBA if he was that good, even if his team lost many games. But it all depends on who are the alternatives, who are in the running for all these things.

Tatum this year has had more successful season than LeBron and he will most likely be first team all NBA. It is hard to justify taking LeBron before him this season, it really does.

All stats have context, none of these guys play under same exact circumstances.

[EmpireFalls]

What about KD OP?