duncan228
05-26-2009, 01:34 PM
The opposing view is here:
LeBron needs a ring before we can think of crowning him king
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127315
Recognize LeBron's greatness now ... or your own stupidity later (http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/11788957)
By Gregg Doyel
CBSSports.com National Columnist
It seems a little early for this, and a lot foolish for this, but here we are: The LeBron James backlash has begun. He's only 24, but writers are tired of writing about him. Readers are tired of reading about him.
All of you silly people who are tired of LeBron James, do me a favor. Maybe you're a sportswriter or a blogger and you've written something like my friend at the Orlando Sentinel, Mike Bianchi, wrote on Monday (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/orl-sportsbianchi-25052509may25,0,7685033.column). Maybe you're a reader and you've gone onto a message board and nodded along with something like you'll find here (http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/messages/board/15213563) at CBSSports.com on Monday.
Here's the favor I need: Print out whatever you wrote. Print out whatever you read. The story, the message-board post, whatever. Print it. And save it. And 20 years from now, go back and read it.
You'll be humiliated.
Because by then it will be obvious: The game's greatest player was right in front of your eyes. And you missed it.
The same thing is happening in golf. Tiger Woods is the greatest player in that sport's history. He hasn't played long enough to wipe every last vestige of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer from the record book, but he will. He'll get there. And when he does, when Tiger Woods is officially and not just subjectively recognized as the greatest golfer of all time, who will you be? Will you be one of the people who recognized his greatness -- I don't care if you appreciate it, just recognize it -- or will you be one of the people who didn't?
This is like being alive in the year 25. If Jesus was really around back then, healing dead people and turning water to wine, imagine being one of the negative knuckleheads who didn't believe.
Did I just compare LeBron to Jesus?
Looks like I did.
At least I didn't compare LeBron to Tim Tebow. That would be blasphemy.
Moving on ...
This story isn't just about LeBron. It's about you. Take some personal inventory and try to decide, if you're one of the growing number of people sick of LeBron James, why that is. Maybe you're a Magic fan, at which point I understand. You're excused. Your competitive juices are flowing, and NBA game officials are giving James too much leeway for your liking, and so for the moment you dig your feet into the ground and refuse to buy into the Nike slogan and be a witness to King James. Fine. Completely understandable. But when this series ends, one way or the other, acknowledge James' greatness or risk ridicule -- your own ridicule -- 20 years from now when his greatness is stated as a matter of fact.
Kind of like the way we now state Michael Jordan's greatness.
Which brings me to the other group of people who would deny LeBron: the title worshippers.
Mentally, you're weak. Know why? Because you're not strong enough to sift through all the evidence to determine the greatest players of all time. Forget all that. Forget the way a player plays, the things he does. All you want -- all you can handle -- is a great player's number of championship rings. Michael Jordan won six. LeBron has none. Therefore, Jordan is greater than LeBron.
Well, here's the thing. LeBron is only 24 years old. He'll probably get there, and get his ring or two or five. But if he doesn't, develop the intellectual acuity it takes to understand that a great player's supporting cast will determine if he wins a title, and if so, how many he wins.
Put it this way: Tim Duncan won four NBA titles. Wilt Chamberlain won two. Does that make Duncan twice the player? Please. Chamberlain is the dominant big man in NBA history. Duncan is a very good player, maybe one of the top 25 at any position, ever. But between the two, there is no comparison.
Wilt didn't win his first title until he was 30. And he won it with a supporting cast that included two Hall of Famers in their prime, Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham, and 18,000-point scorer Chet Walker. Look at LeBron's supporting cast. Who are his Hall of Fame teammates? Hell, who is his Chet Walker? None. And nobody. Mo Williams is the only legitimate starter in that lineup, and still the Cavs went 66-16 this season.
Imagine this. Imagine LeBron switching places with Los Angeles' Kobe Bryant. Give James a frontcourt of Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol. LeBron and those Lakers would have gone 78-4.
The greatest player in college basketball history, Pete Maravich, never won a title. The greatest quarterback in the NFL, Dan Marino, never won a Super Bowl. The greatest baseball player, statistically, of all time -- Barry Bonds -- never won a World Series. You can argue Bonds' legitimacy, what with the steroid question, but you cannot argue that he was the best player in baseball for almost 15 years. By a large margin. And he only played in one World Series, losing in 2002.
So here we are. LeBron James. An annual threat to win the NBA scoring title, as he did last year, and one of the best passers in the game. And the second-leading vote getter for the 2009 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He does it all, and he makes it look easy.
And you're sick of him?
Or, more galling, you don't even understand what you're watching?
Maybe the problem isn't LeBron. Maybe the problem is you. Try watching lacrosse. Because you can't handle basketball.
LeBron needs a ring before we can think of crowning him king
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127315
Recognize LeBron's greatness now ... or your own stupidity later (http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/11788957)
By Gregg Doyel
CBSSports.com National Columnist
It seems a little early for this, and a lot foolish for this, but here we are: The LeBron James backlash has begun. He's only 24, but writers are tired of writing about him. Readers are tired of reading about him.
All of you silly people who are tired of LeBron James, do me a favor. Maybe you're a sportswriter or a blogger and you've written something like my friend at the Orlando Sentinel, Mike Bianchi, wrote on Monday (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/orl-sportsbianchi-25052509may25,0,7685033.column). Maybe you're a reader and you've gone onto a message board and nodded along with something like you'll find here (http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/messages/board/15213563) at CBSSports.com on Monday.
Here's the favor I need: Print out whatever you wrote. Print out whatever you read. The story, the message-board post, whatever. Print it. And save it. And 20 years from now, go back and read it.
You'll be humiliated.
Because by then it will be obvious: The game's greatest player was right in front of your eyes. And you missed it.
The same thing is happening in golf. Tiger Woods is the greatest player in that sport's history. He hasn't played long enough to wipe every last vestige of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer from the record book, but he will. He'll get there. And when he does, when Tiger Woods is officially and not just subjectively recognized as the greatest golfer of all time, who will you be? Will you be one of the people who recognized his greatness -- I don't care if you appreciate it, just recognize it -- or will you be one of the people who didn't?
This is like being alive in the year 25. If Jesus was really around back then, healing dead people and turning water to wine, imagine being one of the negative knuckleheads who didn't believe.
Did I just compare LeBron to Jesus?
Looks like I did.
At least I didn't compare LeBron to Tim Tebow. That would be blasphemy.
Moving on ...
This story isn't just about LeBron. It's about you. Take some personal inventory and try to decide, if you're one of the growing number of people sick of LeBron James, why that is. Maybe you're a Magic fan, at which point I understand. You're excused. Your competitive juices are flowing, and NBA game officials are giving James too much leeway for your liking, and so for the moment you dig your feet into the ground and refuse to buy into the Nike slogan and be a witness to King James. Fine. Completely understandable. But when this series ends, one way or the other, acknowledge James' greatness or risk ridicule -- your own ridicule -- 20 years from now when his greatness is stated as a matter of fact.
Kind of like the way we now state Michael Jordan's greatness.
Which brings me to the other group of people who would deny LeBron: the title worshippers.
Mentally, you're weak. Know why? Because you're not strong enough to sift through all the evidence to determine the greatest players of all time. Forget all that. Forget the way a player plays, the things he does. All you want -- all you can handle -- is a great player's number of championship rings. Michael Jordan won six. LeBron has none. Therefore, Jordan is greater than LeBron.
Well, here's the thing. LeBron is only 24 years old. He'll probably get there, and get his ring or two or five. But if he doesn't, develop the intellectual acuity it takes to understand that a great player's supporting cast will determine if he wins a title, and if so, how many he wins.
Put it this way: Tim Duncan won four NBA titles. Wilt Chamberlain won two. Does that make Duncan twice the player? Please. Chamberlain is the dominant big man in NBA history. Duncan is a very good player, maybe one of the top 25 at any position, ever. But between the two, there is no comparison.
Wilt didn't win his first title until he was 30. And he won it with a supporting cast that included two Hall of Famers in their prime, Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham, and 18,000-point scorer Chet Walker. Look at LeBron's supporting cast. Who are his Hall of Fame teammates? Hell, who is his Chet Walker? None. And nobody. Mo Williams is the only legitimate starter in that lineup, and still the Cavs went 66-16 this season.
Imagine this. Imagine LeBron switching places with Los Angeles' Kobe Bryant. Give James a frontcourt of Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol. LeBron and those Lakers would have gone 78-4.
The greatest player in college basketball history, Pete Maravich, never won a title. The greatest quarterback in the NFL, Dan Marino, never won a Super Bowl. The greatest baseball player, statistically, of all time -- Barry Bonds -- never won a World Series. You can argue Bonds' legitimacy, what with the steroid question, but you cannot argue that he was the best player in baseball for almost 15 years. By a large margin. And he only played in one World Series, losing in 2002.
So here we are. LeBron James. An annual threat to win the NBA scoring title, as he did last year, and one of the best passers in the game. And the second-leading vote getter for the 2009 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He does it all, and he makes it look easy.
And you're sick of him?
Or, more galling, you don't even understand what you're watching?
Maybe the problem isn't LeBron. Maybe the problem is you. Try watching lacrosse. Because you can't handle basketball.