[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

I’m triggered. How does a potential "GOAT" play so half-assed in this do-or-die road game?? Lebron honestly right now is giving off that super annoying "I’m the best player on the team/in the world so no one can get mad at me" vibe in this game.

First of all, he is passing up shots he should take to get himself going to others even if he isnt doubled. It’s like he shies away from taking any run-starting shots. Next, he consistently loses his man on defense. He doesn’t have his knees bent in every defensive possession, and you when you compare his defensive stance to his other 4 teammates, you can clearly see he is not engaged.

I know there will be defenses for him like, "he’s just tired from carrying the team" or "did you see his stats?? How much more can he do??". The fact is, Lebron can takeove the game whenever he wants to (as evidenced by his bullyball post up vs Iguodala). It’s just seems like in this game he DOESN’T want to. It’s like he conditioned his mind that this game was a lost cause.

A lot of us here I assume are ballers, and I know you too can distinguish very poor body language when you see it. Lebron just put that on full display a while ago. And its not just this game, a lot of times during the regular season, he goes on these half-assed, no effort spurts of play.

I don’t deny Lebron’s greatness, he’s obviously in contention for GOAT. But to put my thoughts into conclusion, Lebron just doesn’t have the DOG in him, like Jordan or Kobe had, and he reminded me of this fact in today’s game.

[Big_C_KUParticipant]

Dude just put up 41, 13, and 8. Can’t bag on him. 

[Reptilian MonkParticipant]

 Game 5 Lebron: 41 points , 19/30 fg, 63.3 percent from field, 13 rebounds, 8 assist. Averaged a triple double in the Finals. 

Lebron is an all time great. Warriors are just the much better team. Much better shooters, defense, and passing team. 

 

 

[wonzi_bellsParticipant]

 They were giving him those shots, so they could ice the game. What you want him to do?

[ZouldiersParticipant]

 Blame their defense for giving up wide open looks not Lebron James SMH.

[SubZeroParticipant]

JR had at least 2 bad switches leading to wide open shots each game

[losnopesosParticipant]

LBJ is top five all-time, no doubt.  But his game just isn’t dynamic.  He’s an unstoppable force going to the bucket…but only in a straight line.  He doesn’t break anyone down like Irving does.  He’s got a very intersting set of skills.  He can’t shoot threes or free throws (below league average), he’s an amazing passer, he has supreme basketball knowledge and can run point, but also a great post player.  The fact that he’s a career below average FT and three point shooter, is so ball dominant, and lacks the ability to consistently get easy layups like Irving makes him hard to play with.  The Cavs don’t have the ball movement or shooting the Warriors do.  Durant is 7 feet and shoots 90+ % from the FT.  How is the supposed next GOAT shooting less than 70% from the line?  How many times has LBJ deferred and, to his credit, he made the right decision to pass.  But the GOAT takes that shot and makes it, because any GOAT can shoot, LBJ can’t. 

[SubZeroParticipant]

Magic Johnson was a 30% career 3 point shooter

[SubZeroParticipant]

I can never find it in me to criticize Lebron for not overcoming the biggest obstacle a superstar has ever faced in the Finals. He’s not MJ, so what? Why can’t everyone be fine with him being the 2nd best player ever? No, he doesn’t always have that edge that MJ and Kobe always had. It’d be cool if he did, but he’s not a sociopath like those 2 are. After hating Lebron for the first 12 years of his career, I’m just so tired of people finding anything and everything they can to hate on him. I’ve never seen any famous person be nitpicked like he is everyday

[losnopesosParticipant]

 I was on the Lebron hype train for a long time.  I DGAF when he went to Miami.  He broke no rules, he’s not out getting drunk AF in clubs causing a ruckus.  He’s a model citizen, a role model (unlike MJ, Kobe).  But that alpha edge that he doesn’t have, is the difference.  And I think it’s because if there’s five seconds left on the clock, and you’re down one, do you want the ball in Kyrie’s hands, or Lebron’s?

[SubZeroParticipant]

I’m not disputing that, I’m just saying I can’t believe so many people overlook the first 47 and a half minutes he plays because he isn’t always the guy who takes the last shot

[wonzi_bellsParticipant]

 Y’all really out here thinking LeBron didn’t give it his all, like he’s suppose to be God or something? Crazy

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

Yea call me crazy if you want. I watched the game like I assume you did, and I don’t think he gave it his all.

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

Yea, I’d figure it would be hard to argue my point as again, people would say look at his stats, what else could he do? I get it. It’s just, when I see poor body language in a DO-OR-DIE game by a player I acknowledge as one of the league’s best players, I can’t just let it get pass me.

I think that I have to point out that his effort was super lacking on defense. He got 13 rebounds, but he constantly misses a lot of box outs. In one possession, he let Draymond get the offensive rebound even when he was in front of him as he just stood there. On defense, he lost his man A LOT, especially of the ball.

41,13,8, amazing stats. Stats that Lebron could get in his sleep. But poor defensive effort is poor defensive effort. Poor body language is poor body language. There are stuff you just can’t measure with the stat sheet, and unfortunately, effort is one of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[losnopesosParticipant]

 He’s 33, and has more miles than my dad’s 1988 Chevy pickup.  I believe (and hope, honestly) that he is on everything that modern medicine has to offer to extend the career of an athlete.  Good on these guys for having next-level care over their bodies.  But father time hates all his sons, and after a decade and a half of efffort, you’re borrowing from the future the next year and now you’ve got to play 45 mpg again.  

[HeroescantdieParticipant]

It’s just that the warriors found a cheat code in the NBA 

[BleedGreen808Participant]

I don’t see how you can put the blame on Lebron when he averaged 33pts/12rebs/10asts in the Finals while shooting 56% from the field and 38% from 3. He played 42 minutes a game having to guard KD on defense while creating offense for himself and his teammates.  What more could you ask the guy to do?

[losnopesosParticipant]

 One offensive rebound.  Like Westbrook did to average a triple double, LBJ gets gifted a lot of rebounds that multiple players could get to pad his stats. Still an amazing feat to average a triple double in the NBA finals, but I don’t think it contributes to winning all that much.  Curry had more offensive boards than LBJ this series, let that sink in.  I’d bet twice as many. 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 There were a few plays in this game when his defensive effort was less than stellar. I’ll give you that. But you have to remember the guy played 47 mins and basically had to carry his team to victory. Kyrie was below average and love really never got going at all. All things considered, this might have been one of the best games I’ve seen him play. He was clearly running on fumes but gave everything he had against a superior opponent. 

The standard we hold this guy to is ridiculous. You think Jordan never took a possession off defensively to preserve himself down the stretch in a big game? You have to remember he is human after all.

 

[capecodderParticipant]

 Blaming Lebron for the loss is equivalent to saying Jerry West and Elgin Baylor were failures because they couldn’t beat a Celtics team in 1962 with seven future hall of famers plus Red Auerbach

[MatosParticipant]

The thing people are forgetting is that LeBron had to pace himself and be great for all games and even then they lost. He consistently had to play Durant, and while Durant balled out on offense, he didnt have to carry the weight. It wasn’t as if he had no one to pick up his slack if he sat on the bench. Had the Warriors been your typical finals team, you can pressure Durant and let his "other teamates" beat you. The problem here is that his "other" teamate is a two time MVP. Even Curry-aside, his "others" include Draymond, Klay Thompson (lights out) and a wide open Iguodala because folks are trying to pressure those first four guys I mentioned.

Fact of the matter is that with this Cavs squad, they were playing uphill from the start. Kyrie didnt play at a level they needed him to in games 1 & 2. Of the games that they lost, Kevin Love had one "all-star" caliber scoring game in game 2 (27 points). He rebounded the ball well in game 1, but its unnacceptable for him to have low scoring games. Love had 9 points in game 3 and 6 points last night. They absolutely can’t win when their third best player has that kind of output. 

Cavs had 60 points in the first half last night. Their bench had TWO poiunts. Kevin love had ZERO. 58 of those 60 points came from four players and TT had 8 points. They were outmatched and it wasn’t LeBron’s fault.

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