LeBron James 2021-22 Regular Season Thread - Part ?

[Cavsfansince84]

All the convos about LeBron's youngest-to records are countered by saying others did it in fewer games or seasons, or pointing to others not joining the NBA at the same age as LeBron.

People favor seasons vs age depending on what suits them best to downplay LeBron.

Well ya, that goes without saying.

[thebigbird]

Kind of pathetic on AD’s part that 37 year old LeBron is playing center with ease while 28 year old AD constantly complained about it and refused.

[thebigbird]

Am I the only who feels like LeBron having the best 19th season in NBA history by magnitudes is not being acknowledged enough? I think a lot of people are more focused on LeBron being 37, which is older for a player but not a shocking age to be in the league than they are that this is his 19th NBA season played.

Kareem and Karl Malone were the previous gold standards for a 19th year in the league and they averaged respectively 14.6 and 13.2 points per game. LeBron is averaging 28.7 ppg with an almost 27 PER. It is not even remotely close how far LeBron the has opened up in that category.

Worth acknowledging though a lot of people will always sort of downplay it due to the guys he is usually compared to having played four years of college ball before getting drafted. That's why I generally look at age more because there's no way to demean it unless they want to say peds(which a lot of people will say). I feel like at this point he is chasing Kareem who at 38 was fmvp and still a top 10 player.

It's the question of it is it the age? or is it the mileage? I think four years of NBA play, especially the minutes he was already playing when he was actually leading his NBA teams as a teeenager. Would have been harder on the body than 4 years of NCAA play and competition.

Yeah I definitely think # of seasons should be what’s used. LeBron played more minutes in his rookie year than Jordan did in three years at North Carolina.

[Cavsfansince84]

Yeah I definitely think # of seasons should be what’s used. LeBron played more minutes in his rookie year than Jordan did in three years at North Carolina.

I'm not sure there is conclusive evidence as to the whole mileage vs age way of looking at how it affects player performance. More so when its restricted to the 18-22 age range. Given this subject, I think it would be more accurate to compare 37 year old LeBron to say 39 year old versions of KAJ/Malone/Duncan. Somewhere inbetween though him playing in 8 straight finals with corresponding smaller off seasons all those years is something they never had to deal with. Not so much the minutes but just the grind of it year after year.

[Mazter]

A list of the players drafted out of HS with at least 15 seasons played and what they averaged in their 19th or last NBA season:

Code: Select all

Name         Yrs   Gms    Mpg       Ppg       TS%
James*         19   28   36.9      28.7      .623
Bryant         19   35   34.5      22.3      .477
Garnett        19   54   20.5       6.5      .467
M.Malone       19   11   11.2       5.3      .449
Chandler       19   26    8.4       1.3      .717
J.O'Neal       18   44   20.1       7.9      .570
Howard*        18   30   14.9       5.0      .649
L.Williams*    17   27   14.4       6.5      .465
Harrington     16   34   15.0       5.1      .506
Lewis          16   55   16.2       4.5      .530
J.R.Reid       16    6   13.2       2.8      .372
C.J.Miles*     16    1    2.0       0.0      ----
McGrady        15   52   16.1       5.3      .510


[feyki]

With AD without Lebron in 11 games -3,4 MOV,
With Lebron without AD in consecutive 11 games -0,9

. Sample size is growing . Even without that Wolves game AD injured LA have positive SRS since there.

[trickshot]

With AD without Lebron in 11 games -3,4 MOV,
With Lebron without AD in consecutive 11 games -0,9

. Sample size is growing . Even without that Wolves game AD injured LA have positive SRS since there.

talk about misuse of sample. Not only does AD's sample coincide with the easiest schedule but there are 5 or so of those games where the coach and half the team were in covid protocol and they went 0-5. It just happened recently too and is fresh, so you're going to struggle to make a persuasive case with these numbers. You're likely aware of the very very drastic changes in circumstances over the Christmas period. It was noticeable when the likes of Isiah thomas and other hardship contracts littered the team and their coach was missing. With Vogel's return they went from a 5-7 game losing streak to the current 4 game win streak.

With all the people going in and out of covid protocol around the league this is easily the worst season to be using with/without stats outside context. Also mov for player comparisons? really? why.

[C0bR]

You'd think LeBron has been a PnR rollman his whole life the way he is setting picks and generally being purposeful in every action. Compare it to AD just kinda floating aimlessly through the sets.

[MisterHibachi]

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/33008759/nba-mailbag-lebron-james-five-covid-19-impact-golden-state-warriors-free-throw-woes

In 249 minutes with James at center, Westbrook has boosted his true shooting percentage from .519 overall to a hyper-efficient .624.

[LukaTheGOAT]

Lebron is currently 2nd in the league in EPM. I noted when he had moved up to #4 in EPM, because I thought that would be the highest he got. He somehow has warped my perception of what he is capable of and kept improving. This is likely the highest he will be in the metric this season, so just thought it was a valuable watershed moment https://dunksandthrees.com/epm

[LukaTheGOAT]

Am I the only who feels like LeBron having the best 19th season in NBA history by magnitudes is not being acknowledged enough? I think a lot of people are more focused on LeBron being 37, which is older for a player but not a shocking age to be in the league than they are that this is his 19th NBA season played.

Kareem and Karl Malone were the previous gold standards for a 19th year in the league and they averaged respectively 14.6 and 13.2 points per game. LeBron is averaging 28.7 ppg with an almost 27 PER. It is not even remotely close how far LeBron the has opened up in that category.

Worth acknowledging though a lot of people will always sort of downplay it due to the guys he is usually compared to having played four years of college ball before getting drafted. That's why I generally look at age more because there's no way to demean it unless they want to say peds(which a lot of people will say). I feel like at this point he is chasing Kareem who at 38 was fmvp and still a top 10 player.

The PED argument is interesting but my quick rebuttal would probably be that the athletes LeBron is competing against would have access to the same performance enhancing stuff that he does, if you buy it as something that is prevalent in the league. You then would have to make an argument that PEDs exponentially improve his performance more than younger guys in the league, perhaps by making it easy to recover? I am not an expert on that type of stuff so I'm not sure honestly.

[Run DLC]

AD is going to slow them down.

[Larry David]

AD is going to slow them down.

Yeah im kinda not looking forward to him coming back they've got a good thing going

[nzahir]

AD is going to slow them down.

Yeah im kinda not looking forward to him coming back they've got a good thing going

I hope not

He better recognize what is going on and not be a lazy **** on offense who settles for trash jumpers

Lebron should be showing him how to roll in practice consider Lebron has been great at it and AD has been awful at it rn and pops so much (but great when he rolls)

If he won't learn, I wonder if they look around (they won't, but maybe they should)

Not realistic but something like Jaylen Brown and Horford for AD and others

[D.Brasco]

A list of the players drafted out of HS with at least 15 seasons played and what they averaged in their 19th or last NBA season:

Code: Select all

Name         Yrs   Gms    Mpg       Ppg       TS%
James*         19   28   36.9      28.7      .623
Bryant         19   35   34.5      22.3      .477
Garnett        19   54   20.5       6.5      .467
M.Malone       19   11   11.2       5.3      .449
Chandler       19   26    8.4       1.3      .717
J.O'Neal       18   44   20.1       7.9      .570
Howard*        18   30   14.9       5.0      .649
L.Williams*    17   27   14.4       6.5      .465
Harrington     16   34   15.0       5.1      .506
Lewis          16   55   16.2       4.5      .530
J.R.Reid       16    6   13.2       2.8      .372
C.J.Miles*     16    1    2.0       0.0      ----
McGrady        15   52   16.1       5.3      .510


I think this does make the argument that being drafted out of High school doesn't make you any fresher in your late career years. Kobe is the only one remotely close to LeBron there (and not really factoring in TS%) and he was injured and out after 35 games.

[thebigbird]

A list of the players drafted out of HS with at least 15 seasons played and what they averaged in their 19th or last NBA season:

Code: Select all

Name         Yrs   Gms    Mpg       Ppg       TS%
James*         19   28   36.9      28.7      .623
Bryant         19   35   34.5      22.3      .477
Garnett        19   54   20.5       6.5      .467
M.Malone       19   11   11.2       5.3      .449
Chandler       19   26    8.4       1.3      .717
J.O'Neal       18   44   20.1       7.9      .570
Howard*        18   30   14.9       5.0      .649
L.Williams*    17   27   14.4       6.5      .465
Harrington     16   34   15.0       5.1      .506
Lewis          16   55   16.2       4.5      .530
J.R.Reid       16    6   13.2       2.8      .372
C.J.Miles*     16    1    2.0       0.0      ----
McGrady        15   52   16.1       5.3      .510


I think this does make the argument that being drafted out of High school doesn't make you any fresher in your late career years. Kobe is the only one remotely close to LeBron there (and not really factoring in TS%) and he was injured and out after 35 games.

I’m a huge Kobe hater so that’s part of it, but I honestly would say that it even Kobe was remotely close. Kobe shot 37% from the field and was really just chucking shots on the second worst team in the league. Had a .006 WS/48 and a 0.3 BPM. LeBron, on the other hand, is at a .213 WS/48 and an 8.3 BPM. Just goes to show how far ahead of literally every other player in NBA history at this stage of their careers he is.

[D.Brasco]

A list of the players drafted out of HS with at least 15 seasons played and what they averaged in their 19th or last NBA season:

Code: Select all

Name         Yrs   Gms    Mpg       Ppg       TS%
James*         19   28   36.9      28.7      .623
Bryant         19   35   34.5      22.3      .477
Garnett        19   54   20.5       6.5      .467
M.Malone       19   11   11.2       5.3      .449
Chandler       19   26    8.4       1.3      .717
J.O'Neal       18   44   20.1       7.9      .570
Howard*        18   30   14.9       5.0      .649
L.Williams*    17   27   14.4       6.5      .465
Harrington     16   34   15.0       5.1      .506
Lewis          16   55   16.2       4.5      .530
J.R.Reid       16    6   13.2       2.8      .372
C.J.Miles*     16    1    2.0       0.0      ----
McGrady        15   52   16.1       5.3      .510


I think this does make the argument that being drafted out of High school doesn't make you any fresher in your late career years. Kobe is the only one remotely close to LeBron there (and not really factoring in TS%) and he was injured and out after 35 games.

I’m a huge Kobe hater so that’s part of it, but I honestly would say that it even Kobe was remotely close. Kobe shot 37% from the field and was really just chucking shots on the second worst team in the league. Had a .006 WS/48 and a 0.3 BPM. LeBron, on the other hand, is at a .213 WS/48 and an 8.3 BPM. Just goes to show how far ahead of literally every other player in NBA history at this stage of their careers he is.

Kobe's last 3 season's in the league were really just an extended retirement tour. He only actually played in 107 games over those 3 seasons and when he was out there he just wanted to put up shots efficiency be damned.

So despite technically playing 20 seasons he's not in the longevity argument with guys like Kareem, Malone and LeBron.

[thebigbird]

I think this does make the argument that being drafted out of High school doesn't make you any fresher in your late career years. Kobe is the only one remotely close to LeBron there (and not really factoring in TS%) and he was injured and out after 35 games.

I’m a huge Kobe hater so that’s part of it, but I honestly would say that it even Kobe was remotely close. Kobe shot 37% from the field and was really just chucking shots on the second worst team in the league. Had a .006 WS/48 and a 0.3 BPM. LeBron, on the other hand, is at a .213 WS/48 and an 8.3 BPM. Just goes to show how far ahead of literally every other player in NBA history at this stage of their careers he is.

Kobe's last 3 season's in the league were really just an extended retirement tour. He only actually played in 107 games over those 3 seasons and when he was out there he just wanted to put up shots efficiency be damned.

So despite technically playing 20 seasons he's not in the longevity argument with guys like Kareem, Malone and LeBron.

Sucks for him because he was having a really nice year 17 before he tore his Achilles, but yeah those last three years he and the Lakers were playing glorified exhibition games and trying to get Kobe as many shots as possible. The other guys were: still trying to win at that stage.

[MisterHibachi]

Ja is insane. That was an incredible block.

Russ is taking some awful shots to start this game.

[thebigbird]

Is it bad that I’m not looking forward to AD coming back? If he’s the monster that he was during his first LA season then that’d be awesome. But it seems more likely that he’s going to come back less than 100%, loaf around the court, and get in everyone’s way. The team has actually been fun to watch with the addition of Stanley, the removal of DJ, and the return of the protocol guys. I want him back for the postseason, but I wouldn’t mind him missing more regular season time… He needs to get healthy anyway.