You can hate him, but MJ had more heart, talent, desire, and loyalty (to his team) than LJ could even dream of.

This post isn't about Lebron losing, it's about him quiting... look at his defense the last 2-3 minutes... LJ quite

[This message has been edited by edwardsk2003 (edited 5/13/2010 10:07p).]

When Jordan won his first title he wept like a baby because of people saying this exact same thing about him. Basketball is a team sport.

what did LJ do tonight that showed he didn't care?

Just curious...a triple double, and the only somewhat consistent player on his team, after the idiot announcers say they don't care if he finishes with 15 TO's...to just take it to the hoop at will...he starts doing that and the double teams force TO's...the dolt's then go "what's wrong with LJ tonight?"

Honestly...he didn't have a great game, turned it over too much, and he looked passive in game 5...but what tonight showed you he doesn't have the heart/talent/desire/loyalty?

Also, have the Cavs shown him loyalty by supplying him with a wingman who's currently a top 10 player at his respective position?

MJ had it...hell MJ's wingman was top 5 at his position and top 2-3 for most of his career.

agree with ce...it's a team sport.

he quit? He wasn't the one guarding Rondo allowing him to go to the hoop at will or not fouling him on a break-away, or not fouling him with 1:15 left and the ball in his hands. He's also not the coach who apparently called off the dogs with a minute left.

I think you LBJ haters are stretching big time tonight with that nonsense. Maybe game 5...not tonight. He gave it his all, even though his shot was off.

[This message has been edited by J Peterman (edited 5/13/2010 10:11p).]

Except Jordan's pre-1991 teams never had the regular season success and burden of playoffs expectations of these Cavs. You don't win 127 games in 2 years and fold meekly before the Finals in the NBA.

Jordan had a lot better teams to overcome as well. Orlando & Boston are good teams, but they aren't as dominant as the late 80's, early 90's Celtics & Pistons teams. Cleveland back then was just about as good as this version of the Cavaliers.

One thing that Lebron may always struggle with, at least until he loses a step or 2 when he hits 30 or so, is that he is such a dominant presence on the court that just about any lineup will just default to him a high percentage of the time over a regular season. It usually works to win those games, but then when things get tighter in the playoffs they don't have the chemistry of other good teams & it's a lot tougher for him to take over. IMO, that will be a big issue for him for the near future.

and you don't also take arguably the worst team in NBA finals history to the finals while you're only 22 and deliver one of the greatest playoff performances in NBA history against the team who was dominating the Eastern Conference for multiple years.

Again, in the insta-media era, enjoy bagging on him...but he's shown in the past that he's far from any of the nonsense the OP rushed over here to post as soon as the game ended.

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he is such a dominant presence on the court that just about any lineup will just default to him a high percentage of the time over a regular season. It usually works to win those games, but then when things get tighter in the playoffs they don't have the chemistry of other good teams & it's a lot tougher for him to take over.

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definitely agree with this. A lot of blowouts in the reg. season doesn't prepare you well for the grind of tight games in the playoffs.

The same can be said in the NFL, as we've seen with a handful of recent SB winners.

LeBron's 25 ****ing years old. He put up a triple double on the road against a FINALLY healthy Celtics team that was doubling him all night. And he did it all with an injured shooting elbow while holding their best scorer to 31% shooting.

It was far from his best game ever, but why is no one blaming Antawn Jamison or Mo Williams for the absolutely awful games they've played in this series? Jamison went 2-10 for 5 points and got abused by Keving Garnett tonight.

LeBron is the absolute ONLY player in the NBA that would be blamed for a loss like this given his stats.

"nonsense the OP rushed over here to post"


What - that I feel like LJ quit, and lost a lot of respect for him...

because at 2-3 minutes left, I saw him standing around, not even attempting to get rebounds?!??!?

IMHO LJ quit tonight... when it came down and the game was on the line... I think he gave up.


How is that nonsense?


Again, NOT ONE TIME, did I say anything about the Cavs LOSING OR say anything about his scoring or turnovers. Nothing about his offensive play or him being the reason they lost. The OP was based on LJ's defensive effort and lack of effort down the stretch.

You can have an off shooting night... everyone does, but when you slack on defense and don't go for rebounds when the game is coming down to decision time... that's pure heart.

[This message has been edited by edwardsk2003 (edited 5/13/2010 10:22p).]

he had a DEF RB, a block, and a dunk in the final 2:30 of the game.

Boston got 2 OREB(not on his guy) that took up 45 seconds under 2 minutes left, and also where Mike Brown had apparently called off the dogs with 1:20 left after another OREB(not his guy). I definitely think the entire team stopped fouling when they should have, and Mo Williams should been hacking Rondo with 3 minutes to go while he was guarding him...or at least every time after that when he had the ball in his hands...but I find it hilarious with the way the game finished in the final 2-3 minutes, that you'll single out the only guy on the Cavs that made any defensive plays.

Again, you're stretching.

[This message has been edited by J Peterman (edited 5/13/2010 10:25p).]

quote:

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the OP was based on LJ's defensive effort and lack of effort down the stretch.

You can have an off shooting night... everyone does, but when you slack on defense and don't go for rebounds when the game is coming down to decision time... that's pure heart.

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LeBron had 19 rebounds and was the best Cavaliers defender by far all night. He was also the only aggressive player for the Cavs in the 2nd half. It's funny that you picked the things he actually did well to criticize him on.

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Again, you're stretching.

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It's all they have.

you think James is hyped now, wait till he he goes to NY

Jordan didn't have more talent. Lebron is probably the most athletically gifted basketball player of all time. The guy is a literal physical freak of nature (people at his height just shouldn't be able to move like that). I'm not saying that Jordan was a slouch because he was also incredibly athletic for his size as well, it's just that Lebron is just at another level.

What Jordan did have over Lebron was drive and determination. Jordan can probably be considered to be the most driven basketball player ever, I doubt you could find a more competitive guy anywhere. If you acted up or played poorly, he let you know it and pushed you to correct the problem. He would have NEVER allowed an out of shape Shaq to play for his team. On Jordan's Chicago teams, you either gave it your all or he got you sent away.

Jordan had the killer instinct that you rarely see in sports. The only player who has it at the moment is Kobe.

Kobe has a great anal instink

i mean animal instinct

With all the Jordan killer instinct, why couldn't he win a playoff series without Scottie Pippen?


I'm no LBJ fan, but Jordan had a team that was playoff worthy without him when they were winning championships.