What is the most impressive carry job by a star?

[Maxthirty]

LeBron 2024 Olympics

[One_and_Done]

I think casual fans don't give KG the respect he deserves for that run because he had Sprewell and Cassell, but they forget that the other two regular starters were Trenton Hassell and Ervin Johnson. And due to injuries, the list of players who started a postseason game also included Michael Olowokandi and Darrick Martin.

Watch on YouTube

You never want your team to be starting Hassell or Ervin Johnson, but I think Wolves fans are inclined to see their flaws more than their virtues. They were not terrible starters. What's the difference between Ervin and Rasho/Elson, or between Hassell and Udoka? Not much to be honest. You can't call it the greatest carry job of all-time when you have 2 genuine all-stars next to you, and your team doesn't even make it to the finals.Yeh, yeh, Cassell got hurt, but they weren't beating the Lakers anyway. Shaq was a terrible match up for KG teams, because unlike Duncan he couldn't help guard him one on one.

Hassell was 329th in RAPM in 2004. 428th in 2003. 150th in 2005 and 238 in 2006.

The difference is Hassell and an average starter is about the difference in an allstar and an average starter. It's a HUGE deal.

Ervin was a poor starter, but not that big a deal. The problem was Olowokandi got minutes and there's a case he's the least valuable player in NBA history.

I don't rate guys off advanced stats, especially not defensive role players.

[dhsilv2]

You never want your team to be starting Hassell or Ervin Johnson, but I think Wolves fans are inclined to see their flaws more than their virtues. They were not terrible starters. What's the difference between Ervin and Rasho/Elson, or between Hassell and Udoka? Not much to be honest. You can't call it the greatest carry job of all-time when you have 2 genuine all-stars next to you, and your team doesn't even make it to the finals.Yeh, yeh, Cassell got hurt, but they weren't beating the Lakers anyway. Shaq was a terrible match up for KG teams, because unlike Duncan he couldn't help guard him one on one.

Hassell was 329th in RAPM in 2004. 428th in 2003. 150th in 2005 and 238 in 2006.

The difference is Hassell and an average starter is about the difference in an allstar and an average starter. It's a HUGE deal.

Ervin was a poor starter, but not that big a deal. The problem was Olowokandi got minutes and there's a case he's the least valuable player in NBA history.

I don't rate guys off advanced stats, especially not defensive role players.

Who's the defensive role player? Both Hassell and Olowokandi were horrible defenders. They were just worse offensive players

There's a reason neither of these guys ever had a playoff minute outside of 2004.

[GatorKid117]

As a Magic fan, watching what Lebron did to us in that 2009 Cavs series was unbelievable. Yes they lost but Lebron had absolutely no help at all. 38/8/8. What a fun series that was for us though lol

[Swindle]

2006 Wade went crazy with 34.7 a game. 2nd leading scorer on his team was Antoine Walker with 13.8. He also played better than 2011 Dirk in that series as well who’s somehow leading this poll. WTF RealGM

[One_and_Done]

Hassell was 329th in RAPM in 2004. 428th in 2003. 150th in 2005 and 238 in 2006.

The difference is Hassell and an average starter is about the difference in an allstar and an average starter. It's a HUGE deal.

Ervin was a poor starter, but not that big a deal. The problem was Olowokandi got minutes and there's a case he's the least valuable player in NBA history.

I don't rate guys off advanced stats, especially not defensive role players.

Who's the defensive role player? Both Hassell and Olowokandi were horrible defenders. They were just worse offensive players

There's a reason neither of these guys ever had a playoff minute outside of 2004.

I was talking about Ervin and Hassell. Hassell was a starter the majority of his 9 year career, and even got DPOY votes in 05. Sure, that was ridiculous, but he's not as bad as he's being made out to be. He was a borderline passable starting wing for that era. He didn't play many playoff minutes because his teams sucked mostly.

[Homer38]

2018 LeBron was crazy....5 of the 6 best scorer in the ECF vs BOS were from the celtics

Read on Twitter

How many time that a team won a playoffs series when the other team had 5 of the 6 best scorer in the serie?!...It was almost the same thing vs pacers in the first round that year

[Texas Chuck]

2006 Wade went crazy with 34.7 a game. 2nd leading scorer on his team was Antoine Walker with 13.8. He also played better than 2011 Dirk in that series as well who’s somehow leading this poll. WTF RealGM

I mean Wade was clearly better in the 06 Finals than Dirk was in the 2011 Finals. But oddly RealGM thinks that how you played leading up to the Finals mattered too. Wade was playing with 1st team all NBA Shaq who was still really productive in the RS and the East playoffs. When Dirk missed 10 games in 2011 the team that won at a 60+ win pace with him couldn't score at all and of course his 3 series against the West teams were all top notch.

I have no issues if you honestly believe a team with end of prime Shaq on the 1st team NBA is a carry job by Wade because you only want to look at one series where Avery made the mistake of focusing the defense on him and not Wade and never adjusting.

But my guess is you are smarter than that and just want it to be Wade and not Dirk for fan reasons. Which of course is fine, but shouldn't lead to confusion as to why the board takes a more comphrensive look and correctly sides with Dirk over him.

Though Tim Duncan in 2003 is probably the actual correct answer. That Spurs team had a couple of the big names on it but they weren't who they once were or who they would eventually become. Duncan carried that team on his broad shoulders for sure.

[Swindle]

My bad. Thought I read finals carry not just in general. “Carry” on

[Iwasawitness]

- Miami was 58-24 in the regular season during the 2010/2011 season
- Miami was 12-3 in the playoffs prior to the finals
- Miami had a 2-1 series lead in the finals
- Miami had a double digit lead going into the 4th quarter of game 4

70-27 record prior to the finals with a 2-1 series lead but they lost cause their roster was unbalanced?

I think its more like Dirk took it from the super friends.

You can mask some deficiencies in the TS, but in the PS those flaws are exposed. That Lebron was able to get as close as he did to winning despite those team flaws is remarkable

They were 12-3 in the playoffs before making the finals lol? Seems like they were not having any problems in the playoffs before falling apart in the 4th quarter of game 4. If James actually showed up they may have 3 peated. Wade was the reason the series was competitive.

The Celtics had multiple injuries and the Bulls matched up terribly against the Heat. Their 12-3 record in the playoffs prior doesn’t hold much weight. The fact is the Heat had a losing record against teams with a .500 or above record (and Dallas themselves won both regular season meetings against the Heat that year). A lot of their 58 wins came against lower tier teams.

The heat definitely had an unbalanced roster. They lacked both depth and a cohesive starting five. It constantly changed throughout the season and they couldn’t find anything that clicked with the big three at PG and C. They were a deeply flawed team.

[MavsDirk41]

You can mask some deficiencies in the TS, but in the PS those flaws are exposed. That Lebron was able to get as close as he did to winning despite those team flaws is remarkable

They were 12-3 in the playoffs before making the finals lol? Seems like they were not having any problems in the playoffs before falling apart in the 4th quarter of game 4. If James actually showed up they may have 3 peated. Wade was the reason the series was competitive.

The Celtics had multiple injuries and the Bulls matched up terribly against the Heat. Their 12-3 record in the playoffs prior doesn’t hold much weight. The fact is the Heat had a losing record against teams with a .500 or above record (and Dallas themselves won both regular season meetings against the Heat that year). A lot of their 58 wins came against lower tier teams.

The heat definitely had an unbalanced roster. They lacked both depth and a cohesive starting five. It constantly changed throughout the season and they couldn’t find anything that clicked with the big three at PG and C. They were a deeply flawed team.

Their offensive/defensive ratings for the 2010/2011 2011/2012 are very similar. They added Battier and Birdman? They were top heavy no doubt. But most teams with 3 all star players in their prime are top heavy. Yea their roster wasnt perfect but they blew a 2-1 series lead and a double digit lead going into the 4th quarter of game 4. They blew the series. Plain and simple. The Mavs were blown out of the water against GS in the 07 playoffs. It was embarrassing. Stuff like this happens. But i dont think Miami should get a pass. They made it to the finals, won 58 games, and waltzed to the finals. Mavs loss Caron Butler during the season. Adversity happens.

[damanick10]

Tatum 2024 ha just kidding

[Iwasawitness]

They were 12-3 in the playoffs before making the finals lol? Seems like they were not having any problems in the playoffs before falling apart in the 4th quarter of game 4. If James actually showed up they may have 3 peated. Wade was the reason the series was competitive.

The Celtics had multiple injuries and the Bulls matched up terribly against the Heat. Their 12-3 record in the playoffs prior doesn’t hold much weight. The fact is the Heat had a losing record against teams with a .500 or above record (and Dallas themselves won both regular season meetings against the Heat that year). A lot of their 58 wins came against lower tier teams.

The heat definitely had an unbalanced roster. They lacked both depth and a cohesive starting five. It constantly changed throughout the season and they couldn’t find anything that clicked with the big three at PG and C. They were a deeply flawed team.

Their offensive/defensive ratings for the 2010/2011 2011/2012 are very similar. They added Battier and Birdman? They were top heavy no doubt. But most teams with 3 all star players in their prime are top heavy. Yea their roster wasnt perfect but they blew a 2-1 series lead and a double digit lead going into the 4th quarter of game 4. They blew the series. Plain and simple. The Mavs were blown out of the water against GS in the 07 playoffs. It was embarrassing. Stuff like this happens. But i dont think Miami should get a pass. They made it to the finals, won 58 games, and waltzed to the finals. Mavs loss Caron Butler during the season. Adversity happens.

I can agree with them blowing the series but we have to keep something in mind, and that’s that Dallas had their number from the beginning. Miami had flaws that could be exploited by the better teams in the league and that happened frequently throughout the season. They were much better equipped to deal with the better teams in 2012-2014.

Oh and I think you’re getting games 4 and 2 mixed up.

[dhsilv2]

I don't rate guys off advanced stats, especially not defensive role players.

Who's the defensive role player? Both Hassell and Olowokandi were horrible defenders. They were just worse offensive players

There's a reason neither of these guys ever had a playoff minute outside of 2004.

I was talking about Ervin and Hassell. Hassell was a starter the majority of his 9 year career, and even got DPOY votes in 05. Sure, that was ridiculous, but he's not as bad as he's being made out to be. He was a borderline passable starting wing for that era. He didn't play many playoff minutes because his teams sucked mostly.

His teams mostly sucked because he was on the floor. And you're missing just how bad Olowokandi was. He played 26% of the team's playoff minutes. I'm not sure what would be better. 15 minutes of Lebron off my bench or making the other team play Olowokandi 15 minutes a game.

[MavsDirk41]

The Celtics had multiple injuries and the Bulls matched up terribly against the Heat. Their 12-3 record in the playoffs prior doesn’t hold much weight. The fact is the Heat had a losing record against teams with a .500 or above record (and Dallas themselves won both regular season meetings against the Heat that year). A lot of their 58 wins came against lower tier teams.

The heat definitely had an unbalanced roster. They lacked both depth and a cohesive starting five. It constantly changed throughout the season and they couldn’t find anything that clicked with the big three at PG and C. They were a deeply flawed team.

Their offensive/defensive ratings for the 2010/2011 2011/2012 are very similar. They added Battier and Birdman? They were top heavy no doubt. But most teams with 3 all star players in their prime are top heavy. Yea their roster wasnt perfect but they blew a 2-1 series lead and a double digit lead going into the 4th quarter of game 4. They blew the series. Plain and simple. The Mavs were blown out of the water against GS in the 07 playoffs. It was embarrassing. Stuff like this happens. But i dont think Miami should get a pass. They made it to the finals, won 58 games, and waltzed to the finals. Mavs loss Caron Butler during the season. Adversity happens.

I can agree with them blowing the series but we have to keep something in mind, and that’s that Dallas had their number from the beginning. Miami had flaws that could be exploited by the better teams in the league and that happened frequently throughout the season. They were much better equipped to deal with the better teams in 2012-2014.

Oh and I think you’re getting games 4 and 2 mixed up.

I might have got the games mixed up but i was pretty sure Miami had a double digit, or close to it, lead in the 4th of game 4. I thought the game and series was over going into a 3-1 hole. Dirk cemented his legacy and redeemed himself that series after the disaster of 07. Huge carry job but Terry also played out of his mind. But no one player wins it alone.

[Jasen777]

Duncan in 03. He beat the three-peat Lakers and a 60-win/8 SRS Mavericks team with second-year Tony Parker (who got benched in the finals for Speedy Claxton) as his number two. Dirk had much more help. LeBron had an easy road to the finals in 2018. If the Cavaliers were in the West that year, they probably go down in R1. Hakeem is a good choice too. He had a better team than Duncan but the competition was tougher.

It was a good run for Duncan, and it was very good Mavs team. Dirk may have had more help but he didn't have himself for the last 3 games of the series (injury).

[One_and_Done]

Duncan in 03. He beat the three-peat Lakers and a 60-win/8 SRS Mavericks team with second-year Tony Parker (who got benched in the finals for Speedy Claxton) as his number two. Dirk had much more help. LeBron had an easy road to the finals in 2018. If the Cavaliers were in the West that year, they probably go down in R1. Hakeem is a good choice too. He had a better team than Duncan but the competition was tougher.

It was a good run for Duncan, and it was very good Mavs team. Dirk may have had more help but he didn't have himself for the last 3 games of the series (injury).

Spurs were functionally up 2-1 when Dirk got hurt, and there was no way the Spurs were losing that series. They had historically owned the Mavs around this time., and were the better team that year. They weren't beating the Shaq-Kobe Lakers just to lose to the Mavs.

[Iwasawitness]

Their offensive/defensive ratings for the 2010/2011 2011/2012 are very similar. They added Battier and Birdman? They were top heavy no doubt. But most teams with 3 all star players in their prime are top heavy. Yea their roster wasnt perfect but they blew a 2-1 series lead and a double digit lead going into the 4th quarter of game 4. They blew the series. Plain and simple. The Mavs were blown out of the water against GS in the 07 playoffs. It was embarrassing. Stuff like this happens. But i dont think Miami should get a pass. They made it to the finals, won 58 games, and waltzed to the finals. Mavs loss Caron Butler during the season. Adversity happens.

I can agree with them blowing the series but we have to keep something in mind, and that’s that Dallas had their number from the beginning. Miami had flaws that could be exploited by the better teams in the league and that happened frequently throughout the season. They were much better equipped to deal with the better teams in 2012-2014.

Oh and I think you’re getting games 4 and 2 mixed up.

I might have got the games mixed up but i was pretty sure Miami had a double digit, or close to it, lead in the 4th of game 4. I thought the game and series was over going into a 3-1 hole. Dirk cemented his legacy and redeemed himself that series after the disaster of 07. Huge carry job but Terry also played out of his mind. But no one player wins it alone.

Yeah you got them mixed up. It was game 2 where Miami had a double digit lead before they completely collapsed in the last five or so minutes.

I also can’t really say it was a huge carry job. Defensively, Tyson Chandler was extremely important and there’s no way Dallas wins without his contributions at that end. You did mention Terry which you’re correct on but there’s also the matter of the impact Marion and Baera had. And Kidd did a terrific job commanding their offense and helping defend LeBron.

[Klomp]

You never want your team to be starting Hassell or Ervin Johnson, but I think Wolves fans are inclined to see their flaws more than their virtues. They were not terrible starters. What's the difference between Ervin and Rasho/Elson, or between Hassell and Udoka? Not much to be honest.

There was a significant difference between Johnson and Nesterovic, let's be honest.

Nesterovic, just one season earlier, averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds as Minnesota's starting center in 30 mpg. The 2003-04 center rotation of Johnson and Olowokandi averaged 8.4 points and 9.2 rebounds COMBINED in 36 minutes per game. The round mound of Oliver Miller also contributed 2.5 points and 2.7 rebounds in 10 minutes per game

[HighFlyer23]

It's Hakeem

Dirk faced lebron in the finals ... If he faced a legit challenge I'd pick dirk