re: If you don't appreciate Lebron James, you hate sports

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i'm over any sort of discussion about LBJ and MJ

but he is unquestionably a top 3 NBA player of all time

moving forward, he is THE example of how to handle phenom success in a major professional league. there hasn't been a sports phenom who has handled the success at this level since Kareem, and he had many built-in advantages (college, a much less popular NBA, etc)

he's also just a unique freak of athleticism and skill. we may never see a player who has his complete game ever again

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All of this. I've been a LeBron supporter since day 1. I'm not saying he's better than Jordan, but he is unquestionably one of the best of all time. In reality his game is closer to Magic than Jordan...they're totally different players.
If he keeps up his current pace for a few more years and adds another title or two, I'd have him #2 all time. Which is insane considering the monumental hype he came in with that he has far surpassed.

I truly don't get how people don't like him compared to some of the other shittier people that are popular athletes. I suppose the Miami thing but I don't blame him for leaving, the Cavs fricking sucked outside of him the first time. And now he came back and could finally win a title for Cleveland. That's an all-time great sports story.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love the game of basketball and I appreciate greatness. It's been a pleasure to "witness" LBJ's career

while being able to ponder during my shite/shower ritual, i have a somewhat bigger meta point

MJ was the first true NBA superstar. he basically sent the NBA into national (and international) relevance. he had many of the same criticisms that LBJ did (can't win. flashy offensive guy. not tough enough. etc. will never be magic/bird, basically). then as the NBA grew, the media created "Michael Jordan". then there was PERFECT timing where he wins right before the US National Team can have pros, leading to the Dream Team and all that glory. really just a combination of everything falling in place (media push, getting lucky that a team was built around him worthy of a championship, the olympic push, all while the NBA became huge, etc)

so what happened is that "Michael Jordan" became anti-esoteric. he was the meat ant potatoes of how the common fan (who was now following the NBA seriously for the first time) saw basketball. not only did the media create the mythology, but "Michael Jordan" became the basis of how we judge basketball players. any player in the future will never be able to overcome that mantle because they cannot perfectly follow the path that the actual player Jordan did, let alone the mythology of "Michael Jordan". any difference will become a mark against the competitor

due to all of this it's utterly pointless to even discuss any player against jordan. the argument/discussion is literally built to be an impossibility and it's just not going to be productive in any way. it's best that we all just put the player and mythology of jordan in its separate little place and admit that the entire concept of "Michael Jordan" cannot be repeated

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Oh boy, another millennial showing his ignorance.

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millions of millennials grew up with Jordan, bruv

i certainly did

also this is a picture of the author of the piece in OP

If only social media existed in the 90s.

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but he is unquestionably a top 3 NBA player of all time

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Unquestionably? Shaq, Magic, Russell, Kareem, Bird, Hakeem , etc would all argue that.

He is def one of top players all time, but he gets a pass from too many people making Finals in a historically weak Eastern conference for a decade, which he further weakened making the Heatles (taking Bosh/Wade) off of East conf teams, further weakening it.

Think about the state of the East. Then think of teams like the 99-04 Lakers, 2000's Spurs, Mavs, 80s/Celtics/Lakers..all of these teams likely would have steamrolled thru that pathetic conference.

Yes, he is a transcendent player, but yes, you have to consider 6 straight finals in the context of that watered down joke of a conference where sub .500 teams routinely make the playoffs .

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athletic prodigy that we likely won't ever see again

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I agree with all of your post except this. Also, you could have just posted he entire article instead of saying basically the same thing yourself. I also don't feel like bron gets as much hate since he left Miami now.

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where sub .500 teams routinely make the playoffs .

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This year, the West was more likely to have a sub 500 team in the playoffs than the East. The West also featured two of the worst teams participating in the playoffs.

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This year, the West was more likely to have a sub 500 team in the playoffs than the East. The West also featured two of the worst teams participating in the playoffs.

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You serious? Are you really cherry picking ONE YEAR out of over TEN YEARS to counter that part of my argument?

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Also, to refute to bogus claim by hg that he hates Lebron due to fanboys:

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The string of desperate paragraphs defending your hero is a prime example of why people still hate LeQuit. I think it's funny how you are trying to disprove the fact that people hate him in part because of fanboys like you, yet, in doing so, you make us hate him (and you) even more.

You are essentially disproving your own point.

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so wait

it's rational to hate LBJ because...he has fans?

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