Gooner wrote:iggymcfrack wrote:Gooner wrote:[/b]
This is juts a typical weak assumption by LeBron fans like you. Dirk could have easily made that excuse before 2011 finals, going against LeBron who you claim to be the goat, Wade and Bosh. He didn't make any excuses, and he and his teammates beat their ass. If it was LeBron in Dirk's place, you guys would trash Terry, Kidd, Marion, Barea and all those guys, because that's what you always do. You even dare to disrespect guys like Wade and Bosh, so it's obvious what we are dealing with here.
Dirk’s my favorite player of all-time and he was really, really good in 2011, but he also got way more help that Finals than LeBron did in 2014. LeBron scored 2 more PPG on 3 less FGA and 2 less FTA per game, he got twice as many assists and he played much better defense.
LeBron gets his stats at the expense of his teammates, that's the difference. His results show it.
I don't believe Dirk is your favourite player of all time, but that's neither her nor there.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck you. You’re gonna tell me who my favorite player is? I started rooting for the Mavs as a 9 year old with the 3 Js. The big 4th quarter comeback in Game 5 against the Stockton/Malone Jazz when Dirk and Finley were young was my first big moment of success with them and it was magical. My first favorite player was actually Shawn Bradley. I always thought it was bull how everyone made fun of him and acted like he didn’t have any skill just because he was tall. By the time I got to around 2006, Dirk was the only player who had even been on the team for any length of time so of course he was my favorite player. Game 7 against the Spurs that year was maybe my most memorable game ever. The Mavs had always come up just short against the Spurs year after year after year so for Dirk to completely outplay Duncan at his peak on the road in a Game 7 was almost orgasmic. I still remember that 3-point play like it was yesterday. Then they got the championship stolen with that terrible refereeing and I really hated Wade for a while. I don’t think people actually remember who bad it was. Unless the defender had been set for like 2 full seconds any contact was automatic free throws for the offense.
By 2011, it seemed like the championship window was mostly closed so that was a magical run. Sweeping the 2-time defending champions until Bynum tried to kill Barea, Dirk’s near-perfect game against OKC where he went 21 for 21, and of course the Finals. I’d gotten to like LeBron a little bit and grown some grudging respect for Wade, but then when they made fun of Dirk for getting sick, it was like **** them all over again. Dirk definitely had a really good series and had some big 4th quarters early, but the role players stepped up a lot too. If you remember, in Game 6, Dirk was actually awful and missed like 11 of his first 12 or something and JET just carried them in until by the time Dirk made a couple late shots they didn’t even really need them. I watched the game on the casino floor at the Rio in Vegas and couldn’t believe it for hours afterward. Finally went out for steaks with an old friend to celebrate.
After that, I definitely rooted for LeBron in 2012 and was maybe 1/3 as happy to see him get a ring as I’d been for Dirk the previous year. I also finally got to the point where I could actually root for the Spurs as the Mavs’ history with them didn’t seem to matter any more now that Dirk had a ring and they were playing beautiful basketball. Felt like they got screwed by the refs pretty bad in Game 6 against the Thunder. By 2013, I was all over the Spurs bandwagon as the more talented, underrated team and I bet them the whole way against the Heat, rooting for them in Games 1-6. Then I got to Game 7, and I’m like “wait a minute, there’s no way LeBron’s losing a Game 7 at home, why not switch sides and bet on LeBron? So I did and it was super fun. The next year, the talent gap was much heavier on the Spurs side and I couldn’t believe the Finals were going off at even money so I really loaded up and bet on them probably harder than any Finals ever. LeBron had a fantastic series and it didn’t make a whit of difference because the Spurs were just too good.
I bet on the Warriors in the 2015 Finals and rooted for them as the hot new thing that also seemed like they should be the better team. The Mavs were still my favorite team but by 2016 they weren’t much of a contender to even make the playoffs, and the Warriors were must see TV every night. Finally, I’m like “why pretend like the Mavs are still my favorite team?” I wouldn’t even care if they were on. But I don’t want to miss a single Warriors game. I guess they’re my favorite team now. But I rooted hard for Dirk for 15 years and even last year when he had his moment at the all-star game he warmed my heart. I’m never gonna care about another basketball player like I did for him.
I’m generally much better at being objective about my favorite players than a lot of people though. For instance, as much as I hated Wade for years, I still have him at #14 or #15 on my all-time list and I only have Dirk at #16. LeBron I did root for a lot, especially in his first Cleveland run, but I really only was on his side in about half of his finals. The reason I have him as the GOAT is just because I objectively believe it to be so.