Does LeBron make his teammates better?

[26MichaelUK]

Lebron cares about his legacy; he cares about Lebron only. Lebron likes the fact that his team is awful without him; it makes him appear more valuable. Lebron is getting exactly what he wants; people are arguing that he has less to work with and is therefore, "disadvantaged". Lebron doesn't care about titles; he cares about how titles affect his legacy/image. Lebron is the best player, most talented player to ever play the game. However, in many ways, he's that insecure, micro-managing boss that won't allow his team to grow both individually and collectively.

How in the hell would you know what he cares about? I'm asking when has he EVER shown anything to suggest the things you said about him. It sure seems like you're describing Jordan about only caring about himself. He's a well known psychopath behind closed doors. He's punched a teammate, told another teammate while they were celebrating a title to quite holding the trophy and crying because he didn't do anything to win that title ect.

I'm pretty Damn sure LeBron has known for a long Damn time how valuable he is. It's so stupid to say that a guy who is trying desperately to win more championships wants a bad team. I mean really?

Caring about titles because of how they will add to your legacy is CARING ABOUT WINNING TITLES! If you don't think that's what the major majority of NBA players reasons for wanting to win a title then you're nuts.

Take Kevin Durant. He literally said this week he joined the Warriors to win a title for validation from his peers and fans.

 

[kevcat]

I want to see LeBron with Kawhi and the Spurs.

He needs better coaching and he needs to listen.

LOL. James isn’t going to listen to anyone.

 

[flacat22]

Just so y’all know my recent posts were impacted by pretty much a broken right hand after a self inflicted monitor punching incident.

 

[Johnfarrel]

No only is that false, but it's almost a complete reversal of the truth. LeBron's basketball IQ and passing ability is much, much better than Jordan's was. LeBron has to do a lot of dragging to make JR Smith and Kevin Love look like half the players that Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman were, wouldn't you agree? I have to imagine (as any rational person should) that Michael Jordan definitely couldn't make Smith and Love look like Pippen and Rodman.

OP should be incredibly disappointed in himself comparing Westbrook to LeBron in any way. Westbrook led a team with Paul George and Carmelo Anthony to a very weak season, and earned his team a first round elimination against the Jazz. They were honestly not good at all.

Put injury prone Kyrie on LeBron's team, with the 3rd best player being a complete dud, and also injury prone Kevin Love, and they beat the Warriors last season.

James and Pippen and Rodman would have been some team and would probably hade surpassed Jordan and Pippen and Rodman.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

Let me get this straight...You think a starting lineup of George Hill, J.R. Smith, Rodney Hood/Jeff Green, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson would be a playoff team?

Whoooooo boooyyyyyy....That's a reach.

That's beyond a reach. That's called delusional disorder.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

You could replace ANY of the CAVs other starters with Golden State's #1 back-up, Shaun Livingston, and they would immediately become much more competitive.

Not if you replace Love or Thompson with Livingston. That becomes an awfully small roster that can't rebound very well outside of LeBron and whoever is left over from Thompson and Love. And switching Love out with Livingston kills floor spacing.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

I think most of Cleveland’s players were doing fine in the NBA before they were on that team

George Hill was a starter
Rodney Hood was a starter
JR Smith has always played starter minutes
Larry Nance has a big role in LA

Don’t act like these guys are all scubs now because they play with Lebron. It’s hard to stand and wait for the ball

Zaza Pachulia also started games. Doesn't make him a quality NBA player.

Other NBA players to start at least 41 games this year who aren't good NBA players by any stretch of the imagination
Justin Jackson
Andrew Harrison
Dewayne Dedmon
Ryan Anderson
Stanley Johnson
Reggie Bullock
JaMychal Green
Jarrett Jack
Tony Snell
Austin Rivers
Allen Crabbe
Courtney Lee
John Henson
Justin Holiday
DeMarre Carroll
Dillon Brooks
Carmelo Anthony - yes, look up what he did this year. Straight trash
Marvin Williams
E'Twaun Moore
Marcin Gortat
Taurean Prince

George Hill was trash in Sacramento and has a career PER of 15.1. That's 0.1 points above league average. Though he did have a really good year in Utah last year.

Rodney Hood played well in Cleveland, for a role player, when Lue would give him a chance. Can't blame LeBron for Hood not playing up to par when Lue won't put him in the game. He only had a 15.1 PER this year in Utah. Not exactly tearing it up by any means.

JR Smith has been a mediocre player for the vast majority of his career. There's a reason he's better known for his stupidity and antics than for his on-court abilities. He hasn't had an above average PER since 2013, he's clearly been on the downhill part of his career for a few years now.

The Lakers sucked. It's a lot easier to have a supporting role on a bad team.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

Lebron does too much and that prevents players on his team from finding the roles they need to be more successful. Lebron is an amazing player but he still hasn't figured out what Michael had by his 5th season--you can't consistently go for triple doubles and win as much as you want. Lebron has guys all over his team that are career double-digit scorers. Thompson and Love both could and should average around 10 rebounds a game. George Hill can average 8 assists a game. There is talent but that doesn't show the way the team is set up. I blame the coach for some of this but some is on Lebron. It will be interesting to see where he goes next.

George Hill's career high in assists is 5.1 when he used 23.5 possessions a game, but he can average 8 a game on a team that has players consistently bricking wide open shots? [roll] Generating assists has been one of the biggest weak spots of his game throughout his NBA career. He's simply not a legitimate NBA PG. Never has been and never will be. He's just too small to play SG on a consistent basis.

Sure, Thompson can average 10 boards a game. It's not going to happen when Lue is only giving him 20 minutes a game though. His total rebound % of 18.4% this year is actually tied for the best mark of his career. His career high number also came during the LeBron era.

Love's defensive rebound % this year was the third-best mark of his career. His offensive rebound % has fallen off a cliff though. Part of that is playing away from the basket more. Part of it is that Cleveland's offense has been more efficient than Minnesota's, so less offensive rebound opportunities, but Tristan Thompson and LeBron are also elite rebounders for their position.

 

[gamecockcat]

That's beyond a reach. That's called delusional disorder.

Think you're forgetting that Kyrie would still be in Cleveland if LBJ weren't. Those above with Kyrie would definitely be in the mix for playoffs in the crappy East. Probably wouldn't win more that 35 games in the West.

It seems odd that when LBJ's team loses it's because he has no help. When he wins it's because he's so good. Perhaps his style doesn't draw a lot of elite players who have to reduce their game to accommodate his. Certainly in Cleveland's case right now, the salaries are so bloated that it's almost impossible to improve that team without wholesale roster changes. Some of that is LBJ's fault (Thompson) and some is not.

It's a good debate.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

Think you're forgetting that Kyrie would still be in Cleveland if LBJ weren't.

And Kevin Love wouldn't be in Cleveland if LeBron never returned. And George Hill, JR Smith, Rodney Hood, and Jeff Green wouldn't either. So what's your point?

 

[Cardsstink]

Lebron puts his teamates in postion to make THEMSELVES better all the time but half the time they lay a brick.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

No only is that false, but it's almost a complete reversal of the truth. LeBron's basketball IQ and passing ability is much, much better than Jordan's was. LeBron has to do a lot of dragging to make JR Smith and Kevin Love look like half the players that Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman were, wouldn't you agree? I have to imagine (as any rational person should) that Michael Jordan definitely couldn't make Smith and Love look like Pippen and Rodman.

OP should be incredibly disappointed in himself comparing Westbrook to LeBron in any way. Westbrook led a team with Paul George and Carmelo Anthony to a very weak season, and earned his team a first round elimination against the Jazz. They were honestly not good at all.

Put injury prone Kyrie on LeBron's team, with the 3rd best player being a complete dud, and also injury prone Kevin Love, and they beat the Warriors last season.

Personally, I think todays game is watered down talent wise, particularly from Jordans days. It makes Lebron look and perform a bit better than he would have. Part of basketball IQ is team cohesiveness. I think Jordan excelled at that. But thats just my opinion.