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

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What if I don't care one what or the other about him and have seen him play less than 5 times?

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Hmmm... interesting.

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Then you don't need to be participating in this thread??

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But apparently I hate sports if I don't appreciate Lebron. Sorry I'm not continuing the LJ vs. MJ debate.

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so your argument here is THE TOP 2 teams in each conference have similar records.

Never mind the fact they play the superior West teams only 2x per year, where some years 50 WIN TEAMS don't make the playoffs....where as in the East , it's not a shocker to see a 38-44 team make the 6 seed.

Solid rebuttal & sample size

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Looking at the response to FACTS here, this is further evidence that this cult of James is not rational.

I have no HATE for James, in fact, was *pulling* for him to win the East from '03-'10 (because who doesn't like an underdog story?)

Then, when he couldn't win (still respected the effort), he got cocky, and saw besides himself, there were maybe 2 other Olympians in the East and thought "I know, if I take the other TWO BEST players out of the East, I won't have to compete against high quality most of the time and it's a sure fire path to the finals"

That is NOT the kind of a competitor I want to see. Feel free to agree or disagree. But that is my opinion. And the 2011 Mavs-Heat series, most of America wanted James to eat humble pie, so apparently I'm not the only one who shared that sentiment.

Was so fun those years Reg season watching TNT - "up next , Hawks vs Nets" ! Yawn.

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No you dumbfrick, not the top two teams

All the teams they faced in the eastern conference

So all 18 teams faced by MJ
And all 18 teams faced by Lebron

MJs eastern conference opponents avg out to 50-32
Brons is 49-33

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You're pulling stats out your arse.

Where the link to this BS trivia? It doesn't exist.
James almost always #1 or #2 seed and def off top of my head played sub .500 first round.

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The average team record of Eastern teams faced by MJ in all his playoff finals were: 50-32 The average record of the Easter teams faced by Lebron in all his playoff finals were: 49-3

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No you dumbfrick, not the top two teams

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Who's the dumbfrick? Those are your words. Eat 'em. Can't keep arguing with someone who keeps moving the goalposts . Weak.

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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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Meh, you take the emotional aspect of tit MJ is still better....for now.
We'll see what Lebron does in the next 5-6 years.

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SFP punked all of you in here today.

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Guess a big circle-jerk counts as punking people who have watched probably a decade more bball than they have.

But, by all means, carry on with the delusions and never mind the facts presented here. Make sure to bring the lube next time.

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how does one person alone have a "big circle jerk"

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yeah SFP was the only one in this thread

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context of that watered down joke of a conference where sub .500 teams routinely make the playoffs .

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You are obviously ignorant to the history of the league.

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Magic, Russell, Kareem

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You should look at how these guys made it to the Finals before you make the argument you just did. The 80s Lakers had some extremely easy paths to the Finals. The 60s Cs got byes into the Conference Finals.

Hell Jordan broke his foot in '86 and the Bulls still made the playoffs with a 30-52 record. In fact that same year 6 of the 16 playoff teams had a losing record.

Talk about watered down.

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Hell Jordan broke his foot in '86 and the Bulls still made the playoffs with a 30-52 record. In fact that same year 6 of the 16 playoff teams had a losing record.

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YIkes

time to move the goalposts!!!!