I mean, he very clearly is the best player in the world. It would almost be dishonest of him to say otherwise. Also, that "one man show" actually was by far the undermanned Cavs best chance at winning. It allowed his teammates to conserve energy for defense, reduced the number of possessions in the game (thus increasing variance) and kept a historically great team from playing the sort of game it wanted to play. LeBron is wildly egotistical. He's also the best player of his generation, one of the smartest players ever and everything people should want out of a superstar (on court wise). The Golden State Warriors were dope though, I am a huge Curry fan and they were the best team for literally the entire season. Great, great team.
The next few weeks? It's the next DAY and everybody is already talking about how if Kyrie and Kevin can stay healthy next year, based on LeBron's performance in just these finals, they could not just be the favorite to win it all, but there's already talk of them being the best team OF ALL TIME.
Couldn't disagree more, and (for what it's worth), essentially every sharp basketball mind I've read thinks LeBron was great. Matthew Dellavadova was playing big minutes, and he's terrible at offensing. Tristan Thompson switched shooting hands 4 years ago. The Cavs had 7 rotation players, and one of them was James Jones. The Cavs went further and did better than their team construction suggested, and that is completely because of LeBron James' transcendent brilliance. They nearly beat Golden State twice on its home floor. The Cavs absolutely collapsed in the small moments when he was not on the floor. The possessions where he didn't isolate or PnR has paltry expectations. This wasn't a case of him calling off two hall of famers and playing hero ball: this was him realizing that Cleveland had two paths to points. Either he was going to score or dish it, or they were going to use their size advantage on the offensive boards. Golden State was the most efficient offensive team in the league (they might have been edged by LAC at the end, but the point stands). They were the most efficient defensive team in the league. They won 67 games in a loaded conference and were major favorites. This was a team whose profile was historically great, and the fact that Cleveland made them sweat like they did is pretty remarkable. Point totals. Assist totals. Usage totals. The fact that they made this a series. Those are all the things that made this remarkable. There is not a single other current player you could have put in LeBron's place that would have even made it even this close, and that, more than anything else, is what makes it so impressive.
They of course had being on the losing team as main connection. Got my 2015 NBA Championship hat for Fathers day. I am sure everyone here was waiting for me to announce that.
This free agency is going to give me a heart attack. Especially as a Spurs fan, awaiting news on LaMarcus Aldridge.
Draymond Green has signed a five year $85 million dollar contract to remain a Golden State Warrior. The ownership has publicly said they do not care about the going over the payroll cap, they want to keep the team together. All other teams can just start to figure out who wants to finish second right now.
Will be 4 year/(more than, depending on the cap) $80 million deal, opt-out option after year three. Let the title chase commence... Spurs are just a machine. Being able to resign Green while working out room for Aldridge is just amazing. Best front office in the NBA.
The general consensus among local media and *realistic* Spurs fans was that there was no way in hell to both get Aldridge and keep Green. If they wanted Aldridge, Green's defense alone (has an incredible ability to block for a guard) put him out of the Spurs' price range. The offense put him waaayyyy out of reach. And losing him was an acceptable casualty if it meant getting LMA. Make no mistake, the fact Green signed for 4yr/$45m was all his doing. There was no fancy front office cap management. He simply took way below market value to stay. That contract is already a steal, and it's going to look downright unfair once the salary cap takes a jump. The fact that the Spurs start next season with Green/Kawhi/Aldridge is downright scary. It's weird to say it, but two Hall of Famers -- Duncan and Parker -- are our weakest links in the starting 5. Spurs starting five is a legitimate "big 5," big 6 if you include Manu still.
Spurs have big plans for Kyle Anderson -- last year's first round pick -- this coming year. Ideally, they'd like to have lineups where Kawhi runs the 2, with Anderson playing the 3. Anderson's versatility will play a huge role in this, as will Kawhi's extraordinary defensive capabilities to exploit and create mismatches. One thing that has always been a Spurs staple is that type of versatility. That's why Splitter was so invaluable the last few years; they definitely do not win the '14 title without his playoff defense and ability to adjust to different offensive perimeter players. He will be a tough loss, but unfortunately, a necessary casualty to fit Aldridge into the fold. This is without a doubt an exciting time to be a Spurs fan in their quest to reclaim the championship.
I was a fan of SloMo well before he entered the draft, and saw him basically as a perfect fit for the Spurs. Unfortunately, I figured he'd go late lottery. The fact that he fell into the Spurs' laps is just not fair (well, for everyone else). What's funny is, all the Spurs fans are freaking out that we lost Splitter, Baynes, Marco, Joseph (all of whom will make more than duncan, btw). Well, did you want Aldridge or not? You can't keep the team intact and add two max contracts in one off-season. Kawhi is gonna be a steal in a few years on that contract, and if $tern were still running the helm he would have vetoed Green's contract in the name of "competitive balance."
I wasn't going to post about free agency, because it has been exciting, but a lot of it has been generally predicted and nothing really surprising. BUT THIS DAVID WEST SHIT RIGHT HERE? That's some fucking bullshit. That's some goddamn shenanigans. "David West, how about you come get this chip, then we drop dumb money on you when the cap explodes? Awesome. Here is your 1.5m. Your signing bonus is 2 gallons of gasoline, and a Indiana Pacers matchbook because you need something to burn the 10.5 mill you just left on the goddamn table. Holy fucking shit, this is some goddamn wizardry. GODDAMN WIZARDRY. They have truly become the Patriots of the NBA.
In regards to cap wizardry and when you get a guy who could easily make 12 million to take a 1.5, SOMETHING is afoot.
He wants to win. He's a two-time All Star who's made over $87 million in his career. He also turned down the MMLE from the Cavs and the full MLE from the Wizards. I'm sure with the money flying around this off season he could have made many tens of millions on the open market if he were so inclined. Job satisfaction, I guess. However, even as a Spurs fan, I gotta admit they can probably stop now. Duncan will average like 10 minutes a game during the regular season, and there's gonna be a lot of pissed off coaches when the Spurs go for hockey substitutions and bring in Patty Mills, Ginobili, West and Diaw.
Dear 76ers: A Spurs second round pick and the older brother of another one of their second round picks just made a fool out of your #3 lottery pick. Condolences.
Who, after a shaky first half, then finished with a 20-9-2 line for the night in his first professional 5 on 5 action. Dude is gonna be ok.
Reports are coming out that Deandre Jordan is leaning towards returning to the Clippers, thus reneging on his verbal agreement with the Mavs. Would be a complete Cuban shitstorm if that were to happen. Will be interesting to see how this plays out. Supposedly, DJ was the one who reached back out towards the Clippers to set up another meeting...
That shit was purely epic. It could not have been better. Cuban must have gone nuclear somewhere. No way he saw this happening. Chandler Parsons is pretty upset himself, all that wining and dining of a large man lead to him getting no love back. The Clippers fucked up so badly in their first presentation, this should have been impossible. Guess moving and not being around BAD LA chicks was too upsetting.