[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

It kind of gets lost in the jr Smith debacle but lebron had a chance to ice the game down 1 at the end of regulation. Instead of holding for the last shot, he instead made what was undoubtedly the right play in passing to George hill who would’ve had an open layup if he wasn’t held. We all know what happened next. 

I’m not debating whether this was the right play from a pure basketball standpoint and I’m sure if asked lebron would say he’d make the same play every time. If it works, he gets praised for his unselfishness and it’s hard to criticize him for it even though it didn’t. Still, by passing the ball he essentially took the game out of his hands.

It’s tough to really second guess the decision, as who knows what could have happened if lebron hadn’t made the pass. It’s likely he would’ve gotten double-teamed and possibly been forced to take a much worse shot or pass the ball anyway. He made a split second decision and 99.9 percent of the time it would have been the right call. I’m in no way attempting to pin this loss on him. However, if Jordan or Kobe were in this situation I’m sure they would have handled it differently and made sure they determined the outcome of the game, for better or worse.

 

 

[GronounoursParticipant]

 So basically you’re asking whether it was wrong to take the right decision, because who knows, a wrong decision might have been the right one now that we know the right decision was wrong? 

[whiteflashParticipant]

 Not a huge LBJ guy, but he shouldn’t be criticized (Not saying you are) for making the right play. He’s not, nor will he ever be, MJ or Bryant in those situations. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Personally think Klay Thompson should get more credit for fouling Hill and forcing him to earn it at the stripe under CRAZY pressure. 

[HeroescantdieParticipant]

take an open shot from a team mate from a pass from LBJ, than him taking a forced shot with a hand in his face fading in the 3pt line

[properbreaksParticipant]

Of course he should have shot the ball. That’s what you usually do when you have 49 points, but as usual he shows the world why he’ll never be Jordan and never was good as Jordan and again, that’s why they lost. and he gets criticized for not being clutch. It’s not saying he isn’t great, it’s just saying what he is and what he isn’t.

Honestly, Hill was lucky and Cleveland was lucky because in reality, he didn’t have that much separation from the defense. He wasn’t WIDE open, he was just a little open. If he was WIDE open he would have quickly laid the ball up and never got fouled. It was going to be a hard shot to make if Klay just played defense and didn’t foul him. Awesome game by Lebron, but as usual he didn’t want the responsibility of taking that shout and possibly missing, and even worst missing at the line slowly.

[WälseParticipant]

 Lebron is clutch af in these playoffs & isn’t shying away from a damn thing. Lebron made the right play.

 I guess you forgot Jordan passing to Kerr & Paxon in clutch moments…

[properbreaksParticipant]

I see you have been watching a lot of Skip and Shannon. The difference is Jordan takes that shot 85 percent of the time at the end of the game and Lebron takes it maybe 30 or 40 percent or something like that. It’s a big difference lol .

[WälseParticipant]

What makes that the proper way to play basketball? Because Jordan did it, so it shall be done? Lebron might have the highest basketball IQ I’ve ever seen & shouldn’t be expected to take every last shot (or 85% of them) just because a great player before him did. That reasoning doesn’t make sense to me.

[properbreaksParticipant]

It’s not all about Lebron and Jordan. Almost every star player in the NBA over the years is the guy who takes the shot at the end of the game. I’m talking Barkley, Kobe, Dominique, even stars like Vince Carter will take the last shot usually. It makes it 10 times more noticeable that a playa as great as Lebron continues NOT to take the shot. It’s not even about Jordan, it’s about almost all superstars.

[WälseParticipant]

 But where do you draw the line? When does making the right basketball play overrule what a star player is "supposed" to do? If the double comes can he pass, or is he still supposed to take the last shot? Hero ball is not condusive to winning & I think no one is better equipped to make that decision than Lebron. I know Kobe has the reputation for being clutch, but how many bad shots at the end of games did he take? & you say Lebron continues to not take the last shot, but that’s not true at all in these playoffs, is it?

[WälseParticipant]

 I also heard somewhere that in these playoffs Lebron has more buzzer beaters than Kobe had in his playoff career. The "not taking the last shot" narrative is old news & needs to die.

[FuqdatassParticipant]

 with the NBA draft? 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Lebron needs his role players to step up in order to win. He has to pass that ball in that situation game one. It shows his teammates he trusts them. Thats the reason why they are here because his trust in his teammates has never wavered. 

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