tsherkin wrote:AEnigma wrote:Still, for all that overwhelming talent, should it not reflect at least a bit negatively on Kareem that he never beat a 3.5-SRS team without Magic?
Do we need to go over LA's roster in the 70s to remind people that superstars get smoked all the time until they have real help which comes through, though?
There is more than just 1977 to analyse.
OhayoKD wrote:Personally, I'm more impressed by outscoring the +11.65 SRS Lakers with his co-star basically a no-show due to injury, and staying competitive with Walton without his two best teammates
Yes, wonderful moral victories on par with the 2016 Spurs and 2003 Blazers. Glad he kept the point differential tight; too many people forget about the secret series win assigned to those who win the point differential battle.
taking the Celtics to 7 without his point guard,
He had his point guard; what he was missing was his #3 scorer and second ballhandler.
beating the Warriors with one of his co-stars injured... than hypothetically beating a +3.5 srs team in favorable conditions.
Who said it needed to be favourable. That 1977 Warriors series is the only time we can say prime Kareem won a series without favourable conditions.
tsherkin wrote:There are certainly many reasons to be impressed by Kareem.
More broadly, I wanted to remind people of the limitations a single player of any level faces when his teammates don't come through. Witness Shaq dropping 27/11 on the 96 Bulls and shooting 64% from the field and still getting swept, even. Or Jordan versus the Celtics in the 80s, etc, etc.
Individual impact is pretty high in the NBA, but it does go only so far. So teammate-specific performance (such as on the 94 Rockets or 2011 Mavs) does need consideration.
This is not a contention against anything I said, nor does it offer much of anything in a comparative exercise. We can lament the same team limitations — and do so more accurately — about Kevin Garnett, but he only has appeared on one ballot thus far. And Kevin Garnett is the one with clearer indicators of impact while playing in a more developed league. Teammates are not some catch-all excuse, especially when a large part of the contention here is that Kareem did not elevate his teammates the way others did.
OhayoKD wrote:And yeah, they lost all but one of those instances but this is the peak player project, not the peak team project. And while I'm not going to raise a fuss over those who want to reward the binary of winning while completely ignoring what happens in defeat, I don't think that really speaks to a chronic limitation of Kareem the player.
I never said chronic, but it also should not be inspiring overwhelming confidence in him — and to the extent anyone is “ignoring what happens in defeat,” it seems more on the side of those reflexively placing all blame on teammates.
I also think if "getting outperformed in a game 7" without your point guard
This idea that he needs Lucius Allen to succeed is not a particularly positive reflection on him, nor does it excuse his underperformance in the most important game of the season.
against the eventual champions (who might have won the previous year with health) featuring the second best player of the greatest dynasty ever and the only person who won MVP other than you since your rookie season is a knock...
This is lazy narrativising and you know it. Dave Cowens and John Havlicek is not some overwhelming collection of talent, nor do you think so seeing how much you advocate against peak Havlicek when it comes to illustrating Russell’s impact on the Celtics.
perhaps we shouldn't be so forgiving of Lebron not even getting to 7 vs the Orlando Magic.
I did not excuse Lebron’s Game 6 struggles and in fact specifically mentioned them in a way few other Lebron voters do or did. But if Kareem had five games on the level of 2009 ECF G1-5 Lebron in his Finals series, then he would not have needed to worry about a Game 7.