The Lebron '20 Thread (Pt. 7)

[RoundMoundOfReb]

When LeBron was 24 he was leading a lifting a <20 win supporting cast to >60 wins. Literally Jordan likely never had impact like this in his entire career.

In the weak Eastern Confernece

The east had a winning record against the west in 2009 which is one of the years he’s referencing.

[nzahir]

First it was the east is weak, now it is the west is weak lol

In hindsight you can make arguments for everything, but people now want to discredit all these teams.

Portland who is better than last years squad by a good amount went to the WCF last year.
Hou has been a top team in the west the past few years and LAL took them out easily.
Denver just beat the clippers down 3-1, so they can't be that bad or then you are admitting Kawhi is a fraud who plays on the most stacked teams OAT and is lucky to have his rings

Lebron has consistently won with different casts (misfits and stars and rotating guys), multiple coaches, and multiple franchises

If Kyrie and or Love weren't made of glass, Lebron has 4 rings right now and he is trying to get his 5th

4 more wins and we can celebrate

He gets another shot to make his GOAT case stronger

I am hoping Miami wins tomorrow and puts away Boston now when I think of it. I rather get the extra rest, but I don't want a game 7 where Boston can easily win.

I rather play Miami. Less starpower, no true superstar to me, and we can go at a few of their guys.

Look at what Lebron did to MPJ tonight for a few plays. Now imagine doing that to Herro, Robinson, Dragic, Kelly, and even Jones Jr (athletic and decent defender, but not very high IQ)

[Freighttrain]

That game 5 is another instant classic LeBron James performance, that probably won't even crack his top 20. Yet it's those kinds of performances that truly show you what level he's on and how there's still a significant gap between him and all the others. I'm just enjoying everything because we've learned that you never know what's going to happen so take it in while it lasts, I know I do. All hail the king.

[Baski]

That game 5 is another instant classic LeBron James performance, that probably won't even crack his top 20. Yet it's those kinds of performances that truly show you what level he's on and how there's still a significant gap between all the others. I'm just enjoying everything because we've learned that you never know what going to happen so take it in while it lasts, I know I do. All hail the king.

Blows my mind that this is actually true lol. Crazy that we've come to expect such performances from Lebron James.

[Baski]

Jesus Christ there are Hall of Famers drafted 4-7 years after Lebron who likely will never be better than him till they retire. Insane

[Blackmill]

I don't see the argument for 1992 over 1991.

Why are you more impressed?

As a player I don't think Jordan was much different in those two seasons. But in 1992 he played against better teams and played in more crucial games where a loss could have changed the series (or the Bulls could have even been eliminated), all while playing roughly as well as he did in 1991. But this is getting a bit off-topic.

[Homer38]

When LeBron was 24 he was leading a lifting a <20 win supporting cast to >60 wins. Literally Jordan likely never had impact like this in his entire career.

In the weak Eastern Confernece

2009,the cavs were 26-4 vs west.And between 2009 to 2014, LeBron's teams had always destroyed the west in the regular season no matter what.

[JulesWinnfield]

I’ve always thought the killer instinct stuff was BS for many reasons outlined prior in the thread... but with that said, I can’t help but notice Lebrons demeanor out there is a bit different these days than it once was... the way he carries himself just oozes killer. I don’t know if people agree with this and it may sound like absurd gobble gook to some, but he just evokes ultimate alpha out there on the court these days by force of personality and it hasn’t always been this way.

Maybe it’s desperation in his advanced age and he can smell another chip. Maybe it’s that he’s aware of some of those knocks and carries himself this way as a means to battle against that for pure image. Maybe it’s just because he’s older than everyone out there these days. But it’s like every game is game 6 vs Boston 2012 demeanor. That famous screen shot of a scowling Lebron before that game is now resting Lebron face. It’s a lot more like Mike and a lot less Magic these days from a pure demeanor perspective (not saying Magic wasn’t a killer either). There is a definite shift to me though and I don’t know if I’m alone

[Homer38]

Read on Twitter

Wow,the 2018 cavs had also a great record when his team had the lead after 3 quarter!

[Dupp]

Watched the fourth quarter again. Was nice seeing them close the game without rondo

[limbo]

To think people actually thought the Lakers are going to get exploited based on those few exhibitions weeks at the start of the bubble, lmao. They never learn.

Not only are the Lakers going to win the title this year, they will be heavy favorites next year as well. Unless some seismic shift happens in the league where Giannis gets traded to another top team or something...

[Homer38]

Read on Twitter

[thebigbird]

When LeBron was 24 he was leading a lifting a <20 win supporting cast to >60 wins. Literally Jordan likely never had impact like this in his entire career.

In the weak Eastern Confernece

The weak East cope is officially gone after this postseason. First playoffs in the West and LeBron goes 12-3 and never gets pushed past game 5 while averaging 27/10/9 on 64% TS.

And that’s old man LeBron. Imagine the friary that prime LeBron would’ve unleashed on the western conference. First year with a competent team in the big bad west and he gets the #1 seed and easily wins the conference title in the playoffs.

[thebigbird]

I’ve always thought the killer instinct stuff was BS for many reasons outlined prior in the thread... but with that said, I can’t help but notice Lebrons demeanor out there is a bit different these days than it once was... the way he carries himself just oozes killer. I don’t know if people agree with this and it may sound like absurd gobble gook to some, but he just evokes ultimate alpha out there on the court these days by force of personality and it hasn’t always been this way.

Maybe it’s desperation in his advanced age and he can smell another chip. Maybe it’s that he’s aware of some of those knocks and carries himself this way as a means to battle against that for pure image. Maybe it’s just because he’s older than everyone out there these days. But it’s like every game is game 6 vs Boston 2012 demeanor. That famous screen shot of a scowling Lebron before that game is now resting Lebron face. It’s a lot more like Mike and a lot less Magic these days from a pure demeanor perspective (not saying Magic wasn’t a killer either). There is a definite shift to me though and I don’t know if I’m alone

LeBron’s been in dgaf mode ever since he moved back to Cleveland, and especially since the 2016 chip. When you see this you know it’s over.

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?s=21

[kayess]

LeBron is 16-1 in his last 17 closeout games.

There's really no argument anymore. As a late series player LeBron is literally unmatched. Closeout games, elimination games, Game 7s, you name it; once LeBron has film on you and tanked a few of your punches he can shred you in a way no one in NBA history has shown capable of doing.

Yup. You've been sayin it for years. Spaceman broke the same down sometime back in 2016 I wanna say. Elgee noted it in one of his earliest blog posts in 2011 looking back at the 08 Celtics series (dunno if its still archived anymore).

Speaking of Spaceman - where is he?

[Homer38]

Read on Twitter

[zimpy27]

I’ve always thought the killer instinct stuff was BS for many reasons outlined prior in the thread... but with that said, I can’t help but notice Lebrons demeanor out there is a bit different these days than it once was... the way he carries himself just oozes killer. I don’t know if people agree with this and it may sound like absurd gobble gook to some, but he just evokes ultimate alpha out there on the court these days by force of personality and it hasn’t always been this way.

Maybe it’s desperation in his advanced age and he can smell another chip. Maybe it’s that he’s aware of some of those knocks and carries himself this way as a means to battle against that for pure image. Maybe it’s just because he’s older than everyone out there these days. But it’s like every game is game 6 vs Boston 2012 demeanor. That famous screen shot of a scowling Lebron before that game is now resting Lebron face. It’s a lot more like Mike and a lot less Magic these days from a pure demeanor perspective (not saying Magic wasn’t a killer either). There is a definite shift to me though and I don’t know if I’m alone

After the Mavs loss, he played angry for the whole 2011-12. That anger focussed him and he won the championship.

I think he realised he could make himself far better than he was before with supreme focus even when he was no longer angry. Anger definitely helps focus but he's not always going to get Klay or Green to help make him angry. So he has to use other ways of focusing, blocking out all distractions and building anger in himself.

Killer instinct just equals supreme focus (or flow state) that the media try to spin a bit. Jordan always had a supreme focus.

Focus is very hard in the NBA, you have thousands of fans watching you. Young players usually have to build it. Herro is an example of a young player who has focus early.

You'll also notice that without crowds in the bubble, all these young players and middling players are playing far better than usual. That's because they can focus more without the fans. It's actually going to be far more impressive for LeBron to win this given that his focus advantage is not as big as usual.

[kayess]

Jesus Christ there are Hall of Famers drafted 4-7 years after Lebron who likely will never be better than him till they retire. Insane

Reminds me of Federer. Sure there were years where Djokovic/Nadal were better... But when he was healthy, up to like a year and a half ago, he's always been better when you take into account all surfaces

[thebigbird]

Dwight did a helluva job on Jokic all series. After averaging 13.4 rpg against the Flippers, he only averaged 7.2 rpg against the Lakers. Only had double digit rebounds once after having games with 18, 12, 11, 14, 14, and 22. In fact, after a dud game 1 where he had 3 boards, he had 15.2 rpg in the last 6 of the second round.

[Run DLC]

19 assists away from surpassing John Stockton for #2 on the all-time playoffs assist list. He’s going to average a triple-double in the NBA finals.