This article is from the espn insider. This is a selection of the article since i can't post the whole thing. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">You actually can't quote any of it. Read the guidelines please.</div> http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/col...%26id%3d2236537 I put this in the general section becuase i want to get everyones take on it not just cavs fans. This guy makes some good points, but what do some Kobe and Duncan fans have to say?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Johnnybrasco:</div><div class="quote_post">Kobe Bryant: From a skill standpoint he has it all and he's even a better defender than LeBron at this point -- although I will make the argument that LeBron is a better defender at age 20 than Bryant was in his early Laker days. I know Bryant has three rings, but he also wasn't even the most dominant player on any of those teams. Remember Shaq? The "he has no rings" argument is a joke, frankly. I mean come on, Sean Marks and Tony Massenburg (2004-05 San Antonio Spurs) both have one more ring than Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Kevin Garnett and James. Take the rings out of the argument.</div> I HATE when people make the excuse "Well for his age"........ and the difference between Massenburg and Sean Marks is without Kobe, the Lakers don't win any one of those championships. Kobe bailed the Lakers out so many times during they're run, I can't even count. People seem to forget that. No player in the league has hit more big shots than Kobe......Ex: last night, Kobe hit multiple 3's in Jason Kidds face. Kidd is a allstar and great defender and Kobe TORCHED him, not to mention it was all in the last two minutes of the game. The fact is, Lebron has ways to go. He can do everything good, but he hasn't done anything great yet. Oh and by the way, how can Lebron let Artest completley talk him outta his game. Not only that, Artest DESTROYED him on offense too. Seems like he's the best OVERHYPED person in the league.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rock4life:</div><div class="quote_post">I HATE when people make the excuse "Well for his age"........ and the difference between Massenburg and Sean Marks is without Kobe, the Lakers don't win any one of those championships. Kobe bailed the Lakers out so many times during they're run, I can't even count. People seem to forget that. No player in the league has hit more big shots than Kobe......Ex: last night, Kobe hit multiple 3's in Jason Kidds face. Kidd is a allstar and great defender and Kobe TORCHED him, not to mention it was all in the last two minutes of the game. The fact is, Lebron has ways to go. He can do everything good, but he hasn't done anything great yet. Oh and by the way, how can Lebron let Artest completley talk him outta his game. Not only that, Artest DESTROYED him on offense too. Seems like he's the best OVERHYPED person in the league.</div> Kobe got owned by Igoudala earlier this year, an lesser defender compared to Artest. Also the guy is leaving championships out, which is why he's not saying shaq is the best player in the league anymore. Kobe was gurarded by Kidd last night who is better at guarding other pg's, RJ fouled out late in the game so kobe didn't have to end up being guarded by him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Johnnybrasco:</div><div class="quote_post">Kobe got owned by Igoudala earlier this year, an lesser defender compared to Artest. Also the guy is leaving championships out, which is why he's not saying shaq is the best player in the league anymore. Kobe was gurarded by Kidd last night who is better at guarding other pg's, RJ fouled out late in the game so kobe didn't have to end up being guarded by him.</div> we're not comparing kobe to those players we're comparing him to lebron, lebron doesn't touch either of the three kobe, igggy, or artest in D.
LeBron is hands down the best non-big in the game. By that I mean, if I had to pick one player to be on my team for this season from a pool of all non bigs, then LeBron would be my first choice. Duncan and KG are still the top two, though.
LeBron James is not the best in the NBA it is T-M-A-C and Kobe Bryent that takes charge in all nba players in the nba they are the skillest ones of all nba players.
It depends on how you define best. LeBron in my opinion is the best (aka most talented player) in the NBA. Skill wise, I don't there is nobody touching him. Remeber that's just talent wise, because talent wise Carter is ahead of Duncan. So you basically see how that goes. However overall he is not at McGrady, KG, Shaq, Duncan, AI and Kobe level yet. The guy has yet to make the playoffs and what truly seperates himself from someone like Kidd and AI for example was when all three teams(Cavs, Nets and Sixers) were fighting for their lives to make the Playoffs. The Nets were going on 4-game winning streaks, Iverson was scoring 40+ points in back to back sets and winning against teams like the Pacers and Heat while LeBron on the other hand "choked" and failed to lead his team to the Playoffs. So again, TALENT WISE LeBron is easily Top 3, but overall he is not touching the bonafied superstars.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Avery:</div><div class="quote_post">It depends on how you define best. LeBron in my opinion is the best (aka most talented player) in the NBA. Skill wise, I don't there is nobody touching him. Remeber that's just talent wise, because talent wise Carter is ahead of Duncan. So you basically see how that goes. However overall he is not at McGrady, KG, Shaq, Duncan, AI and Kobe level yet. The guy has yet to make the playoffs and what truly seperates himself from someone like Kidd and AI for example was when all three teams(Cavs, Nets and Sixers) were fighting for their lives to make the Playoffs. The Nets were going on 4-game winning streaks, Iverson was scoring 40+ points in back to back sets and winning against teams like the Pacers and Heat while LeBron on the other hand "choked" and failed to lead his team to the Playoffs. So again, TALENT WISE LeBron is easily Top 3, but overall he is not touching the bonafied superstars.</div> How did lebron choke he played amzingly? in fact on the last game of the season when the cavs were bumped by jersey he nothced a triple double. It wasn't his fault that the nets, celtics and 76'S all had much better surounding casts. Also Kobe has failed to reach the playoffs without Shaq and it looks like he won't get there again this year, so how can you rate him ahead of lebron? If you read the article past acheivements don't count he's talking who's the best right now. If your all going to judge talent on playoff or championship wins then just say Rober horry with his 6 rings is the best player.
The Nets had a better supporting cast? Kidd, carter and who else... Lebron had Gooden and Z, so I wouldn't say the Nets had a better cast. I would agree that Lebron is the best Stat-whore in the NBA, but not the best player. I don't know if he's even top 5 yet. He's still a ways behind TD, KG, Kobe, TMac, and Shaq, but after that it's between him, Wade and Amare.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rock4life:</div><div class="quote_post">and the difference between Massenburg and Sean Marks is without Kobe, the Lakers don't win any one of those championships. Kobe bailed the Lakers out so many times during they're run, I can't even count. People seem to forget that. </div> Of course, nobody is saying that Kobe wasn't an integral part of those championship games but merely saying that it helped that Kobe had the Most dominant player ever on his team. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The fact is, Lebron has ways to go. He can do everything good, but he hasn't done anything great yet. </div> He hasn't done anything great yet? What NBA are you watching? Is being one of only 4 players to record a 25/7/7 season in NBA history not classified as doing something great? 7 assists for a SF? GREAT. 7 rebounds per game for a SF? Great. This season: Shooting over 50% as a SF? Great. About Kobe: The writer of the article makes a good point, that when Kobe dominates he does it soley through scoring not making his teammates better and setting them up. LBJ can dominate by making the players around him better. With that being said Kobe is better than LBJ because of his defense. Can somebody please explain to me how TMac is better than LBJ? People keep stating he is better without elaborating.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Can somebody please explain to me how TMac is better than LBJ? People keep stating he is better without elaborating. </div> Their just T-Mac riders... thats ridiculous that TMac is better than LBJ, in James' first 2 years hes already shown more leadership and attitude then T-Mac has ever shown. T-Mac is great at scoring, giving you 25 night in and night out, but when you need a big win, when you need a playoff performance for the ages, the Choke Artist is nowhere to be found. Please don't bring up OH his Team...OH his team blew it bad this year, just as bad as they blew it 3 years ago in Orlando, one common factor of those 2 teams: T-Mac.
Bron is great but not the best. It's hard to tell who's the best but right now it's Kobe and T-Mac Bron's team is doing good 9 and 4 but we gotta wait till the end of the season and see how far he can take his team into playoffs. It's even hard to tell if he's better than Wade.
Ur crazy if you think Bron is better than T-Mac. He will be in 3-5 years, but not yet. T-Mac can get better numbers than Bron on any given night, but there isn't room for him to aim for 35 points like the Cavs NEED for Bron to do. All they ask is for him to get his 25/5/6. McGrady and. Choke. should not even be used in the same sentence you... Any time McGrady and Bron met, I recall McGrady the one w/ all the badass dunks and shutting down Bron...Nuff friggin said I don't get why T-Mac has so many haters out there. He gave Toronto a good 4 years (I think it was four) and Orland a good 4 Years. Be happy he blessed you with those years and when he moves on don't cry about it. Some people are just greedy. It's a good thing we get to keep him here in Houston. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH! Even if we don't get to keep him (which I highly doubt) I would still cheer for him and praise him, just like I did before he came. Just like I still cheer for Francis, Mobley, Mike James, etc...
Tru Those who hate T-Mac are those fans with pride who root for championship teams. And they hate T-Mac because he ain't got no ring. If that's how they judge, they shouldn't be calling Bron the best player until he wins one. Simple as that.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting FedEx227:</div><div class="quote_post">Their just T-Mac riders... thats ridiculous that TMac is better than LBJ, in James' first 2 years hes already shown more leadership and attitude then T-Mac has ever shown. T-Mac is great at scoring, giving you 25 night in and night out, but when you need a big win, when you need a playoff performance for the ages, the Choke Artist is nowhere to be found. .</div> That is just a ridiculous thing to say. I'm not a T-Mac fan, but he is better than Lebron at the moment. NOT CLUTCH? Yet another silly thing to say. Do you not remember his 13 points in 35 seconds? I don't remember anyone else in the L ever doing something like that. Please back up your comments because it will just upset people that actually do follow the NBA, unlike you.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting FedEx227:</div><div class="quote_post">Their just T-Mac riders... thats ridiculous that TMac is better than LBJ, in James' first 2 years hes already shown more leadership and attitude then T-Mac has ever shown. T-Mac is great at scoring, giving you 25 night in and night out, but when you need a big win, when you need a playoff performance for the ages, the Choke Artist is nowhere to be found. Please don't bring up OH his Team...OH his team blew it bad this year, just as bad as they blew it 3 years ago in Orlando, one common factor of those 2 teams: T-Mac.</div> Hey at least his teams were in the playoffs <div class="quote_poster">Quoting shootingmachine:</div><div class="quote_post"> I don't remember anyone else in the L ever doing something like that.</div> Reggie Miller? But that was sick of what TMac did and associating him w/ choke is stupid