No free pass for Lebron

[Revived]

LeBron has set himself up to be in a fantastic position right now. If his team wins, the narrative is “OMG LeBron carrying teams to wins even at age 40, so amazing!!!!”.

And if his team loses with him throwing the ball away with 8/9 turnovers in the game, it’s “Oh well he’s 40 who cares, what can you expect from him really”.

It’s truly incredible.

[ShannonWright]

I swear only idiots think a 39 year old Lebron should carry this team averaging 33/12/9 with lockdown defense against the best team in the league.

We go as our guards go. AD and Lebron will get theirs. It all depends on the rest of the squad especially DLO and Reaves. Our talent level isn't as good as Denver.

If we never made those trades for Russ we'd still have KCP and probably Caruso. Currently constructed we have our best perimeter defender in Vando injured and Ham is too much of a PUSSY to actually play Christie who is by far our best perimeter defender at the guard position.

/thread

[lakerz12]

If the Lakers can only manage the #7 seed with a prime AD playing 70+ games, the LeBron stans have to at least admit that LeBron’s stats are basically empty stats.

If the stats don’t result in winning, they can still be viewed as an accomplishment but they cannot be given the weight of stats that result in winning.

So call this a cherry on top of LeBron’s career if you want. I agree he’s old and shouldn’t be expected to be elite.

So, just stop calling him elite and ranking him in the top 5 or top 10 this year.

A top 5 LeBron with healthy AD and this time would certainly at least mean a top 3 seed and Conference Finals.

[lakerz12]

LeBron has set himself up to be in a fantastic position right now. If his team wins, the narrative is “OMG LeBron carrying teams to wins even at age 40, so amazing!!!!”.

And if his team loses with him throwing the ball away with 8/9 turnovers in the game, it’s “Oh well he’s 40 who cares, what can you expect from him really”.

It’s truly incredible.

Yup. And the obvious answer is he’s just nowhere near the player he once was.

And that should be okay to admit. He’s 39.

But the Lebron fans can’t do that. They want to keep pretending he’s a top 10 or top 5 player.

At some point they will have to finally admit that he’s too old to impact the winning the way he used to. And that’s okay. Time to let it go.

[thebigbird]

If the Lakers can only manage the #7 seed with a prime AD playing 70+ games, the LeBron stans have to at least admit that LeBron’s stats are basically empty stats.

If the stats don’t result in winning, they can still be viewed as an accomplishment but they cannot be given the weight of stats that result in winning.

So call this a cherry on top of LeBron’s career if you want. I agree he’s old and shouldn’t be expected to be elite.

So, just stop calling him elite and ranking him in the top 5 or top 10 this year.

A top 5 LeBron with healthy AD and this time would certainly at least mean a top 3 seed and Conference Finals.

Sure, this ignorant statement makes sense if you ignore the scores of data showing how much better the Lakers are when LeBron is on the court.

[hugepatsfan]

He’s playing with house money at this point. He’s 39, his legacy is cemented. Anything he does at this point can only add to it. His peers were all retired or shells of themselves at this point so getting swept doesn’t cause him to loose any ground.

[VanWest82]

No one is blaming Lebron for being old and losing here.

You might want to read the very first post then. OP flat out said LeBron shouldn't get a free pass for losing to the Nuggets.

This is fair. OPer and a couple others are being overly harsh. I don't agree with that. He should be criticized for poor leadership and that's it.

It's that he quit on his team last night...again.

Do you ever stop trolling

LeBron's effort was stellar for the majority of the game. He had poor body language on occasion, sure, but his effort was fine. He just clearly ran out of gas in the 2nd half. Age 39, altitude and all....

No. This was not just running out of gas. You're underestimating the body language part. We've seen him do this throughout his career in exactly the same spots, where he realizes he thinks he can't win. It gives off the vibe of quitting on your team. He should be above this stuff by now but it's clearly who he is.

Edit: no one was getting on Lebron for getting his ass kicked by Zion the other night. It's not Lebron's fault he's 39 and Zion's 23, and Zion's bigger, faster, stronger at this point. He got his ass kicked but he picked himself off the floor and tried to the end even though he was tired and wasn't playing well. There's a difference.

[SportsGuru08]

He’s playing with house money at this point. He’s 39, his legacy is cemented. Anything he does at this point can only add to it. His peers were all retired or shells of themselves at this point so getting swept doesn’t cause him to loose any ground.

As usual, people try to use his age as both a crutch and a prop. Sorry, can't have it both ways. Pick a narrative and be consistent.

[SportsGuru08]

Jordan was even declared GOAT after 1st 3-peat..

Apparently 11 by Bill or 5 by Kareem were not match for 3.

Both of the above have better argument than Le-40 percent finals win percentage. But maybe in your world ESPN proclamations and empty stats matter more.

I do. His pathetic Finals record by itself is enough for me to have him no higher than 5th.


You're on a island with your LeBron takes though, are you not aware of this?

Even those that have Jordan as GOAT don't have LeBron outside top 3.

[zimpy27]

Both of the above have better argument than Le-40 percent finals win percentage. But maybe in your world ESPN proclamations and empty stats matter more.

You're on a island with your LeBron takes though, are you not aware of this?

Even those that have Jordan as GOAT don't have LeBron outside top 3.

I do. His pathetic Finals record by itself is enough for me to have him no higher than 5th.

At least you guys have company then

[kingr]

Lol.

[NyKnicks1714]

He’s playing with house money at this point. He’s 39, his legacy is cemented. Anything he does at this point can only add to it. His peers were all retired or shells of themselves at this point so getting swept doesn’t cause him to loose any ground.

As usual, people try to use his age as both a crutch and a prop. Sorry, can't have it both ways. Pick a narrative and be consistent.

See, this is what happens when you're so driven by hatred or a narrative you already have in your head. You talk about how his age should only be used as a crutch or a prop, not both. You talk about "picking a narrative".

At no point do you even think about the notion of his age simply being a fact...which it is. He's 39. Sometimes he does things that are unprecedented for a 39 year old. Sometimes he does things that are consistent with being 39. These are simply facts. But for you and others like you, everything has to fit some narrative or another. Your narrative drives how you perceive things, and that's completely backwards.

[Vampirate]

In the end I will always think what Jordan did in his prime is more impressive than what Lebron is doing now.

Lebron can add to his legacy, but not enough to move up in the top spot.

Jordan's 6 in 8 with MVP type production is just that hard to beat, even with Lebron's goat longevity.

Lebron's goat bid ended with the Fall to the Mavs, but he still added to his resume after.

In my eyes Lebron is the goat in longevity, but not the goat.

[Sofia]

lol when has Lebron ever got a free pass for not winning? Dude has been most scrutinised player in league history.

get the **** out

[Hair Jordan]

Lebron is 39 lol.

Of course You can’t have it both ways. You can’t stroke Lebron when he has a nice game or breaks some cumulative stats record and then let him off of the hook when he stinks it up in the playoffs by reminding people he’s 39. Typical response from a Lebron homer.

Yes. You absolutely can lmao.

How embarassing that you imply other posters just havent watched as much basketball as you and then you proceed to post like a 12 year old fan girl arguing who the best boy band is

The best boy band ever is The Beatles or 98 Degrees. It’s a toss up

[Lalouie]

Lebron is 39 lol.

so what

ONLY the lakers have TWO legit first ballot hof players in a league of parity.
they have the supposed goat who is a 6'8/255 freight train
they have a top center

and they can't cry about no support for lebron when the lakers are suitably equipped to beat any team when ALL teams have weaknesses

And for that reason we should throw out every and all context out the window? Imagine thinking this is a valid argument.

Some of the posts in this thread. Geez.

the game is simple and the lakers MORE than held their own. all teams have weaknesses meaning it all comes out to be the same for everyone. every team deals with issues. what are you trying to do, parse every nuance weakness strength and come up with a equitable unbiased explanation?

that is why every excuse is different and yet the same. there is no math in sports to calculate. yes,,, it's a "valid argument" because one answer is no better than another

[SportsGuru08]

lol when has Lebron ever got a free pass for not winning? Dude has been most scrutinised player in league history.

get the **** out

He has an army of paid media sycophants whose main job is to create narratives and an endless barrage of excuses whenever he loses, and millions of lemmings on social media sites swallow that hook, line and sinker.

And here you are trying to turn him into some kind of martyr, which is beyond tiresome at this point.

[SportsGuru08]

He’s playing with house money at this point. He’s 39, his legacy is cemented. Anything he does at this point can only add to it. His peers were all retired or shells of themselves at this point so getting swept doesn’t cause him to loose any ground.

As usual, people try to use his age as both a crutch and a prop. Sorry, can't have it both ways. Pick a narrative and be consistent.

See, this is what happens when you're so driven by hatred or a narrative you already have in your head. You talk about how his age should only be used as a crutch or a prop, not both. You talk about "picking a narrative".

At no point do you even think about the notion of his age simply being a fact...which it is. He's 39. Sometimes he does things that are unprecedented for a 39 year old. Sometimes he does things that are consistent with being 39. These are simply facts. But for you and others like you, everything has to fit some narrative or another. Your narrative drives how you perceive things, and that's completely backwards.

If you're going to use his age to put on your kneepads for him when he plays well, then you need to excoriate him when he plays like garbage. If he's going to be held to that standard, then he needs to be judged by it at ALL TIMES, not just when it's convenient.

[NyKnicks1714]

As usual, people try to use his age as both a crutch and a prop. Sorry, can't have it both ways. Pick a narrative and be consistent.

See, this is what happens when you're so driven by hatred or a narrative you already have in your head. You talk about how his age should only be used as a crutch or a prop, not both. You talk about "picking a narrative".

At no point do you even think about the notion of his age simply being a fact...which it is. He's 39. Sometimes he does things that are unprecedented for a 39 year old. Sometimes he does things that are consistent with being 39. These are simply facts. But for you and others like you, everything has to fit some narrative or another. Your narrative drives how you perceive things, and that's completely backwards.

If you're going to use his age to put on your kneepads for him when he plays well, then you need to excoriate him when he plays like garbage. If he's going to be held to that standard, then he needs to be judged by it at ALL TIMES, not just when it's convenient.

I prefer to just look at what's actually happening instead of cramming it into a narrative, but to each their own.

[KyRo23]

lol when has Lebron ever got a free pass for not winning? Dude has been most scrutinised player in league history.

get the **** out

He has an army of paid media sycophants whose main job is to create narratives and an endless barrage of excuses whenever he loses, and millions of lemmings on social media sites swallow that hook, line and sinker.

And here you are trying to turn him into some kind of martyr, which is beyond tiresome at this point.

It comes with the territory. You act like Jordan wouldn't get the same treatment if he was in the league right now

Top 3 player of all time has a lot of media talking about him, cry me a river. It's not fair!

If you're waiting for it to go away, or you're hoping these kinds of threads change whoevers mind, you're in for a rough one. It will always be like this. You will have the fans, media people on his side and what have you... and on the other side you'll have people who are just like some of the people in here that are way over the top on the other side of the coin. Welcome, enjoy your stay