How tainted would any future LeBron rings be with Luka as the main man?

[EmpireFalls]

The LeBron hate has gone pathological for quite a few of you. The good news is he won’t win a title with a Hayes/Len center rotation. The bad news is you’ve already shat your pants worrying about it.

Concerning.

[Jadoogar]

I would be very, very surprised is the Lakers win it all this year.

Care to elaborate? With Luka I expect this team to make it to the NBA Finals.

Sent from my SM-S928U1 using RealGM mobile app

1. Luka is a big piece to integrate midseason. Very few teams that make a big trade in the middle of the season end up reaching the finals in the first year
2. The defense is going be pretty bad. Alex Len is going to be the primary center and they have very limited perimeter defenders.
3. The trade wasn't made for this season alone, i don't think the lakers will consider it a disappointment to lose in the second roung

[Jadoogar]

Even if he's second fiddle to Luka, being a major contributor to another championship at age 40 would only boost his legacy.

When it happened to other players, Lebron's fans ( and klutch' influencers ), kept telling us that those rings don't count...
They ridiculed everybody did it...

were those other players 40 years old?
I'm not a lebron fan but some of you haters are unhinged.

[cupcakesnake]

I would be very, very surprised is the Lakers win it all this year.

Care to elaborate? With Luka I expect this team to make it to the NBA Finals.

Sent from my SM-S928U1 using RealGM mobile app

No concerns about the defense?
They sure may be able to offense their way to great things, but they'll have to get past some teams that can do big things on both ends. Right now I see imagine defense being pretty helpless against good teams overall, their paint being pretty helpless against size, and some of these opponents are going to be able to chip away at them defensively. It's not like that matchup against small quicks teams amazingly either. Literally no one in their starting lineup can play point of attack defense. This is a team that is somehow small and slow at the same time.

OKC makes it very hard to...dribble. Even for stars. They're going to be able to throw Dort at Luka again, J.Dub on Bron, and forcing switches only nets you matchups against guys like Caruso or Cason Wallace. Chet and iHart now playing beyond that mayhem. It's easy to picture OKC making life hell for the Lakers, and now lets flip it around and ask how on earth they're going to defend Shai? Keep DFS or Vando on the floor at all times and hope no one screens?

Boston has matchups to guard everyone, and they will force the Lakers into long rotations with that driving game into 3-point bomb mode. Lebron and Luka don't do long rotations. Lakers will want to go small on everyone which will yield juicy matchups for Porzingis and Tatum, whether it's primary matchup or off a switch.

Cleveland starts two guards who are way to quick for anyone on the Lakers roster, and two bigs who are too big for anyone on the Lakers roster. This is mismatch hell.

Have fun guarding Nikola Jokic, as always, LA. Couldn't defend him with AD? How about with no AD and no one replacing him besides Alex Len.

Even getting past the big contenders, I see the Lakers having such obvious weakpoints that I dont' think it's clear cut they beat... Memphis, Houston, healthy Dallas or Clippers, Minnesota. I might pick the Lakers against any of these teams, but I don't think it's obvious just because the Lakers have so many things to attack in a playoff series. Is it that hard to picture the Rockets athletic youngsters making Lakers life hell, while Houston gets just enough offense out of Sengun destroying them in the paint and being likely to play actual transition offense against such a slow Laker squad?

I see the upside of the Lakers: unstoppable offense on the back of 2 super sized all-time great playmakers. But I don't get being suepr confident in the Lakers championship aspirations when the weaknesses are so severe.

[Stan]

He would've been better off in the lottery like Jordan at the same age, not potentially winning titles as a key contributer.

[homecourtloss]

Pre-emptively coping with a hypothetical Lebron title.

I'm not even sure if this is more pathetic or impressive.

The amount of angst and hate James generates from grown men simply because he’s good at basketball is a GOATworthy accomplishment.

[MightyMouse10]

The LeBron hate has gone pathological for quite a few of you. The good news is he won’t win a title with a Hayes/Len center rotation. The bad news is you’ve already shat your pants worrying about it.

Concerning.

The haters have become as polarizing as the lovers. Everyone should appreciate Lebron for what the ppl in the middle think he is. A legend amongst Hall of Famers but not the GOAT. Everything he's doing now adds to his legacy but everything he's done in his peak years will ultimately be the deciding factor where he sits amongst the Legends of Legends.

I know there are fewer ppl in the middle than the lovers and haters. I'm ready to be flamed by both sides for this post.

[falcolombardi]

Why would being second option in a champion level at 40 years be a negative lmao

[Quattro]

So you're holding Lebron's age against him? Makes a lot of sense.

[SeattleJazzFan]

do we know for certain luka will be the main man - at least this year? lebron is an alpha's alpha and it won't be easy to just give that up - even at age 40 - at the level he's playing. it's a fairly small sample for luka, but so far this year, LeBron has been the better player - which is of course no slight on Luka, LeBron has just been THAT good.

[falcolombardi]

So you're holding Lebron's age against him? Makes a lot of sense.

Are you talking to me? No i am not holding being a top 10 player at 40 years old against lebron lol

[NYPiston]

Lebron's legacy is already cemented, anything he's doing right now and going forward is just gravy on top of an all time great career. The only thing that would taint his career at this point is if it's discovered that he was doing steroids.
The crazy thing is that there appears to be a lot of gas left in the old man's tank which will probably be rejuvenated even more now with young Luka there for the foreseeable future, the man is a freak of nature and it should be appreciated because we'll likely never seen another like him again in our lifetime.

[Quattro]

So you're holding Lebron's age against him? Makes a lot of sense.

Are you talking to me? No i am not holding being a top 10 player at 40 years old against lebron lol

No I was talking to the OP. Kind of a ridiculous premise to argue that anything he wins from now on is tainted when the guy is 40.

[MrPainfulTruth]

LeBron is absolutely judged off of what he's doing now but that's a boon to his legacy, not a deficit. How can anyone criticize what LeBron is doing at 40 years old? It's beyond me.

No matter how often this is being repeated it never ends to be the dumbest contribution to the topic ever.

This is a sports league not a stage for expired divas who cant let go of the attention. He ruins his teams chances and the only excuse his shills keep bringing up is "but...but...but...hes 40!".

I mean...i could start for the lakers. I could probably play okay for a 50+ guy who is short and overweight. But we would still keep losing because 4 other guys would have to carry whatever i cant do. Who cares about the "he's so good...for a 40 year old!"? This is so dumb and perverted and noone seems to notice that an entire team, actually the entire league is being abused as a stage instead of a competitive contest.

You think you could put up 25/8/9 in the NBA, bud? Clown talk. We're not giving LeBron kudos just for playing at 40 - nobody gives a **** that Carter played 21 seasons because he was utterly washed for the last several. LeBron at age 40 isn't just some charity case playing 5 minutes off the bench. He's at worst still a top 50 player in the league. At age 40. I defy you to name some other players who were a top 30-50 player in the league playing at age 40.

Again with the age thing...you guys are either paid to spread this nonsense or just plain hopeless.

Top 50 i will agree. Thats about it. Winning a ring as second or third fiddle is not comparable ot what Kobe did next to Shaq, let alone MJ. Thats all i said. He rides on the Luka bus so lets put the GOAT nonsense and ring counting aside.

[bledredwine]

Pre-emptively coping with a hypothetical Lebron title.

I'm not even sure if this is more pathetic or impressive.

The amount of angst and hate James generates from grown men simply because he’s good at basketball is a GOATworthy accomplishment.

He deserves the hate with all of the teams that he’s had to form to trail kobe by one, and his overhyping fans.

[ScrantonBulls]

The LeBron hate has gone pathological for quite a few of you. The good news is he won’t win a title with a Hayes/Len center rotation. The bad news is you’ve already shat your pants worrying about it.

Concerning.

The haters have become as polarizing as the lovers. Everyone should appreciate Lebron for what the ppl in the middle think he is. A legend amongst Hall of Famers but not the GOAT. Everything he's doing now adds to his legacy but everything he's done in his peak years will ultimately be the deciding factor where he sits amongst the Legends of Legends.

I know there are fewer ppl in the middle than the lovers and haters. I'm ready to be flamed by both sides for this post.

Nobody with a straight face can say the LeBron stans are as bad as the LeBron haters. This thread is a masterclass in the LeBron-hating mental illness that so many are inflicted by. I don't think you can name enough irrational LeBron stans on this forum to reach half the number of the irrational LeBron haters in this thread. It's not even close.

[ScrantonBulls]

Pre-emptively coping with a hypothetical Lebron title.

I'm not even sure if this is more pathetic or impressive.

The amount of angst and hate James generates from grown men simply because he’s good at basketball is a GOATworthy accomplishment.

He deserves the hate with all of the teams that he’s had to form to trail kobe by one, and his overhyping fans.

What's it like being so consumed by the player you hate that you dedicate your signature to him? We can talk it out and get over this, son.

[Hornet Mania]

It's way more likely the media gives Lebron majority credit for the title (even if he was playing the Robin role) than Luka. It's the more compelling narrative and they're heavily invested in his career almost to a fault so it fits with the slant of coverage to put Lebron at the center of any championship back-patting.

For most fans I doubt it would matter. Lebron fans value other things than rings, Lebron haters already consider his previous championships tainted for various reasons (lockout, super team, Draymond suspension, bubble tournament etc).

[EmpireFalls]

Pre-emptively coping with a hypothetical Lebron title.

I'm not even sure if this is more pathetic or impressive.

The amount of angst and hate James generates from grown men simply because he’s good at basketball is a GOATworthy accomplishment.

He deserves the hate with all of the teams that he’s had to form to trail kobe by one, and his overhyping fans.

Saying someone “deserves hate” is a really messed up perspective on basketball and life in general.

[TheGeneral99]

If the Lakers win this would be the first time Lebron isn't the best player on his team winning the chip.