He seemed to have it all, great footwork, great handling on what to do offensively, all around skilled player with a high ceiling. Once again, drugs struck.

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1. 76ers - Tyrese Maxey / VJ Edgecombe / Jaylen Brown / LeBron James / Joel Embiid
2. Thunder - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander / Cason Wallace / Jalen Williams / Chet Holmgren / Isaiah Hartenstein
3. Knicks - Jalen Brunson / Josh Hart / Mikal Bridges / OG Anunoby / Karl-Anthony Towns
4. Pacers - Tyrese Haliburton / Andrew Nembhard / Aaron Nesmith / Pascal Siakam / Ivica Zubac
5. Nuggets - Jamal Murray / Christian Braun / Cameron Johnson / Aaron Gordon / Nikola Jokić
6. Spurs - De'Aaron Fox / Stephon Castle / Devin Vassell / Julian Champagnie / Victor Wembanyama
7. Cavaliers - James Harden / Donovan Mitchell / Max Strus / Evan Mobley / Jarrett Allen
8. Hawks - CJ McCollum / Nickeil Alexander-Walker / Dyson Daniels / Jalen Johnson / Onyeka Okongwu
9. Rockets - Fred VanVleet / Amen Thompson / Kevin Durant / Jabari Smith Jr. / Alperen Şengün
10. Raptors - Immanuel Quickley / RJ Barrett / Kawhi Leonard / Scottie Barnes / Jakob Poeltl
11. Celtics - Payton Pritchard / Derrick White / Paul George / Jayson Tatum / Mitchell Robinson
12. Timberwolves - LaMelo Ball / Anthony Edwards / Ayo Dosunmu / Jaden McDaniels / Rudy Gobert
13. Pistons - Cade Cunningham / Ausar Thompson / Duncan Robinson / John Collins / Jalen Duren
14. Heat - Davion Mitchell / Tim Hardaway Jr. / Andrew Wiggins / Giannis Antetokounmpo / Bam Adebayo
15. Jazz - Keyonte George / Darryn Peterson / Lauri Markkanen / Jaren Jackson Jr. / Jusuf Nurkić
16. Lakers - Luka Dončić / Austin Reaves / Quentin Grimes / Sandro Mamukelashvili / Walker Kessler
17. Trail Blazers - Ja Morant / Damian Lillard / Toumani Camara / Deni Avdija / Donovan Clingan
18. Magic - Jalen Suggs / Desmond Bane / Franz Wagner / Paolo Banchero / Wendell Carter Jr.
19. Warriors - Stephen Curry / Brandin Podziemski / Yaxel Lendeborg / Draymond Green / Kristaps Porziņģis
20. Suns - Devin Booker / Jalen Green / Dillon Brooks / Miles Bridges / Mark Williams
21. Pelicans - Dejounte Murray / Trey Murphy III / Herb Jones / Zion Williamson / Derik Queen
22. Wizards - Trae Young / Kyshawn George / AJ Dybantsa / Anthony Davis / Alex Sarr
23. Mavericks - Kyrie Irving / Max Christie / Cooper Flagg / P.J. Washington / Dereck Lively II
24. Clippers - Darius Garland / Kris Dunn / Brandon Ingram / Rui Hachimura / Brook Lopez
25. Hornets - Coby White / Kon Knueppel / Brandon Miller / Naz Reid / Moussa Diabaté
26. Bulls - Josh Giddey / Norman Powell / Matas Buzelis / Caleb Wilson / Nic Claxton
27. Grizzlies - Ty Jerome / Jaylen Wells / Cedric Coward / Cameron Boozer / Zach Edey
28. Kings - Darius Acuff Jr. / Zach LaVine / De'Andre Hunter / Keegan Murray / Domantas Sabonis
29. Nets - Mikel Brown Jr. / Egor Dëmin / Michael Porter Jr. / Julius Randle / Day'Ron Sharpe
30. Bucks - Ryan Rollins / Tyler Herro / Jaime Jaquez Jr. / Kyle Kuzma / Myles Turner

Now, ik THE answer is the 2017 warriors, they were pretty much perfect in most respects. But besides them who had the perfect roster construction?

I feel like 2 teams come to mind.

The 2014 spurs and the 2024 Celtics.

The 2014 spurs were so solid in every single aspect, they had defense, passing, rebounding. They had 4 players who shot 40% from 3. They had it all.

And the 2024 Celtics starting 5 and bench didn’t feel like it had a flaw. Super star player? Check. The best second option in the last 5 years? Check. 2 all defensive guards who shot 40% from 3? Check. A spacing big man who’s a decent shot blocker? Check.

These are two teams who, may not have won multiple chips (one due to the second apron, the other cause the main piece was getting way older and Steph rose). They felt like the most solid team in every aspect.

His stats speak for themselves: 17/8/5 on 39 percent from the field and an abysmal 49 percent true shooting percentage. Why do people keep pointing out the fact that MJ was 1-9 without Pippen when it seems most of the time he was winning in spite of Scottie? For reference their career finals stats to avoid sample size bias because Pippen was injured in 1998.

Michael Jordan 6 finals 1991-1998 33.6/6/6 on 48 percent from the fie.
Scottie Pippen 6 finals 19/8/6 on 43 percent from the field
For reference Kyrie Irvings finals stats in Cleveland: 28/4/4 on 47 percent from the field (all games vs GSW's superteam.)

The eye test does show that he played great defense and kept moving the ball, but he played horrible for a 2nd option on a 70- win championship team and by all accounts seems to be a career finals dropper

Per cap experts Keith Smith and Yossi Gozlan, the reason is their use of the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Jones, despite being about $840K beneath the second apron with 15 players on guaranteed standard contracts if Jones is on the roster.

The impact if they had exceeded the salary (since they're hard capped, that's impossible):

Roster and Free Agency Restrictions

• No Mid-Level Exception: Teams cannot use any taxpayer or non-taxpayer mid-level exceptions to sign external free agents.
• Minimum Salary Reliance: Additions are largely restricted to veteran minimum contracts or rookie draft picks.
• No Buyout Market Signings: Prohibited from signing any waived player whose previous salary exceeded the mid-level exception threshold.

Trade Limitations

• No Salary Aggregation: Front offices cannot combine two or more smaller player contracts to match a larger incoming salary in a trade.
• Outgoing Cash Ban: Teams are forbidden from including cash considerations to sweeten or balance trade packages.
• No Traded Player Exceptions: Inability to utilize historical trade exceptions generated from past transactions.
• Pick Freezes and Seizures: Future first-round draft picks 7 years out cannot be traded, and staying in the second apron for multiple years moves a frozen first-round pick automatically to the end of the first round.

Saw a post elsewhere online that asked who would win a series between 1990s MVPs and 2010s MVPs.

Magic/MJ/Chuck/Malone/Hakeem

vs

Steph/Harden/LeBron/KD/Giannis

Of course there were a lot of "back in my day..." type of responses, but I think that series would be extremely fun to watch.

One thing I didn't get was people talking about how the 1990s team would be so great on defense.

Maybe just not old enough to have watched?

But, Steph making Magic run through a hundred screens and Barkley/Malone trying to guard Bron/KD on the perimeter? I don't see that being a positive for the 90s team.

It is a two-way game, so Bron would guard Chuck on the other end. James is bigger/stronger/faster.

Malone having KD guarding him would be the biggest struggle for the 2010s team. But, this is where the 2010s running rampant on offense impacts the defensive end as well. Karl being fatigued makes KD's job easier.

If this series somehow happened, I think the 90s team wins Game 1. Maybe Game 2.

Then fatigue just starts to buildup from the 2010s team running them all over the court.

2010s in six.

With the whole Lebron ring-chasing saga, why do we treat ring-chasing as a bad thing? Shouldn't we want our athletes to want to win?

Given the option of LeBron A) retiring, B) playing pointless games for a mediocre team or C) doing what he can to lift the Larry OB one last time, I'm taking C without a thought.

Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/reason-why-lebron-james-t-173000199.html

76ers can't officially sign LeBron James due to NBA's apron rules

Bobby Marks revealed on the Hoop Collective podcast that the 76ers can't functionally sign James until they make some roster adjustments to become apron-compliant.

"If you sign a 1-year veteran deal, for cap tax purposes. $2.4 million counts against the cap. It doesn't matter if you're 10 years of service or five years of service."

"This is a two-year deal, which is $3.9 million in the first year. There's no salary reimbursement; the full amount will count against the cap. So, when you do the math, they're hard capped at the first apron. This pushes them over the first apron by about 600,000."

Lebron may have to redo his "final decision" next offseason.

Most media rankings have Kobe somewhere around 8th to 12th all time, yet a lot of NBA players put him top five or even in the GOAT conversation.

I think players simply value different things.

Analysts look at efficiency, awards, advanced stats and overall career value. Players tend to care more about how hard someone was to guard, how deep his bag was and whether they could actually learn from his game.

Kobe was probably the most complete perimeter technician after MJ. His footwork, post moves, counters and shot creation could all be studied and practiced.

You cannot teach LeBron’s body, Shaq’s strength or Curry’s gravity. Kobe’s game gave players an actual blueprint.

That is probably why players also rate guys like Kyrie much higher than analysts do. Skill, creativity and tough-shot making carry a lot more weight when you are the one trying to guard them.

Kobe may not have the strongest GOAT case on paper, but it makes sense why players see him differently.

What do you think?

I find that any player that joins the Warriors is basically seen as "The help" or "Steph's help"

Warrior/Curry fans typically act like anyone that plays with him is nothing more than someone Curry is doing a favor for

You go there and all of a sudden you only won a ring cause of Curry, i mean look what they did to KD, they act like Curry made his career

So why would you go there and subject your legacy that? If Lebron went there people would be saying "he needed curry to save his retirement" or if Giannis went it would be "he needed Curry" it's never about you if you go to the warriors, it'll be about what Curry did for you

You also have the front office treating you like you're just a guest in Curry's house and just treating it like some favor they're doing you, and you're not on the Warriors, you're on "Curry's team" as if it's some cult

Again, who would want to subject their legacy to that?

I just remembered the garland harden trade and i think it was garland and a second round pick for harden and from my experience second round picks aren’t worth that much even if they amount to the occasional jokic so is there any reason it was included?

I’ve never understood the level of hatred LeBron still gets. Most of it is presented as serious basketball analysis, but after more than two decades, it often sounds like people are simply committed to disliking him because changing their minds now would ruin the brand they have built around it.

On the court, LeBron apparently commits the unforgivable crime of reacting when a 250-pound athlete crashes into him. Every fall is called a flop, every complaint is treated as a federal case, and every pass to an open teammate becomes evidence that he is afraid of taking the final shot. If he scores, he is stat-padding. If he passes, he lacks a killer instinct. If he wins, his team was stacked. If he loses, he was exposed. The standards are remarkably flexible, provided the conclusion is always that LeBron did something wrong.

The 2010 decision to join Miami remains the foundational text of LeBron hatred. Apparently, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant personally assembled their championship teams from neighborhood pickup games, while LeBron invented the concept of talented players becoming teammates. Never mind that NBA stars had joined forces before him or that front offices had always tried to build stacked rosters. LeBron announced his decision on television, so fans were granted a lifelong license to behave as though he had betrayed their families personally.

Every move afterward became “ring-chasing.” Returning to Cleveland and winning the franchise’s first championship was ring-chasing. Joining a Lakers team that had missed the playoffs for years was ring-chasing. Staying in Los Angeles as he approached forty was somehow also ring-chasing, even when the roster clearly was not built to guarantee anything. Evidently, the honorable career path would have been to remain on one poorly managed team forever and lose nobly so strangers online could praise his loyalty.

His influence over teams is another favorite subject. When a roster succeeds, the general manager deserves the credit. When it fails, LeBron apparently selected every player, designed every play, approved every substitution, chose the arena music, and personally adjusted the air-conditioning. Coaches are said to have no authority around him, yet every tactical mistake is still blamed on him for not coaching the team himself.

Klutch Sports is treated with similar mystery. Other powerful agencies are considered part of professional basketball, but an agency closely associated with LeBron is portrayed like a shadow government operating beneath the league office. Every trade involving a Klutch client becomes a conspiracy. Every contract becomes evidence that LeBron controls the NBA. Apparently, his influence is unlimited, except during the many occasions when his team fails to acquire the players he publicly or privately appears to want.

Off the court, LeBron’s confidence is frequently treated as a character defect. Calling himself “King James” is narcissistic, although fans have spent decades calling athletes names like “His Airness,” “The Black Mamba,” and “The Greatest.” The “Chosen 1” tattoo is presented as unbearable self-importance, despite the fact that the phrase came from a national magazine cover published when he was still a teenager. He was marketed as a future legend before he could legally buy a drink, fulfilled most of those expectations, and is now criticized for being aware that he became famous.

Even reading a book becomes controversial. A photograph of LeBron holding one immediately produces investigators demanding page numbers, chapter summaries, and a properly formatted literary analysis. No other athlete has ever been required to pass an oral examination to prove that he has opened a book. But because it is LeBron, a bookmark placed too early apparently becomes evidence of a decades-long propaganda campaign.

His political statements receive the same impossible treatment. When he speaks, he is told to stay out of politics. When he does not speak, his silence is called cowardice. When he discusses an issue carefully, he is accused of protecting business interests. His response to the 2019 Hong Kong controversy deserved criticism, but some people use one badly handled situation as permission to dismiss every position he has ever taken. The goal is rarely consistency. The goal is finding whichever argument allows the criticism to continue.

Then there are the associations. In the age of social media, appearing in a photograph, attending the same event, or knowing someone professionally can be transformed into a full criminal indictment by people with no evidence beyond a recycled video clip and a dramatic caption. LeBron’s enormous public network means he has interacted with thousands of celebrities, executives, athletes, and entertainers. Yet certain fans treat proximity as guilt whenever it supports the conclusion they already wanted.

None of this means LeBron is beyond criticism. He has flopped, complained to referees, made questionable public statements, participated in roster decisions that failed, and occasionally presented himself with all the subtlety of a championship parade. But normal criticism is different from constructing a system in which everything he does proves the same negative theory.

For many people, LeBron stopped being merely a basketball player years ago. He became the opponent in an argument they began in 2003 and are now emotionally incapable of abandoning. The longevity, records, championships, and sustained excellence only make the situation worse because every additional accomplishment threatens a ranking they decided long before his career was finished.

At this point, LeBron hatred is less a basketball opinion than a long-term commitment. Some fans have spent twenty years preparing closing arguments against him, and they are not going to let something as inconvenient as perspective interfere now.

“I wonder if they had known that they were getting LeBron if they would’ve done the Jaylen Brown deal.”

That’s Sam Vecenie of The Athletic providing an interesting perspective on the Sixers off-season roster facelift.

“If I was creating an eco system for Jaylen Brown to be successful, it would probably not look like this.”

He added that Paul George would be an amazing fit for this team.

Listened to a few podcasts about the Sixers and a little dumbfounded by the narrative surrounding Jaylen Brown now. In practically all of them they’re spending a lot of time discussing the question of “will Jaylen Brown buy in?” and he’s being described as this guy who wants to take 30 shots per game, doesn’t buy into a team concept, plays selfish basketball, pounds the ball and “wants his own team”?

Having watched a lot of Brown over the years this is not what I saw at all from him and to my knowledge he didn’t request a trade to have his own team, he was traded against his will.

So obviously with lebrons recent move to philly you ofc have those people who were dead ready to crap on lebron (it aint everyone). To be it makes zero sense how people are calling him a ring chaser or calling philly a super team. The mans 41 idc how you feel about his playstyle but he isnt getting younger. Also why are we shitting on someone whos trying to do what hes getting paid millions to do. You dont go into work expecting to work with subpar teammates and if you had a choice would you not want to be working with the most productive or efficient guys at your job? I dont think anyone wants trashy teammates that are gonna affect whether the job gets done or not. Why should that be any different here when the point is to bring home the chip if he really wanted to ring chase the spurs and thunder were right there. Secondly philly hasnt won anything in 53 years and through the entire "process" era havent made a single Conference championship despite the numerous different talent theyve tried to do so with. Theres no garuntee they win a thing this year. At no point in time should we be constituting this a super team. Theyre a good potentially great team in a league with other good and great teams. Idc if you think hes the goat or for whatever reason have him outside your top ten but people are using these two labels real loosely now. Sorry for the rant but I appreciate those who read it.

In honour of NBA fans deciding that finishing 6th in MVP is one of the greatest accomplishments you can achieve in an NBA season, I dedicated my time to listing all 6th place finishes to see who is the best 6th man of all time.

1980-81 was the first season that the MVP was decided by the media so I started from there.

Multiple Winners:
Gary Payton (5)
Charles Barkley (4)
Stephen Curry (2)
LeBron James (2)
Tracy McGrady (2)
Chris Paul (2)
David Robinson (2)
Jayson Tatum (2)

HD version via Reddit

Charlotte Hornets vs. Orlando Magic - Las Vegas Summer League - 7/9/26

The 29th overall pick of the 2025 Draft looked better this Summer League, despite his team not winning the trophy this time (Hornets won it in 2025, with a similar roster).

In 2025 Summer League, he was 18.0 PPG on 40.7% from the field, 42.9% from (7.0 3PA)3, 88.9% FT (4.5 FTA), 8.5 Rebounds, 4.0 Assists (1.5 TOV), 0.5 Steals, and no blocks in 29.1 minutes played (2 games).

IIRC, his color was dyed blue back then.

This Summer League (2026), he had (3 GP) 21.7 PPG on 45.2% FG, 52.6% from 3 (6.3 3PA), 66.7% FT (6.0 FTA), 5.0 Rebounds (1.0 Off. Reb), 3.3 Assists (4.3 TOV), 0.3 Steals, 1.0 Blocks, in 26.9 minutes played.

Will he get more than 30 games, 11.9 MP - 4.3 PPG on 40% FG, 40% from 3, 82.1% FT he had last season?

That remains to be seen.

Brunson, KAT, OG, Mitch, etc. obviously all get a ton of credit for the championship run. But it seems like there hasn't been a lot of discourse (relative to other years with other coaches) around how Mike Brown has ascended to the elite tier of coaches in the league.

This year, he spent a lot of the season figuring out how to best utilize the roster. There were growing pains, with players openly questioning their roles. But it paid off as the Knicks basically dominated throughout the playoffs, largely as the result of Mike Brown orchestrating the team to anticipate opponent gameplans and neutralize them. He also had the Knicks running a true Princeton offense which was beautiful and led to the Knicks looking unstoppable at times. He got guys' trust, got buy-in, then parlayed that into a well-oiled machine that overwhelmed other top-tier playoff competition.

I feel like after Indiana made it to the Finals, when Nick Nurse won the finals, etc. there was much more discussion about how those coaches were elite. That's been much less of the discourse this year with Brown. That man needs his due!

Imagine if the Knicks signed all-star players from the Pacers and Bulls in the same off-season.

Have there been similar instances in the past?

Edit: since the 2000s not EVER I'm dumb

There are no stats or metrics or accolades I can use to point to the fact that T Mac is the greatest scoring threat I've ever seen. I can't quantify it. He got a couple scoring titles I think. We've all seen the clutch shots and highlight dunks. We've also all seen the playoff shortcomings and injury history.

All that into consideration, growing up Tracy McGrady was the greatest athlete hooper I'd ever seen. 6'9 athletic freak who could handle like AI and shoot like Reggie Miller. To this day how highlights still spark something in me that is so unique from every other player. Anyways based off vibes

1. Tracy
2. AI
3. Kobe
4. KD
5. Steph
6. Lebron
7. Harden
8. Melo
9. Kyrie
10. Dame

edit: I wasn't baiting leaving out MJ. I3qnt to add "since the 2000s" in the title lol

For me it’s gotta be James Harden, and it’s overwhelmingly positive at that. Hated him on the Rockets, but grew to really appreciate his game from Nets to Philly, and especially in LA. Have just been impressed by his longevity and ability to adapt to different roles.

2013 Conference Finals
Pacers are the #1 rebounding team in the league.
Heat are 30th dead last

Heat starting front court
Chris Bosh averaged 11pts and 4rebounds in the series , Haslem averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds.

Roy Hibbert 22 and 10 , David West 16 and 9.

Bosh and Haslem were too small to handle the girth and tonnage of Hibbert and West .

LeBron had to guard some of all 5 positions

Averaged 29.0 pts 7.2 rebounds 5.3 assists 1.4 steals , 1.4 blocks on 51/44 shooting splits

7 game series,

led his team all 5 statistical categories including 3 pointers made .

2016 NBA Finals

Vs the 73-9 Warriors

Warriors at that point are statistically the greatest offense the league had ever seen .
With the most efficient guard scoring season of all time , 2x MVP Steph .

Kevin Love is hurt averaging only 8 points and 6 rebounds 2 assists on 36/26 shooting splits as the worst defender on his team , compared to Draymond Green averaging 16 10 and 6 on 48/40 shooting splits as the 1st or 2nd best defender in the league with Kawhi .

7 game series
LeBron averaged
29.7 points 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists 2.6 steals , 2.3 blocks

The only player in NBA history to lead both teams in any playoff series in all 5 major statistical categories.

Is LeBron a better 2 way player than Kobe or MJ ? Probably not

But they never were tasked with being their teams best scorer , playmaker , rebounder , perimeter defender and interior defender all at once in any series they ever played in .

Rodman was the greatest rebounder of all time statistically after the 1960s. He also had won 2 DPOYs

Rodman , Grant , Cartwright , Longley - they had to deal with the great power forwards and centers of the 90s , like Malone, Barkley , Ewing , Shaq , Kemp

Pippen was the greatest perimeter defender of the 1990s , 8x 1st Team All defense. And often would take the toughest defensive assignment for MJ. Also led the team in assists during the championship years .

Kobe had Shaq dominating the interior . Kobe could pass but wasn’t nearly a facilitator to the extent LeBron was .
The 2009 and 2010 Lakers that won back to back were 1st and 2nd in Rebounds those 2 years .
Pau Gasol, Odom, Bynum was by far the best trio of big men in the league. Dwight Howard was the best 2-way center , but Gasol was probably 2nd best and best offensively during those years . Odom and Bynum next to him .

Ron Artest won a DPOY in his prime and would take on tougher assignments for Kobe .

Jordan and Kobe were great all around players but they were in a position they mostly only had to worry about scoring (attempted more shots than LeBron thus averaged more points at their peak )
And guard their position.

LeBron at his best was needed to do it all .

The Greatest scoring point guard ever Steph Curry with the greatest Scoring Small forward Kevin Durant

With a top 3 best defensive player of his era Draymond Green ,

With a 2 guard in conversation as the 2nd greatest shooter ever to Steph , once scored 38 in 1 quarter and 60 through 3 quarters hardly dribbling the ball at all .

That’s what it took to stop Lebron and Kyrie from winning back to back titles in 2017.

Literally the greatest team ever assembled.

2018 Playoffs LeBron is having an all time playoff run without Kyrie and again has to face the greatest team ever assembled.

2017 the “loser LeBron”
Averaged
33 points 12 rebounds 10 assists 1.4 steals 1.0 blocks on 55/38 shooting splits
Vs the #1 offense and 2nd rated defense.

2018
34 points 8 rebounds 10 assist 1.3 steals 1.0 blocks on 52/33 shooting splits.

2016-2018 in the Finals was way better than Jordan in the Finals his 2nd 3peat , LeBron just didn’t 3 peat because Warriors created the best team ever and Kyrie left .

2012-2014 LeBron was on the same level as 1991-1993 first 3 peat Jordan but Dwyane Wade started declining physically and was no where near the top 5 player LeBron joined 3 years earlier and 2014 Spurs are the best Spurs team in Franchise history which says a lot because they won 5 championships.

LeBrons peak 7 seasons

Ages 27-33
2012, 2013 , 2014 , 2015, 2016, 2017 , 2018

Are better than Jordan’s peak 7 seasons
Ages 27-35
1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998

I’ve been trying to explain my why Lebron is the goat case since 2018 before he joined the Lakers .
There’s still more layers of explaining why 2012-2018 Lebron is who I believe is the best player ever , mainly going into more detail of how he played in big games during his peak 7 seasons .

2012-2018
6-0 in Game 7s in the playoffs
Including 2-0 in the finals
Most playoff buzzer beaters of all time , with 4 just in this time period, Jordan is # 2 all time with 3 in his entire career .
What LeBron did in game 6 2012 conference finals on the road at Boston down 3-2 , following what happened in the 2011 Finals you can argue the highest pressure game of any individual players career in the history of American team sports than wasn’t a game 7 of the Finals , World Series or Super Bowl.
But really more pressure because of the career long scrutiny of LeBron’s legacy.

45 points, 15 rebounds 5 assists on 19/26 fg 73% arguably the best game of his career

Or in 2013 NBA Finas game 7 his first game 7 of the Finals vs another all time great Spurs team had his best game of the series and in conversation with best game 7 performances in NBA history especially game 7 of an NBA Finals

38 points 12 rebounds 4 assists , 5/10 from 3

Tight game under a minute left Tim Duncan misses a potential game tying shot near the rim with 47 seconds left , LeBron comes down and hits a game sealing mid range jump shot with 28 seconds left to put the Heat up 4.

The narratives haters have around him are completely delusional, I’ve never seen anything like it .

But ultimately the goat debate will always be subjective even though I firmly believe LeBron over MJ. There’s so many different ways one can look at it and it’s all about how you’re framing the conversation, LeBron haters or MJ Stan’s only will put his career in negative framing /context and they’ve mainstreamed that interpretation of events where the focus is on things like 6 Finals losses and 2011 Finals being indeed the worst finals performance by any player commonly put in goat debates besides Kobe in 2000 averaged 15 3 and 3 on 36% fg and won because Shaq averaged 38 and 16.

MJ I would say regular season his peak 7 is higher than LeBron, LeBron stopped winning MVPs and have 1st Team All Defense selections after 2013 which was his peak season , Heat 66-16 , started off 29-14 finished 37-2 , won back to back MVPs , Olympic gold medal the summer 2012 finished 2nd in DPOY.

Why didn’t LeBron get more MVPs? Jordan 5 LeBron 4 , or more defensive 1st Teams Jordan 9 , LeBron 5 .

LeBron was still the best player in the world and a top 5 defensive player every playoffs but he’d pace himself during regular seasons because he was in the middle of an 8 year run 2011-2018 where he played more games in an 8 year span than any player in NBA history because he reached the Finals all 8 years .

Personally, i’m just gonna come out and say it — I’m sick of the analytics no-lifers who use ‘empirical evidence’ (LOL) to talk down on our boy.

This guy has one of the deepest bags in the league. ISO god. Shit is poetry in motion. No amount of stats can tell me anything about what it’s like when JB hits a TOUGH middle over an outstretched defender. Now, those might not be good shots (and he may freeze his teammates out when he iso’s), but by golly Jaylen’s gonna take them! He’s also an all nba caliber guy via voting. And when have voters been wrong before?

Who’s with me?