The NBA Thread.

In some cases players like LeBron were talking about how irresponsible it was to criticize China. I like LeBron but all he gives a shit about is money and how many $$$s the Morey tweet cost him.
Watching the mental gymnastics of people like Kerr go out of their way to not weigh in on China, Hong Kong, etc. while ripping on the 'authoritarian' Trump administration was comical.
Social activism is an income stream in America, not so much in China.

 

I did chuckle when I read Kerr's tweet about kneeling. Well scripted to say "we care about justice in America, not China".

 

I'm not trying to discredit or ignore their social justice efforts, but I do think it hurts their credibility. I'm obviously a big time LeBron supporter, but it's hard for me to take him seriously when he's saying shit like "We're literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes!" but then refuses to comment at all on what he knows is taking place in China.

 

The US issues' credibility is unaffected. It is simply wrong to ignore what China is doing. That's it. The only connection is when someone consciously or unconsciously wishes to ignore one (or both, I suppose).

 

These games have been incredible so far. Tough loss for Grizz, but I haven't stressed over a game for 5 months. Feels great.

 

So, uh... Jayson Tatum cooled off a bit...

Dude was playing like a top 10 player in the league before the break. Currently has 3 points with 2 minutes left in the 3rd.

 

Thought this was an interesting graphic, with how high everyone has been on Kawhi. I've even seen people go as far as to say he's a top 10 player of all time if he wins another title this season.

 

Can someone help me understand the narrative that the East has improved?

The number two team (Raptors) lost their best player (by a wide margin) from last year.

The number four team (Heat) starts two undrafted players.

the number five team is the Pacers (need I say more?), and they were missing their best player for most of the season.

The Nets are about to make the playoffs despite missing their best two players.

I just don’t see it. The conference looks as top heavy as ever to me.

 

Luka Doncic is special. He may take the best player in the world throne once LeBron finally slows down.

 

Josh Richardson went for 34, 5, and 6 today in a loss to the Blazers (without Simmons and Embiid). Pretty crazy numbers for the former Vol.

 

New NBA rules that basically dance all around the words of "no booty calls" are hysterical.

 

LeBron’s path to an NBA Championship likely goes through:

- Damian Lillard
- James Harden/Russel Westbrook
- Kawhi/Paul George
- Giannis

If he wins one this year, I think he definitively becomes the GOAT in my mind.

I also find it pretty funny that people claim the East has caught up with the West, despite the fact that Damian Lillard (of the 8 seed Blazers) would be the second best player in the East playoff bracket. Same could be said for Harden, Kawhi, and probably eve Jokic.

 

And, yet, the best team in the bubble has been Toronto. Lilliard has been on a tear, but he's one guy, which is why his team in seeded eighth despite teams ahead of Portland not having as good of a player as him.

We'll see about LeBron. It's hard to quantify the bubble vs. the regular atmosphere of home and away playoffs. Jordan led the Bulls to a title at the same age, too.

 

Who cares who the best team in the bubble has been? Half of the teams had nothing to play for multiple games. McCollum, Nurkic, and Whiteside are all pretty solid. Carmelo hasn’t been bad either.

I’d say the bubble is a disadvantage to Bron and the Lakers. The hiatus allowed a lot of teams to get fully healthy, and obviously the Lakers won’t have the home court advantage they earned.

MJ may have been as old, but LeBron has logged far more minutes. It’s also a fair statement to say that LeBron will likely face tougher competition in this year’s playoffs with a worse team than MJ in 98.

 

The '98 Bulls were running on fumes, so I'm not sold Jordan's team was any better in '98. After '98, his teammates were quickly out of the league or role players, even Pippen, who dropped off quite a bit after leaving Chicago. None of them in '98 were as good as Anthony Davis is now.

Competition wise, Portland isn't very good, especially on defense. Maybe getting Nurkic will propel them to greater heights, but, if you have to sell me on Whiteside and an aging Carmelo, then I'm not convinced.

The bubble has its challenges, but Chicago also did not have home court advantage in the Finals and had to win a Game 6 in a crazy Utah arena against two HoF players. I'd rather be in the bubble, if I were the Bulls. Plus, in the end, Jordan would still have two more rings. I'd still have LeBron a solid #2.

 

Was hoping the Grizz would sneak in. But, young and caught the injury bug in the bubble.

Still, nobody expected that out of them this year and they are going to be a fun team for the next few years.

 

The team drops off a cliff after Anthony Davis, and Davis himself has no legitimate playoff resume. Davis has all the talent in the world, but he’s proven to be relatively soft, and he hasn’t shown the ability to advance in the playoffs. We will see if he can change that this year.

Portland is an outstanding offensive team, and they’re a mismatch for the Lakers, whose best perimeter defender opted out of the bubble. I think the Lakers beat them, but it’s a relatively tough first round match up for a 1 seed.

We already know that you’re not moving off MJ no matter what LeBron does, regardless of how hypocritical the stance is. The 2 more rings thing is stupid. Might as well just crown Bill Russell now.

The Lakers toughest series will be arguably against the Clippers. They earned home court advantage against them but won’t get to enjoy it, not to mention the fact that both teams are in LA, and even the away games of that series would likely feel more like home games for the Lakers if played outside the bubble.

Either way, I don’t think anyone can deny the difficulty of the path the Lakers will have to take.

 

Oh, sweet Jesus. Hypocrisy. Give me a break.

 

I thought we already determined that for Jordan is the Goat believers, there is no possible series of events that could ever change their mind to LeBron. That no matter what, he either fails to win the championships OR has too good of a supporting cast. There is no outcome in which he is viewed more favorably.

 

Who established this, the LeBron Believers, so they can have a way to complain? I suppose the avenue is out there, but his body of work is almost complete at age 35.