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

[nzahir]

Apart from the Anthony Davis trade, Pelinka has made pretty much nothing but bad decisions. I'm not giving him credit for fixing a mistake he made in the first place last year lol. Lakers will be bad for a long time once LeBron is gone.
Top

Probably will be bad for a while, but dw Bron haters will blame him for stripping them of all their assets (which isn't the actual case)

I think Bron and AD should get some blame for the Russ trade as well, but I give Jeanie a lot of blame for cheaping out and basically not allowing guys to come here on longer deals

Jeanie is to blame for us losing Caruso as well mind you

Lets see what moves we make this year though, I have some hope tbh

[nzahir]

Who saw Christian Woods being a key contributor early in the season. His defense has been very impressive.

I did think he would be a positive contributor

Fit on paper is great and he was solid last year from what I saw when I looked at his stats. Looked better with more minutes too

We should probably just play big tbh

[IG2]

Lakers are a bad OT team. LeBron in particular has a weird OT phobia.

This is about to be a terrible loss for LA. This team is so bad with leads late.

[dcstanley]

They've been an awful clutch team since the 2020 season. This loss is straight out of the last two seasons.

[J Shuttlesworth]

What were you guys saying?

[nzahir]

They've been an awful clutch team since the 2020 season. This loss is straight out of the last two seasons.

We were pretty damn good last season post Russ (besides Denver)

[homecourtloss]

Who saw Christian Woods being a key contributor early in the season. His defense has been very impressive.

I did think he would be a positive contributor

Fit on paper is great and he was solid last year from what I saw when I looked at his stats. Looked better with more minutes too

We should probably just play big tbh

For a vet minimum player, he’s probably already lived up to his contract over five games. His play alone should have led to four wins, which is wild.

At one point in this game, Darvin ham was playing a three center lineup, and it actually helped win the game

Austin Reaves came alive towards the end there, so hopefully he starts playing like Austin Reaves again, and not like an undrafted scrub.

[IG2]

Testament to Reaves' toughness that he was the team's go-to-guy in OT despite the struggles he's had this season. This should kickstart his season. Lakers are so much better when he's creating out there.

[rk2023]

What a win. Look at Bron man, so inspirational.

Dlo Played great. Reddish did more good than bad (at least so it seems). Reaves got some momentum. Davis' defense was huge down the 2nd half. Wood stepped in with a tangible impact once more.

They're getting Harden this.. Harden that. Lakers were down 3 forwards and arguably the best defensive guard, and found a way. Feels amazing to finally beat the Clips.

Surreal feeling in real time, but this team still ought to find their identity sooner than later. This could include a positive 3P shooting regression.

[RRR3]

Ham will learn nothing from what Wood did.

[rk2023]

Him getting to the rim so quick in the 4th is pretty crazy for year 21.

He is really pushing the boundaries right now. He‘s got Jerry Rice longevity with Jim Brown size/speed.

It’s not just basketball at this point. His athletic peak combined with his longevity on such a heavy frame makes him one of one.

Brady, Djokovic, Messi. LeBron has MJ to deal with so he doesn’t get the “GOAT” respect of the others but his brand of athleticism maintaining is the most insane imo. He led the league in fastbreak points over Prime Giannis last year by being a tank. December/January of last year, both LeBron and Luka were going off.

12/01/22 to 01/31/23
Luka: 27 games 33/9/8 (50/38/74 — 61.6 TS%) - Gm. 284/310
Bron: 27 games 32/9/8 (52/30/78 — 60.1 TS%) - Gm. 1381/1407

During this time, I actually thought LeBron was better due to the still big gap in defense at that time and just the more impressive way he looked. Here Luka is, a future top 10 potential player going crazy and year 20 LeBron is matching him at the least.

This was 9 months ago and now he’s driving with ease in the 4th again. It’s all about pace for him. That Denver series would look different if he could drive like this. We’ll see how healthy he is later in the year. But early in the year, he continues to make no sense athletically.

Another heater well said by none other than O_6, this message needs a bump right about now

[JLei]

I'll just say that Christian Wood is wayyyyy better defensively than I thought he'd be.

He's actually quite mobile for a big guy and a good rebounder. Playing with Lebron obviously simplifies reads for him on D and that's why those bench lineups with him and Bron have been dominating.

Similar to how JR Smith looked amazing defensively as Cav when before he was just known as an offensive player.

[Big Aristotle]

These are my favorite games, in general, in the league. Short rotation due to injury, inauspicious start, guys battle back and everyone finds a way to contribute something, even if it's just a play or two. Reminded me of Brooklyn in the game against Miami earlier in the evening.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Who saw Christian Woods being a key contributor early in the season. His defense has been very impressive.

I did think he would be a positive contributor

Fit on paper is great and he was solid last year from what I saw when I looked at his stats. Looked better with more minutes too

We should probably just play big tbh

For a vet minimum player, he’s probably already lived up to his contract over five games. His play alone should have led to four wins, which is wild.

At one point in this game, Darvin ham was playing a three center lineup, and it actually helped win the game

Austin Reaves came alive towards the end there, so hopefully he starts playing like Austin Reaves again, and not like an undrafted scrub.

The three big lineup was **** insane we clamped **** up

We clearly want Austin to be a primary playmaker and he’s looked confused at times, he looked to score a lot more and was getting way deeper in and drawing fouls again, his touch in that mid paint area is crazy he just hasn’t been as intentional with getting deep lately, maybe it’ll be good long term with more reps but either way he’ll be fine

I thought bron looked a bit off and he dropped 35 lol, I really don’t wanna play this Clippers team in the playoffs

[nzahir]

I did think he would be a positive contributor

Fit on paper is great and he was solid last year from what I saw when I looked at his stats. Looked better with more minutes too

We should probably just play big tbh

For a vet minimum player, he’s probably already lived up to his contract over five games. His play alone should have led to four wins, which is wild.

At one point in this game, Darvin ham was playing a three center lineup, and it actually helped win the game

Austin Reaves came alive towards the end there, so hopefully he starts playing like Austin Reaves again, and not like an undrafted scrub.

The three big lineup was **** insane we clamped **** up

We clearly want Austin to be a primary playmaker and he’s looked confused at times, he looked to score a lot more and was getting way deeper in and drawing fouls again, his touch in that mid paint area is crazy he just hasn’t been as intentional with getting deep lately, maybe it’ll be good long term with more reps but either way he’ll be fine

I thought bron looked a bit off and he dropped 35 lol, I really don’t wanna play this Clippers team in the playoffs

I am fairly confident this is our best bet to win games for now at least

We dont want Reaves to be a primary playmaker....we need him to be

If we are closing with Wood, I wonder what role does Rui have

Also if we are barely going to play Christie (missed shots tonight looks like, I missed most of the game until the 4th and 1st the 1st), him and or JHS should also be shopped

[MyUniBroDavis]

For a vet minimum player, he’s probably already lived up to his contract over five games. His play alone should have led to four wins, which is wild.

At one point in this game, Darvin ham was playing a three center lineup, and it actually helped win the game

Austin Reaves came alive towards the end there, so hopefully he starts playing like Austin Reaves again, and not like an undrafted scrub.

The three big lineup was **** insane we clamped **** up

We clearly want Austin to be a primary playmaker and he’s looked confused at times, he looked to score a lot more and was getting way deeper in and drawing fouls again, his touch in that mid paint area is crazy he just hasn’t been as intentional with getting deep lately, maybe it’ll be good long term with more reps but either way he’ll be fine

I thought bron looked a bit off and he dropped 35 lol, I really don’t wanna play this Clippers team in the playoffs

I am fairly confident this is our best bet to win games for now at least

We dont want Reaves to be a primary playmaker....we need him to be

If we are closing with Wood, I wonder what role does Rui have

Also if we are barely going to play Christie (missed shots tonight looks like, I missed most of the game until the 4th and 1st the 1st), him and or JHS should also be shopped

Reaves isn’t really a good enough playmaker to be one right now, for now Dlo is still a lot better at it. He’ll grow into it though.

[MyUniBroDavis]

The year the Lakers win a game vs the clippers is the year they win a chip

Heh

[xb3at band1tx]

This game was the freshest I've seen LeBron since pre-injury last year

[xb3at band1tx]

I'll just say that Christian Wood is wayyyyy better defensively than I thought he'd be.

He's actually quite mobile for a big guy and a good rebounder. Playing with Lebron obviously simplifies reads for him on D and that's why those bench lineups with him and Bron have been dominating.

Similar to how JR Smith looked amazing defensively as Cav when before he was just known as an offensive player.

He looks genuinely good on wings and servicable on centers

He's seems like the perfect guy to put next to Davis who oversees the entire defense

[ardee]

Great win. Very worried about LeBron's minutes being pushed like this so early but hopefully once Rui and Vanderbilt come back he settles into 32ish per game.

This roadtrip should give us a fairly decent indication of how good exactly this team is. I think 3-1 would be a great result and entirely reasonable to expect. They just beat Orlando, Miami is pretty bad so far, as is Houston, and they've already beaten Phoenix (albeit a shorthanded Phoenix but still).