Lots of people are saying that LeBron James reminds them of a young LaVar Ball ... I don't know if that's true, but lots of people are saying that, and by the way - very, very smart people. I mean, the smartest, OK? So we'll have to wait and see. It's gonna be terrific.
Lots of people are saying that LeBron James reminds them of a young LaVar Ball ... I don't know if that's true, but lots of people are saying that, and by the way - very, very smart people. I mean, the smartest, OK? So we'll have to wait and see. It's gonna be terrific.
I'm not sure about that. Lavar Ball is a legend. They even named the orange sphere after him.
Pretty crazy. Either he will go Iron Man until his late 30s or it will be a sudden collapse of his body. _________________ From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 35812 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 2:37 pm Post subject:
governator wrote:
So who's gonna end up 3rd all time in 2025?
Kobe
LeBron
Dirk
Durant
Durant doesn't seem like a guy who will have a lot of longevity given his injury history. He's currently 56th and probably only stays in the league for another 5-6 healthy, productive seasons. _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
So who's gonna end up 3rd all time in 2025?
Kobe
LeBron
Dirk
Durant
I would be surprised if it's Nowitzki (insufficient opportunity left to accumulate points) or Durant (injury woes will probably stop him somewhere in the 22,500 - 25,000 range).
So either Kobe or LeBron ... and I'm guessing LeBron lands somewhere between 33,000 and 34,500 points or so, so probably LeBron in the all time scoring category.
When it's all said and done, as much as I loathe Lebron, he'll be in the conversation of top 3-5.
For a lot of people, if not most, he's already there.
He's in the conversation for 8-12 slots for sure. If he repeats his great feat from last year a couple more times, he's definitely in the conversation for top 5-7, maybe more. If he gets six or seven, doubling what he has now, he's gotta be considered for the top spot. I have Shaq and Kobe both over him by a decent margin. I doubt most have him in top 3-5 and if he were to stop today, I bet history would correct that view but he can make it all moot with a ring this year beating the West's representative and a couple more. But 3 rings won't cut it. I think he gets 4 this year, which is going to be a big feat given the bit more competitive East (for a change), and the Spurs or Warriors.
IMO, players in all sports seem to be going longer in their careers. So I could really see him playing another 5 at a very high (as in viable MVP candidate) level and taper relatively slowly down after that. With all that great experience, there is no reason I can see now why he could not contend for rings every one of those 5 seasons and some of they years beyond that if he paces himself like Tim Duncan did. Serena is 36, Federer is the best player at 35 this year, Tom Brady, Vince Carter, probably in other sports too.
When it's all said and done, as much as I loathe Lebron, he'll be in the conversation of top 3-5.
For a lot of people, if not most, he's already there.
He's in the conversation for 8-12 slots for sure. If he repeats his great feat from last year a couple more times, he's definitely in the conversation for top 5-7, maybe more. If he gets six or seven, doubling what he has now, he's gotta be considered for the top spot. I have Shaq and Kobe both over him by a decent margin. I doubt most have him in top 3-5 and if he were to stop today, I bet history would correct that view but he can make it all moot with a ring this year beating the West's representative and a couple more. But 3 rings won't cut it. I think he gets 4 this year, which is going to be a big feat given the bit more competitive East (for a change), and the Spurs or Warriors.
IMO, players in all sports seem to be going longer in their careers. So I could really see him playing another 5 at a very high (as in viable MVP candidate) level and taper relatively slowly down after that. With all that great experience, there is no reason I can see now why he could not contend for rings every one of those 5 seasons and some of they years beyond that if he paces himself like Tim Duncan did. Serena is 36, Federer is the best player at 35 this year, Tom Brady, Vince Carter, probably in other sports too.
So he only has to replicate what he did last June two more times to get into the conversation for the 5 - 7 range ... ? That's a pretty charitable view you have ...
So who's gonna end up 3rd all time in 2025?
Kobe
LeBron
Dirk
Durant
Karl Malone, after Lebron passes him.
Correct.
If he plays until 40 then he will pass Malone.
The earliest I could see Lebron pass Malone is age 37. But that's all a factor of whether he suffers injuries and how much his production falls off, which are hard to predict with any sense of accuracy. As you get into your mid 30s, you can end a career pretty quickly.
When it's all said and done, as much as I loathe Lebron, he'll be in the conversation of top 3-5.
For a lot of people, if not most, he's already there.
He's in the conversation for 8-12 slots for sure. If he repeats his great feat from last year a couple more times, he's definitely in the conversation for top 5-7, maybe more.
Lebron generates emotional reactions, especially on LG, and it can be difficult to gauge a player's ultimate ranking while his career is going full force. That said, most of the recent rankings I've seen from the big sports publications have routinely put Lebron in the top 5 already, with some putting him as high as 2.
I wouldn't go that high myself, but at this point I think he'd be a safe bet for top 5 if his career ended today. If "he repeats his great feat from last year a couple more times," the only debate would be whether Jordan is still ahead of him.
Joined: 25 Jul 2013 Posts: 9577 Location: Salem, OR
Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 8:04 pm Post subject:
I think Lebron's gonna retire as the GOAT, not only because of his peak, but longevity. He's been arguably the best player in the league since 2009, will finish with at least 4 MVP's, 3 Finals MVP's, likely will finish with at least 34K points (which would be 3rd all time), 9K rebounds, 9K assists (which would be 8th all time), 2K steals (which would be top 12 all time), and 900 blocks. His shortcomings in '07, '14, and '15 were primarily a function of him not having the proper team around him, due to the poorly constructed roster around him in '07, which had no business in the Finals, Wade and Bosh both wetting the bed in '14, and Irving and Love both being injured, while Lebron put up 36/13/9 in 6 games.
lol at all the goat talk. good luck with leaving a stronger impression than mj. or magic. or wilt. or kareem. or kobe. or bird. also, good luck confiscating all the full games in the future from exposing a bunch of stuff.
I wouldn't go that high myself, but at this point I think he'd be a safe bet for top 5 if his career ended today. If "he repeats his great feat from last year a couple more times," the only debate would be whether Jordan is still ahead of him.
Barring some career ending injury, and assuming that his career plays out with the normal decline due to age, we're already there. If he were to win a couple more rings (which looks unlikely to me), it would be hard to argue for MJ over Lebron.
Lebron was already in the discussion for top 2 when he was in Miami. People here were just really resistant to that because they disliked him. Of course the media exaggerated and many of his fans were making that case, but I saw enough people make the comparison with MJ that it was really annoying to me.
But part of that is because some people believe that athletes tend to get better over time. So in the future, another great player will come along and people will argue he is the best and better than Lebron/MJ because the competition in the future will be "tougher."
I also think the success Jordan had tended to spoil people. As good as his teams were, he was still very fortunate to go 6 for 6 in the Finals, and I think that even for him that was more difficult than a lot of people realize. I actually saw people arguing that Lebron was going to win 6 after he had just won his first because they said MJ won his first around the same age.
I would have liked to see MJ go for his fourth in 94 and face the Houston Rockets in the Finals.
When it's all said and done, as much as I loathe Lebron, he'll be in the conversation of top 3-5.
For a lot of people, if not most, he's already there.
He's in the conversation for 8-12 slots for sure. If he repeats his great feat from last year a couple more times, he's definitely in the conversation for top 5-7, maybe more. If he gets six or seven, doubling what he has now, he's gotta be considered for the top spot. I have Shaq and Kobe both over him by a decent margin. I doubt most have him in top 3-5 and if he were to stop today, I bet history would correct that view but he can make it all moot with a ring this year beating the West's representative and a couple more. But 3 rings won't cut it. I think he gets 4 this year, which is going to be a big feat given the bit more competitive East (for a change), and the Spurs or Warriors.
IMO, players in all sports seem to be going longer in their careers. So I could really see him playing another 5 at a very high (as in viable MVP candidate) level and taper relatively slowly down after that. With all that great experience, there is no reason I can see now why he could not contend for rings every one of those 5 seasons and some of they years beyond that if he paces himself like Tim Duncan did. Serena is 36, Federer is the best player at 35 this year, Tom Brady, Vince Carter, probably in other sports too.
So he only has to replicate what he did last June two more times to get into the conversation for the 5 - 7 range ... ? That's a pretty charitable view you have ...
I don't mean he has to come back from 3-1 every time, just meant the ring and added in great feat bc I just remembered how impressive it was with the great comeback in that finals. To me, it was a significant step towards the all time greats in the top 10. So I am not being uncharitable there. 5-7 range is pretty freakin amazing to me, anyway considering the people there now ahead of him and beyond that in the top 5.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum