(LOCK THREAD) The LeBron James- 23-24 NBA Thread - 40K POINTS+(Part 1)(NO INSULTING)

[TheGOATRises007]

DLo is not that guy.

[homecourtloss]

LeBron +7
AD -25


Guys AD is the lakers best player!! Just ignore this happening every game

It was 20-20, LeBron went to the bench, they tried playing that three centers lineup, and got absolutely wrecked. To be fair they didn’t have any of their wing players or their back up point guard, but Anthony Davis on court wasn’t making an impact at all.

LeBron: +12 (easily could’ve been +15 or +18 with a couple of wide-open three-pointers made at the end there)
AD: -24

[Colbinii]

Classic Dlo game

[TroubleS0me]

can't even beat a Magic

[zimpy27]

Wasn't just DLo. Lakers really missing Gabe/Vando/Rui/Prince..

[IG2]

Classic Dlo game

His odd good games are such fool's gold. He's a player with limited physical ability and thus overly dependent on a streaky jumper to not suck. But I don't even care much about that. It's his decision making that makes him completely unplayable (obvious to everyone besides Ham). It's hilarious that Lakers replaced one negative IQ Russell with another.

I cannot take this Laker team seriously as long as he's on the roster. If he's not gone after the deadline.....ugh

[IG2]

LeBron, meanwhile, looks VERY good. His first step is best I've seen since the bubble. Hoping he can play 60+ games and be healthy going into the playoffs.

[parapooper]

-31 in 13 minutes, so the Lakers were on pace to lose by 114 points in non-Lebron minutes? I'm not even mad, that's impressive

[Mos_Heat]

Blow this team up lmao. Talented teams don't perform like this

Yeah, this team is mid af

[thebigbird]

AD is so bummy. Bron is going on year 21 and still better and more consistent than this dude. Team falls off a cliff with AD on but Bron off.

[MyUniBroDavis]

This team is literally never beating Jokic lol he's too good

It’s insane how in ur head this man is lol relax

At the end of the day we did pretty well on him we just gotta figure out how to not get killed by murray now lmao

Lol I'm saying it because I legit watch the playbacks of these and rewind possessions to see all the butterfly effects. This guy is more deadly than Steph and this team is perfectly built around him. The only way to beat him imo is to use his archetypal Achilles heel, a star shooting and handling PG that annihilates him in PNR or a wing that can kill him on switches and foul him out. IDT AD and Bron pressure him in iso enough to take him out of the game the way Steph or maybe Ja can.

Murray Joker PNR imo is literally the best pick and roll duo in NBA history because both can pass dribble shoot and finish. There's never been a guard and big duo on the same team with zero offensive flaws like them. The only flawless bigs had flawed guards that either can't finish, pass, or shoot; and 99.9% of bigs in NBA history can't do 1 of pass, shoot, or dribble.

I'm just keeping it a buck. No one else in NBA history has ever faced this level of extended all time great competition in every stage of their career except maybe Wilt who went from his supremely stacked era straight into the Kareem era which he snuck one out.

If Bron was a superhero, he would be Batman because he simply has the most extensive rogues gallery of any player to have ever lived. I just think Joker is the Bane that breaks his back after every other adversary wears him down like in that one Batman run that Dark Knight Rises was based on. I'm not expecting the redemption arc tho due to the fact he chose one of the most incompetent modern franchises in the NBA.

You only have a finite pool of resources to build a championship team in the nba and I think they blew too many with the Westbrook trade after getting their pockets ran for AD. Imma stop with the doomer talk tho and let this play out. But I at least thought LeBron was better than Steph so they have a chance to beat the Warriors all throughout 2016. I also thought Steph was a playoff choker and that when push comes to shove even tho LeBron played like he was afraid of Steph to start, he'd dominate Steph in a series.

I feel none of these vs Jokic. He's smarter than LeBron, bigger than LeBron, stronger than LeBron, has more stamina than LeBron, has better teammates than LeBron, and Jokic is the first person in LeBron's entire career that Bron knows is a better player than him. The only thing LeBron has on him is that he's faster. And most of all, Jokic is a playoff riser. He doesn't choke in the playoffs like Steph does. He literally gets better. It's going to take a miracle for them to surpass this team unless this roster steps their s*** up. Imma stop with the doomer talk tho and let their next matchup play out.

But hey, if this is the curtain call then its been a beautiful run and I look forward to seeing the next GOAT level talent that comes in (Wemby?) and appreciating their career instead of being a bitter hater like Jordan and Kobe fans.

!remindmein8months

[homecourtloss]

-31 in 13 minutes, so the Lakers were on pace to lose by 114 points in non-Lebron minutes? I'm not even mad, that's impressive

For the season:

+9.5 ON, -37.7 OFF, +47.2 ON-OFF

ORtg ON: 113.1, ORtg OFF: 89.4, +23.7 ON-OFF
DRtg ON: 103.6, DRtg OFF: 127.1, -23.5 ON-OFF

2nd halves:
+22.1 ON, -25.8 OFF, +47.9 ON-OFF

4th quarters:
+28.2 ON, -78.3 OFF, +106.2 ON-OFF

[Heej]

-31 in 13 minutes, so the Lakers were on pace to lose by 114 points in non-Lebron minutes? I'm not even mad, that's impressive

For the season:

+9.5 ON, -37.7 OFF, +47.2 ON-OFF

ORtg ON: 113.1, ORtg OFF: 89.4, +23.7 ON-OFF
DRtg ON: 103.6, DRtg OFF: 127.1, -23.5 ON-OFF

2nd halves:
+22.1 ON, -25.8 OFF, +47.9 ON-OFF

4th quarters:
+28.2 ON, -78.3 OFF, +106.2 ON-OFF

It's beyond comical now to the point that this isn't funny lol

[homecourtloss]

-31 in 13 minutes, so the Lakers were on pace to lose by 114 points in non-Lebron minutes? I'm not even mad, that's impressive

For the season:

+9.5 ON, -37.7 OFF, +47.2 ON-OFF

ORtg ON: 113.1, ORtg OFF: 89.4, +23.7 ON-OFF
DRtg ON: 103.6, DRtg OFF: 127.1, -23.5 ON-OFF

2nd halves:
+22.1 ON, -25.8 OFF, +47.9 ON-OFF

4th quarters:
+28.2 ON, -78.3 OFF, +106.2 ON-OFF

It's beyond comical now to the point that this isn't funny lol

He “plays in a way that prevents others from having much impact”; see signature.

[nzahir]

Hard to takeaway a lot from this team rn with these injuries, but even if we are healthy we are likely not in Denver's tier

Luckily looks like Reaves is getting back into it, that matters a lot more than these results in the reg season while being down so many guys

I just don't think I can trust Dlo enough to be our starting pg and to seriously contend. He isn't a good enough offensive player to justify having 2 thinner guards. I think having size out there is probably our best bet, plays to our strengths

The teams that will likely be sellers or blow it up are the Bulls, Raptors, Blazers. Am I missing any others?

Bulls: Lavine, DDR, Caruso
Raptors: GTJ, OG? (Siakam should be moved, but we don't have the assets nor would we want him with our team)
Blazers: Brogdon, Jerami Grant, Robert Williams

The one wildcard is Kyrie. Would Dallas want to move him if they could get a guy like Siakam or even OG as the main center piece and a guard to replace some of Kyrie's contribution.

Could there be a 3 teamer with say Toronto where we get involved with Dlo, Rui/Vando, mix of Christie, JHS, future 1st, swaps for Kyrie and Dallas gets Siakam or OG?

[Ian Scuffling]

I mean, that this conversation even exists is a testament to Lebron's longevity. We are speaking of a dude who is gonna turn 39 in like a month and in his 21st season. And the issue isnt "can this guy play 20 mpg and not suck" like the few other guys who have played at that age, but rather "can he exit his conference?"

That's kinda insane.

Yeah, indeed. That's why I'm not into false hopes etc. because let's be honest - AD and LeBron were 'healthy' for the first time in 3 years in May and got completely outplayed by Jokic-Murray duo. Yeah, you can argue LeBron wasn't in the best shape physically in the playoffs, but let's be honest, he'll be 39 in a moment, it's not a given that LeBron/AD can reproduce their '23 season, not saying about being actually better.

At this point, Lakers have no star power (Nuggets, maybe Bucks, Clippers, Suns) nor depth (Celtics) to realistically make it happen unless something lucky occurs.

That being said, if Lakers are 'watchable' (not the case in Westbrook era) and healthy (we'll see, LeBron looks fantastic physically) - it's a massive win for me as a fan.

And I'm not saying I don't believe at all in some deep run (things can happen), but I don't think any LeBron fan should have any negative emotions toward what we're seeing if Lakers won't surpass this level of a 'fake contender', and, well, it's very likely they won't.

It's been hell of a run, after all.

Well said. Quit judging this guy as if he's in his prime. It's freaking unreal that he is STILL in a prime-lite, but it's not his best. Father time always wins. He's just winning slower to Lebron, which just goes to show you how phenomenally good of a basketball player Lebron really is. Yes, I think as fans we all want him to go out on top, but it's still a team game. Think about it, should a team whose oldest player is 39 and in his 21st season and also their best player be a championship contender? Never in the history of this sport would any of us had said, "yes". Yet, this dude puts them if not there, pretty damned close.

Goes for the idiotic haters as well. But, well they're not too bright and fail to see that. I'm just enjoying watching this guy do things that nobody, especially a wing, has ever done has at this age. Amazing.

[rk2023]

Far from panicky at the moment ngl. Orlando on Saturday as ugly as a loss as it gets (probably, I hope I’m right) - but this isn’t a full rotation yet and there have been encouraging spurts.

I’d say this is a team better constructed for the playoffs, but that’s a fallacy in itself because of all the good habits, continuity, and playbook familiarity / breadth you establish over the 82 game marathon. If you build bad habits, they’ll come back to bite your ass against a better team - which is why LAL was swept by Denver.

That lack of discipline (ergo slow starts, turnover problems through game slates, not rebounding), struggling against teams where the size advantage isn’t there (Orlando - whom I think will seriously be good, Denver), and the overall lack of a team identity / strong suits are probably my biggest gripes at the moment and tangible areas for concern.

Anything less than 2-1 to close the road trip this week (3-0 should be the goal, no buts about it) would be damn pathetic.

[homecourtloss]

Ham might even play Reddish when the injured players come back. Yes, they are shorthanded, but he’s the worst player on the court almost at all times—he should’ve played about five minutes fewer.

[RRR3]

Ham might even play Reddish when the injured players come back. Yes, they are shorthanded, but he’s the worst player on the court almost at all times he should’ve played about five minutes fewer.

The Lakers have an incompetent coach because the front office is incompetent and has no idea how to find a good coach. They passed up Lue lol

[zimpy27]

Ham might even play Reddish when the injured players come back. Yes, they are shorthanded, but he’s the worst player on the court almost at all times he should’ve played about five minutes fewer.

I see the potential with Reddish. He's been defending very well. Been playing hard.

Yeah he's had an awful start shooting this season, yet he remains in the lineup for his activity on defense. And the lineup data shows that he's been part of some great lineups.