With Kawhi choking, every superstar has choked in the Playoffs, are they all frauds?

[Cavsfansince84]

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200905300ORL.html

the other 5 games he was fantastic, but in this one he chokes

MJ definitely choked in 89 then.

32-13-4-3-2 on 50%FG is a choke

You left out the 8 turnovers and 5-12 from the foul line in a game they lost by only 9. Not so funny now is it? If LeBron choked in 09 then MJ choked in 89.

[timO]

MJ definitely choked in 89 then.

32-13-4-3-2 on 50%FG is a choke

You left out the 8 turnovers and 5-12 from the foul line in a game they lost by only 9. Not so funny now is it? If LeBron choked in 09 then MJ choked in 89.

13 assists vs 8 tov, not bad at all

lebron shooting 40% and 25 points da fak

respect the goat

[Cavsfansince84]

13 assists vs 8 tov, not bad at all

lebron shooting 40% and 25 points da fak

respect the goat

Stop making excuses and accept it for what it is. If you are determined to throw the choke word around in the manner you do then MJ choked in 89. That's just the way that it is. You can't excuse it away.

[timO]

13 assists vs 8 tov, not bad at all

lebron shooting 40% and 25 points da fak

respect the goat

Stop making excuses and accept it for what it is. If you are determined to throw the choke word around in the manner you do then MJ choked in 89. That's just the way that it is. You can't excuse it away.

compare the lines, who is the choke?

btw u omit the records

pistons 63-19 best in the league and champions
bulls 47-35

vs orlando 3º in east

cavs best in league but choke in playoffs


in finals pistons win 4-0 vs the lakers

orlando lost 1-4 vs the lakers

what a joke

[dc]

Kawhi has choked once in his career and you could tell that the mob couldn’t log into realgm fast enough to join the parade.

Not gonna blame it all on him, but the Spurs won a franchise record 67 games in 2016 and lost in the 2nd round. That one flies under the radar because OKC and the Warriors blew 3-1 leads in subsequent rounds, but people overlook that.

[The Laker Kid]

Fans are brutal. You guys will call him Chokic when he eventually chokes sometime in his career. I think this happens to every good player.

[Cavsfansince84]

compare the lines, who is the choke?

btw u omit the records

pistons 63-19 best in the league and champions
bulls 47-35

vs orlando 3º in east

cavs best in league but choke in playoffs


in finals pistons win 4-0 vs the lakers

orlando lost 1-4 vs the lakers

what a joke

Dude, you can try to excuse it absolutely any way you want to but if LeBron's 09 series is somehow a choke in your mind then 89 MJ is without a doubt choke also. All he needed to do was turn the ball over less and hit his ft's and they probably win. So nothing more needs to be said here.

[Collymore]

Fans are brutal. You guys will call him Chokic when he eventually chokes sometime in his career. I think this happens to every good player.

The Choker Kid blows another post.

[timO]

compare the lines, who is the choke?

btw u omit the records

pistons 63-19 best in the league and champions
bulls 47-35

vs orlando 3º in east

cavs best in league but choke in playoffs


in finals pistons win 4-0 vs the lakers

orlando lost 1-4 vs the lakers

what a joke

Dude, you can try to excuse it absolutely any way you want to but if LeBron's 09 series is somehow a choke in your mind then 89 MJ is without a doubt choke also. All he needed to do was turn the ball over less and hit his ft's and they probably win. So nothing more needs to be said here.

sure jordan has to carry a 47-35 team to the finals or is a choke with 32-13-4-3-2

lebron cant do the same with the best record and 25-7-7

bron has nothing to do against jordan, unless he threepeats in LA

[WarriorGM]

He "choked" because he gave up a 3-1 lead, against a team seed lower than him no less. Lebron has never done that. Kawhi is still better than a lot of players, but a player who gives up 3-1 leads can't be on the same level as Lebron.

Basically Kawhi isn't a fraud in terms of being a great player, he's just a fraud at being the best player It's the same way Curry is a great player, but after Curry gave up the 3-1 lead on Lebron, nobody would ever call Curry better.

Again, I will stress that CHOKING is when you lead big but lose anyway. That's what choking is. Just losing isn't choking.

Spare us the LeBron puffery. He and the Heat choked badly when double digits up in the 4th quarter in the finals.

One can easily still take Curry considering the favorable series head-to-head, sweeps and shorter series in victory and longer series in defeats. Always being billed as an underdog is ridiculous and belies what the status really is.

[Mickey8]

Players are not the robots or video game characters, the media is one who hype and crap on the players, Leonard is still helluva player and I would like to have him on the Nuggets squad , he would make Denver a dynasty , Jokic,Murray and Leonard, imagine that

[Cavsfansince84]

sure jordan has to carry a 47-35 team to the finals or is a choke with 32-13-4-3-2

lebron cant do the same with the best record and 25-7-7

bron has nothing to do against jordan, unless he threepeats in LA

Ya in a series where he averaged 39/8/8 including a last second 3 to win game 2. The only excuse you have right now is because you know how foolish you look trying to somehow make this case while conveniently overlooking MJ's shortcomings because it doesn't suit your bias. So w/e dude, I'm done talking sense to you here.

[Statlanta]

It proves that healthy GS would've whooped the Raptors.

It also proves that there's no top 3 ATG in the league(none of the current players should be GOAT candidates).

[timO]

It proves that healthy GS would've whooped the Raptors.

It also proves that there's no top 3 ATG in the league(none of the current players should be GOAT candidates).

healthy KD gsw are the best team of history

they only suffered in that houston series

[gp2015]

He "choked" because he gave up a 3-1 lead, against a team seed lower than him no less. Lebron has never done that. Kawhi is still better than a lot of players, but a player who gives up 3-1 leads can't be on the same level as Lebron.

I would apply the same principle when discussing the G.O.A.T. MJ is 6-0 in the Finals. LeBron is 3-6. MJ would never lose that amount of Finals series, so LeBron can't ever be on the same level as MJ.

LeBron is obviously an all time great, but just not at the level of MJ.

[dhsilv2]

Why do you say Curry choked in 2015? Are you talking about the Finals MVP

Not sure if I would consider it a choke job but there is no way the Cavs should’ve pushed the Warriors to 6 games that year with two star players being injured.

Lebron gets a pass for 2010 but he definitely choked in 09 and 11.

2009??????

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200905300ORL.html

the other 5 games he was fantastic, but in this one he chokes

He had a bad second quarter and more or less an average 3rd and 4th, with an outstanding first quarter.

[Metallikid]

Kawhi - mega choke this year
Lebron - choked in 07 and 11
curry - choked in 2016
kd - choked in 2016
giannis - choked this year and last year
paul - choked in 2015
harden - choked in 2017


Kids under 25 like Jokic and Doncic don't count, they have not had enough opportunities to get exposed as fraudulent and choke in the Playoffs yet.

Giannis didn't choke last year he simply got beaten. This year, yes.

Paul and Westbrook choked last year not getting out of the first round.

It just goes to show that even superstars are beatable and matchups are important.

It also shows that this era of 3 point dominance is affecting even superstars. You simply can't beat a barrage of three point shots and big men are really sliding down the totem pole of importance. If Silver were smart he would make a rule change going into next season. Pull the line back a little bit, eliminate corner threes or experiment with FIBA style slapping the ball off the rim. Or, you know, do anything to make the game harder on perimeter players by allowing more contact and/or handchecking.

[DonaldSanders]

Kawhi - mega choke this year
Lebron - choked in 07 and 11
curry - choked in 2016
kd - choked in 2016 and game 6 of 2019 Finals
giannis - choked this year and last year
paul - choked in 2015
harden - choked in 2017 and 2018


Kids under 25 like Jokic and Doncic don't count, they have not had enough opportunities to get exposed as fraudulent and choke in the Playoffs yet.

Curry also choked in 2019 Finals. Had horrible stats in game 6 and shot air balls in the 4th quarter. Harden choked in game 7 of 2018 Finals, up by 20 at halftime against Warriors.

I'll grant Curry choked in 2016. But in 2019?

30.5pts
5.2 rebounds
6.0 assists
1.5 steals

Game 6 Klay left late in the 3rd. Steph is without Durant or Klay. On the floor w/ Steph during the rest of the game:

The Corpse of Shaun Livingston (retired after this series)
Quinn Cook
Iggy (had a decent game, but was the guy every team tried to be the one to take the shot when playing the W's)
Boogie Cousins (recovering from an injury, didn't look great)
Draymond
Looney (didn't even take a shot, not really an offensive player minus energy/put backs)

For the series Curry averaged 30.5 (most in the finals), and the only player on the Warriors who averaged double digits that finished game 6 was Draymond Green, averaging 13pts. Game 3 when Klay missed the whole game, Cook had 9 points and Livingston 4.

The Raptors basically only had to cover Steph the rest of the game. Did Steph play great? No. Had a chance to hit some big shots, didn't go in. But this is not a 'choke' scenario when you're expecting him to beat the best defense in the playoffs with no #2 or #3 scoring options, and a backcourt that was not good without Klay.

[DonaldSanders]

2009??????

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200905300ORL.html

the other 5 games he was fantastic, but in this one he chokes

It was not a good game but not all-time bad even for a superstar.

Ya what? This is evidence of choking? 25 7 7?!?

Man I want to see another star even put up those numbers in the finals with that poo poo platter of a cast. But I guess Boobie Gibson and Varejao attract so much attention LBJ was just wide open the whole game right? LMAO.

[MrBigShot]

Kawhi didn't choke, he just outright had a bad game. He wasn't scared to shoot or shaken by the moment. He just straight up missed shots and played poorly. It happens to every player.