Giannis just made a lot of these nba stars look pathetic

Galloisdaman · Post #281 » by **Galloisdaman** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 12:17 pm

GIMME_DATT wrote:he won without a super team

Don't see it everyday

No slight to Jrue or Middleton but it is nice to see a guy win the old fashioned way without going ring shopping.

WeSkrongDen · Post #282 » by **WeSkrongDen** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 12:22 pm

WeSkrongDen wrote:
NyCeEvO wrote:
Lalouie wrote:some of these stars, kd at least, has tweeted a congrats.

i would like to think that giannis has reminded these guys of why they play the game. yes they all want to win a ring, but they didn't grow up or even enter the league wanting to amass talent in order to smother the rest of the league,,,,,,,,except maybe lebron.

they play the game to "compete". giannis just now reminded tem of that

I disagree. They all grew up in the shadow of MJ. During their childhoods, MJ was considered the GOAT by the majority of fans, and he was also the first global superstar athlete.

The players who lost to MJ, and especially those who never won a championship, are more often talked about as stepping stones to Jordan’s ascendency than respected as the truly talented superstars that they were. It’s truly a shame that the careers of HOF players like Barkley, Ewing, Stockton, Reggie Miller, and now CP3 are denigrated simply because they were on teams didn’t win.

IMO, as a result of this dichotomy between the praise given to MJ and the criticism given to stars who didn’t win given by the fans and the media, the next generation of stars did not want the stigma and derision that came along with failing to win a championship.

How many 20-somethings do you know who are completely secure about their identity and don’t care about judgment from their peers, let alone the media and fans throughout the world. I can’t imagine growing up in an era of 24/7 news and social media where your livelihood is offered up for public consumption and critique.

While I personally don’t like when elite stars team up with other elite stars, I understand why many desire to do it and seek to avoid being “ringless”.

I blame the media and fans for valuing the careers of non-title winners as worthless and not warranting respect or admiration. If we could actually have mature and healthy conversations about players, I guarantee that a lot of players would be happier sticking with their teams and wouldn’t feel shame by the prospect of not winning a title.

We're never going to get away from championship obsession. Just think about how bad second place feels as a fan. It's all about championships. I completely agree that it skews how we view players though. Only all time greats have the ability to will their teams to championships. I'm talking about top 20 all time type players. And these kind of players will pretty much always get a championship as long as they have a long enough prime. LeBron would have got one if he never left Cleveland. Just too great a player, things would have broke his way. Durant would have probably gotten one in OKC. They wouldn't have gotten as many but it's totally wrong to determine how great a player is by how many championships he has. Jordan is the GOAT but he had great teammates. He's not getting 6 rings and going 6-0 in Finals if he had a subpar team around him.

gpoon · Post #283 » by **gpoon** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 12:26 pm

Rainwater wrote:I'm proud of the bucks but they wouldn't have beaten the nets without the injuries to Irving and Harden. Just being honest.

Yeh but Irving is injured or missing more than he available, so the probable outcome happened.

WeSkrongDen · Post #284 » by **WeSkrongDen** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 12:28 pm

gpoon wrote:
Rainwater wrote:I'm proud of the bucks but they wouldn't have beaten the nets without the injuries to Irving and Harden. Just being honest.

Yeh but Irving is injured or missing more than he available, so the probable outcome happened.

Yep, he's more likely to get injured than stay healthy as his history proves.

Liam_Gallagher · Post #285 » by **Liam_Gallagher** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 12:41 pm

He also didn’t beat a super team though.

hauntedcomputer · Post #286 » by **hauntedcomputer** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 12:54 pm

Kurtz wrote:There's gonna be a lot of hot takes, but important to remember that Milwakee is out in the 2nd round if KD wears his correct shoe size.

This dumb and wildly inaccurate narrative needs to end. The court stripe is two inches and his toe is inside the line, so at least two inches too much shoe. A shoe size is less than half an inch at those lengths. So, if Durant cuts off all his toes and wears a tight shoe like Tom Dempsey, then maybe.

Some people put asterisks in their trophy case. Giannis just put some hardware.

If this had happened to KD, he'd have missed three seasons. So where's the luck?

ocelot17 · Post #287 » by **ocelot17** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 1:07 pm

It’s crazy how bucks would’ve gone from laughing stock to nba champs if Giannis hadn’t injured kyrie and hardens hamstring injury.

I guess asterisk championship is better than no championship. So congratulations, I guess Milwaukee?

LukaTheGOAT · Post #288 » by **LukaTheGOAT** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 1:28 pm

I guess this board has Giannis ahead of KD and LeBron all-time now.

LesGrossman · Post #289 » by **LesGrossman** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 1:29 pm

I mean, after the Nets series, noone would call KD's performance "pathetic". In my view, he showed that he is clear cut the best player the league has and theres no shame in losing a team game if unfortunate injuries happen. Also, i stick by my point that the move Giannis pulled on Kyrie was borderline dirty; those guys are pros and know EXACTLY what they do when they step under an airborne player.

Its not so much Giannis as it is karma that the Bucks came out more or less as the only team without severe injuries. Thats why i hold Dirks title in higher regard - not only was his team much much weaker, he also had to beat legit superteams at their full force. The attempts to spin the narrative ("advanced statistics say otherwise!") are just sad imho.

kuclas · Post #290 » by **kuclas** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 1:37 pm

prime1time wrote:The only reason he won was that other stars got injured.

This is 100% correct. No way bucks win with healthy nets or lakers team. Yes injuries are part of the game. But you would have major players injured. It makes the playing field more when for Suns and bucks to make it to the finals.

It is what it is. Congrats to Giannis and the bucks.

WeSkrongDen · Post #291 » by **WeSkrongDen** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 1:54 pm

kuclas wrote:
prime1time wrote:The only reason he won was that other stars got injured.

This is 100% correct. No way bucks win with healthy nets or lakers team. Yes injuries are part of the game. But you would have major players injured. It makes the playing field more when for Suns and bucks to make it to the finals.

It is what it is. Congrats to Giannis and the bucks.

Bucks could have definitely beat the Lakers. Lebron is on the decline chief.

Joao Saraiva · Post #292 » by **Joao Saraiva** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:01 pm

Why so? He won under special circumstances. If the Spurs in 07 didn't have Manu and Parker LeBron might have won that finals too. That's basically what happened vs Nets.

Everything needs context. Also Bucks cast >>>> Cavs 1st stint cast for LeBron. Or are we gonna say Holiday + Middleton aren't waaay better than Mo Williams and West/Parker? Or that they haven't a better squad outside that? The rest of their cast isn't better than than Hickson, Gibson, Varejao? Give me a break.

Also LeBron won with his original franchise and with a big two in LA.

And mark my words, Giannis has a 2 or 3 frustrating years by not getting there (a possibility if the Nets stay healthy) and watch him go elsewhere too. And this doesn't mean Giannis isn't great, he was before the ring and will still be.

WeSkrongDen · Post #293 » by **WeSkrongDen** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:06 pm

Joao Saraiva wrote:Why so? He won under special circumstances. If the Spurs in 07 didn't have Manu and Parker LeBron might have won that finals too. That's basically what happened vs Nets.

Everything needs context. Also Bucks cast >>>> Cavs 1st stint cast for LeBron. Or are we gonna say Holiday + Middleton aren't waaay better than Mo Williams and West/Parker? Or that they haven't a better squad outside that? The rest of their cast isn't better than than Hickson, Gibson, Varejao? Give me a break.

Also LeBron won with his original franchise and with a big two in LA.

And mark my words, Giannis has a 2 or 3 frustrating years by not getting there (a possibility if the Nets stay healthy) and watch him go elsewhere too. And this doesn't mean Giannis isn't great, he was before the ring and will still be.

That Nets team is possibly the best of all time if healthy. But they're big flaw is they aren't a durable squad. They odds of their big three staying healthy ever year is relatively low.

A big 2 in LA, just so happens one of the other 2 was a top 5 player who actually led the playoffs in winshares that year and was pretty much Lebron's equal. Lebron has never won with a squad like Giannis. Could he have? I think so. But he never will have a ring with the respect Giannis has because he didn't want that challenge. He wanted to take the easy way.

LakersNavy · Post #294 » by **LakersNavy** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:08 pm

RealGM is one of the most toxic corners of the sports internet. This place can't just be happy for Giannis and the Bucks, they have to use this as an opportunity to tear down other players. Giannis is accomplishment has nothing to do with LeBron or Kevin Durant and it doesn't change anything about their championships. Some of you guys are weirdos.

Everything is an opportunity to tear someone down

lamscott · Post #295 » by **lamscott** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:11 pm

Damn.. This has to be the worst thread of 2021.

LofJ · Post #296 » by **LofJ** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:13 pm

LukaTheGOAT wrote:I guess this board has Giannis ahead of KD and LeBron all-time now.

It's trending that way, so people with that opinion are not wrong.

WeSkrongDen · Post #297 » by **WeSkrongDen** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:13 pm

LakersNavy wrote:RealGM is one of the most toxic corners of the sports internet. This place can't just be happy for Giannis and the Bucks, they have to use this as an opportunity to tear down other players. Giannis is accomplishment has nothing to do with LeBron or Kevin Durant and it doesn't change anything about their championships. Some of you guys are weirdos.

Everything is an opportunity to tear someone down

Giannis called out these guys himself lol. So maybe he is a weirdo. And yeah most of us hate superteams and this era of mercenaries which was spearheaded by Lebron.

Thanos1985 · Post #298 » by **Thanos1985** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:16 pm

Harden could play harder, he chose to play safe. I didnt see him in ppain at all. Giannis 1st game in phoenix he was moving like 10 years older but still was effective. Its mentality. And harden is a proven playoff choker, even not injured regresses at playoffs. All 3 played games. They lost with irving in milwakee, they were losing in second game before got injured. Suns won easily the 1st two games too. Nobody injured and bucks bounced back.

And to be honest , half of the joy of this playoff run was eliminating the Brooklyn divas .

AussieBuck · Post #299 » by **AussieBuck** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:22 pm

LakersNavy wrote:RealGM is one of the most toxic corners of the sports internet. This place can't just be happy for Giannis and the Bucks, they have to use this as an opportunity to tear down other players. Giannis is accomplishment has nothing to do with LeBron or Kevin Durant and it doesn't change anything about their championships. Some of you guys are weirdos.

Everything is an opportunity to tear someone down

Bucks fans don't care, I'm enjoying the salty takes personally.

prime1time · Post #300 » by **prime1time** » Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:22 pm

Thanos1985 wrote:Harden could play harder, he chose to play safe. I didnt see him in ppain at all. Giannis 1st game in phoenix he was moving like 10 years older but still was effective. Its mentality. And harden is a proven playoff choker, even not injured regresses at playoffs. All 3 played games. They lost with irving in milwakee, they were losing in second game before got injured. Suns won easily the 1st two games too. Nobody injured and bucks bounced back.

And to be honest , half of the joy of this playoff run was eliminating the Brooklyn divas .

Harden literally just played injured vs. the Bucks.