mr. furley said:
what exactly is the bar for excellence in today's NBA if Lebron sucks?
Active - Steph Curry
Good leader, solid fundamental player, unselfish, high BBIQ, doesn't generate unneeded drama, championship pedigree
Even when the Warriors were losing and had seasons of no hope, Curry played the game the right way. Even if a game was out of reach, he'd still move relentlessly off the ball and push the pace of the game.
Recent Modern Era - Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Grant Hill
Jordan Era - Hakeem Olajuwon
If you could build a team starting from scratch and you had to pick just one player, lots of GM's would pick Curry, Duncan and The Dream over LBJ.
A major problem with the LBJ legacy is he becomes the defacto GM wherever he goes. LeGM is an idiot. LBJ the player has to compensate and burn the candle on both ends to make up for the massive flaws of LeGM aka LeQuit aka LeThargic aka LeMao. Then the sports media sells this tragic victim story about how LBJ gets no help and he has to do it all by himself. Of course you do when you take over running a team's personnel and you cap out the team with useless past their prime veterans and overpaid players who don't fit.
All of LBJ's rings are tainted in some way. Without the Birdman amnesty and the labor war that shortened a season, I don't know if the Heat win those two rings. People might say that's crazy but even with three good defenders in the Big Three Heatles, you still need actual rim protection. LBJ decided that he needed Juwan Howard on that bench. Big Z too. So a player Spolestra liked, the fringe roster guy Patrick Beverley, got cut. Then there was the "Nike ring" where the refs just cooked the Warriors. Nike gave LBJ a lifetime contract and wanted some ROI. That's it. Then there was the "Pandemic Ring" where 8 teams disappeared and the shortened one location season benefited older veteran teams who didn't have to grind a regular 82 game schedule plus travel.
LBJ doesn't suck, he's still a generational level player. But there is zero reason he shouldn't have 10 rings if he simply played the game like The Big Fundamental, The Dream and Wardell. Just stuck to one Eastern team, got a good GM like Morey and got out of the way and let a real experienced personnel guy build a team the right way and the organic way.
It should indicate the level of stupidity that exists in LeQuit that he tried to get Erik Spolestra fired. The best coach he's ever played for is someone he wanted gone. Even Kobe Bryant, another psychopathic nimrod in his own right, wasn't dumb enough to keep trying to push Phil Jackson out the door over and over. Spolestra is an incredible coach and smart players understand to lock into a coach they know can get them over the top. Wardell isn't trying to LeGM away a good coach in Kerr. Duncan was not going to be a diva and drive away Poppovich.
LeMao represents wasted opportunity. When you have that much talent, you aren't supposed to get in your own way. What TEAM success LBJ has had came about DESPITE his massive abilities. I'm not talking about individual success. LBJ can't win a ring going 1 Vs 5 for an entire season.
Billion dollar talent. Nickel sized brain.