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![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/hPnOFGC.png)
The average NBA player’s career lasts only 4.8 years, about the same time it takes for a drink packet to decompose or the lifespan of a guinea pig. Players who choose to endure the relentless mental pressure and physical pounding for 15 or 20 years are rare. Only seven NBA players have made it to 20 or more seasons, myself among them. Those of us who were still playing in our mid-30s faced the endless speculation about whether we were still fit enough, strong enough, and skilled enough to continue to be an imposing force in the game. Every news article or commentary about us was guaranteed to include the qualifier “for his age”. Ageing athletes are treated like terminally ill patients, with everyone speculating when our demise will finally come. LeBron James, 33 years old and finishing his 15th season, continues to break records, including my own all-time field goal postseason record, as he gets ready to play in his eighth straight NBA finals.
I often get asked about LeBron. How does his play now compare to when he was younger? How long can he keep playing? What does it take to stay in the game so long? Is he the best player who ever lived?
LeBron is a much better player today than he was when he was younger. Few can dispute that he was the catalyst who drove the Cavaliers to defeat the Celtics in the playoffs. Having that power isn’t just a matter of skill, it’s a willingness to take on the responsibility of rallying the team and of having the respect of the team as a leader, not just a player. Seizing that responsibility shows a man of confidence, maturity and inner strength. Earning the team’s respect shows a man who is knowledgeable about the game, dedicated to the team as a whole and cares about players as individuals. LeBron is a great individual player, but he’s an even greater team member. And that’s what wins championships.
NBA finals predictions: who will win ... and is the Cavaliers-Warriors era over?
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Based on the fire inside him that we witnessed during the playoffs, LeBron could probably play another seven or eight seasons, during which time he might also break my record and become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. If he does, my reaction will be the same as when he broke my postseason scoring record: good for him. Any time someone breaks a record, everyone benefits because the limits of what a person can accomplish have been nudged just a little further. The real question isn’t can he, but will he want to continue playing that long. He has nothing left to prove to himself or anyone else. If he walked away today, he would still be considered one of the finest players in history.
Playing professional sports in your mid- to late-30s is not for the faint-hearted. As The Eagles say in After the Thrill Is Gone: “Half the distance takes you twice as long”. When I played at that age, I had to make a conscious effort to stay in shape all year round. I lifted weights for strength, jumped rope for cardio-vascular, and practiced yoga for flexibility. Younger players might be able to fall off the training wagon during off-season, then jump into an intensive fitness regimen before the season to get back in playing shape. That doesn’t work for older players. Will LeBron want to continue with that unrelenting routine for five to seven more years? Especially given the level of his achievements, his wealth, and his young children at home. His skills will eventually deteriorate and there is some nagging frustration at not being able to play at the level you used to, even if it’s at a higher level than most other players.
Fans love to speculate about who’s the greatest player ever. Is LeBron greater than Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant? Am I better than Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russell? While this might be a fun pastime for fans and sports journalists, most players find this kind of alternate universe pondering to be fairly boring, somewhere along the lines of who would win in a fight: Hawkeye or Green Arrow? Aquaman or Sub-Mariner?
In sports, a player develops his style, his skills, his sensibilities based on the time period he grew up in. The way basketball is played today is different to what it was 10, 20 or 30 years ago. Then along come game innovators – whether players or coaches – and the sport evolves. LeBron is one of the best players now and his intelligent combination of team leadership, brawny lay-ups, dominating rebounding, and surgical passing is elevating the game to its next level. Just as Michael Jordan, Jerry West, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and others did. In fact, for those paying attention to the playoffs: Bill Russell went to eight NBA finals in a row, and his teams won all eight.
Basketball may be the only sport in which fans are guaranteed to see an amazing feat of athleticism every minute or so. On Thursday, LeBron James will once again demonstrate why he deserves to be a living legend as he leads his team, regardless of whether they win or lose, further into greatness.
The Guardian
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On May 31 2018 14:17 Twinkle Toes wrote:Show nested quote +On May 31 2018 02:46 karazax wrote:
The refs were pretty terrible for the Rockets, but they were bad over all so it certainly wasn't the only reason they lost. Rockets are now 0-6 in playoff games reffed by Scott Foster. Certain refs just have bias against certain teams and players.
Keep in mind that the 27 missed 3's in a row included 2 fouls on 3 point attempts that weren't called and the 4 point play that didn't count. If they had been called correctly then it wouldn't have been 27 missed 3's in a row.
That being said, let's see how Lebron does against the Warriors before we are overly critical of the Rockets losing without CP3 in game 7 with a historically bad shooting night. No other team has even taken the Warriors past game 5 since Durant joined them. To be fair, Iggy was out, and it could have been over by game 5 had he been able to play. But yeah, Houston balled their hearts out.
mbah a moute was too injured to be a positive contributor the little he did play and Ryan Anderson was still recovering from his ankle sprain and barely played, so to me that cancels out Iggy's injury.
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On May 31 2018 23:05 karazax wrote:Show nested quote +On May 31 2018 14:17 Twinkle Toes wrote:On May 31 2018 02:46 karazax wrote:
The refs were pretty terrible for the Rockets, but they were bad over all so it certainly wasn't the only reason they lost. Rockets are now 0-6 in playoff games reffed by Scott Foster. Certain refs just have bias against certain teams and players.
Keep in mind that the 27 missed 3's in a row included 2 fouls on 3 point attempts that weren't called and the 4 point play that didn't count. If they had been called correctly then it wouldn't have been 27 missed 3's in a row.
That being said, let's see how Lebron does against the Warriors before we are overly critical of the Rockets losing without CP3 in game 7 with a historically bad shooting night. No other team has even taken the Warriors past game 5 since Durant joined them. To be fair, Iggy was out, and it could have been over by game 5 had he been able to play. But yeah, Houston balled their hearts out. mbah a moute was too injured to be a positive contributor the little he did play and Ryan Anderson was still recovering from his ankle sprain and barely played, so to me that cancels out Iggy's injury.
Ah yeah, forgot about them. Anderson could have seriously decided the close games.
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When you hook the defenders arm to go up into a jump shot, that should be an offensive foul 100% of the times.
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The Harden rule was a point of emphasis in the offseason. The refs should have called it correctly in the regular season instead of waiting for the playoffs.
Too much of Houston's offense is based on baiting bogus calls from the officials. One of their pet plays is when somebody pretends to screen then pushes Harden's defender into him while he starts shooting a 3. Harden got more foul calls on 3-pt attempts than most teams in the NBA.
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I'm calling 4-2 Golden State.
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On May 31 2018 23:05 karazax wrote:Show nested quote +On May 31 2018 14:17 Twinkle Toes wrote:On May 31 2018 02:46 karazax wrote:
The refs were pretty terrible for the Rockets, but they were bad over all so it certainly wasn't the only reason they lost. Rockets are now 0-6 in playoff games reffed by Scott Foster. Certain refs just have bias against certain teams and players.
Keep in mind that the 27 missed 3's in a row included 2 fouls on 3 point attempts that weren't called and the 4 point play that didn't count. If they had been called correctly then it wouldn't have been 27 missed 3's in a row.
That being said, let's see how Lebron does against the Warriors before we are overly critical of the Rockets losing without CP3 in game 7 with a historically bad shooting night. No other team has even taken the Warriors past game 5 since Durant joined them. To be fair, Iggy was out, and it could have been over by game 5 had he been able to play. But yeah, Houston balled their hearts out. mbah a moute was too injured to be a positive contributor the little he did play and Ryan Anderson was still recovering from his ankle sprain and barely played, so to me that cancels out Iggy's injury.
If you think that, you don't seem to understand how bad the warriors bench is this year. Turns out losing one of the NBAs best executives has a downside.
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On June 01 2018 03:05 cLutZ wrote:Show nested quote +On May 31 2018 23:05 karazax wrote:On May 31 2018 14:17 Twinkle Toes wrote:On May 31 2018 02:46 karazax wrote:
The refs were pretty terrible for the Rockets, but they were bad over all so it certainly wasn't the only reason they lost. Rockets are now 0-6 in playoff games reffed by Scott Foster. Certain refs just have bias against certain teams and players.
Keep in mind that the 27 missed 3's in a row included 2 fouls on 3 point attempts that weren't called and the 4 point play that didn't count. If they had been called correctly then it wouldn't have been 27 missed 3's in a row.
That being said, let's see how Lebron does against the Warriors before we are overly critical of the Rockets losing without CP3 in game 7 with a historically bad shooting night. No other team has even taken the Warriors past game 5 since Durant joined them. To be fair, Iggy was out, and it could have been over by game 5 had he been able to play. But yeah, Houston balled their hearts out. mbah a moute was too injured to be a positive contributor the little he did play and Ryan Anderson was still recovering from his ankle sprain and barely played, so to me that cancels out Iggy's injury. If you think that, you don't seem to understand how bad the warriors bench is this year. Turns out losing one of the NBAs best executives has a downside.
You say that as if the Rockets bench had any depth with those 2 injured. Iguodala is important to the Warriors and they would definitely be better with him. That being said, before he was injured in the last game of the year Mbah a Moute was playing 25.6 minutes a game for Houston and was having a better season than Iguodala.
On June 01 2018 03:18 JimmiC wrote:
On most teams iggy is your 3rd best player. Hes a big loss, he can defend score and facilitate. Very much like pippen, he also is not far removed from being a finals MVP.
He's been better in the playoffs when healthy this year, but this was the worst regular season of his career.
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On June 01 2018 03:18 JimmiC wrote:
On most teams iggy is your 3rd best player. Hes a big loss, he can defend score and facilitate. Very much like pippen, he also is not far removed from being a finals MVP.
At this point of his career, Iggy is very overrated as an athlete. His main function on the team is to be the adult in the room, the guy steering them back to Warriors basketball. The rest of the team, especially their star players, have a tendency to play like boneheads for stretches. Their game 4 and 5 losses were mostly the result of bad decision making on turnovers and bad shot selection.
On June 01 2018 03:05 cLutZ wrote:Show nested quote +On May 31 2018 23:05 karazax wrote:On May 31 2018 14:17 Twinkle Toes wrote:On May 31 2018 02:46 karazax wrote:
The refs were pretty terrible for the Rockets, but they were bad over all so it certainly wasn't the only reason they lost. Rockets are now 0-6 in playoff games reffed by Scott Foster. Certain refs just have bias against certain teams and players.
Keep in mind that the 27 missed 3's in a row included 2 fouls on 3 point attempts that weren't called and the 4 point play that didn't count. If they had been called correctly then it wouldn't have been 27 missed 3's in a row.
That being said, let's see how Lebron does against the Warriors before we are overly critical of the Rockets losing without CP3 in game 7 with a historically bad shooting night. No other team has even taken the Warriors past game 5 since Durant joined them. To be fair, Iggy was out, and it could have been over by game 5 had he been able to play. But yeah, Houston balled their hearts out. mbah a moute was too injured to be a positive contributor the little he did play and Ryan Anderson was still recovering from his ankle sprain and barely played, so to me that cancels out Iggy's injury. If you think that, you don't seem to understand how bad the warriors bench is this year. Turns out losing one of the NBAs best executives has a downside.
I still don't know how the Warriors of all teams ended up with a surplus of centers and a lack of wings on their roster. I get that they need traditional centers to spare Draymond wear and tear during the regular season but the Pelicans, Rockets and likely the Cavs are going small to match up with them.
Injuries to their wings contributed to the lack of cohesion on their bench but they ended up with too many unplayable centers deep into the playoffs. Curry's untimely injury did lead them to cut Casspi in favor of Quinn Cook though I wonder if that was really necessary.
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On June 01 2018 03:36 karazax wrote:Show nested quote +On June 01 2018 03:05 cLutZ wrote:On May 31 2018 23:05 karazax wrote:On May 31 2018 14:17 Twinkle Toes wrote:On May 31 2018 02:46 karazax wrote:
The refs were pretty terrible for the Rockets, but they were bad over all so it certainly wasn't the only reason they lost. Rockets are now 0-6 in playoff games reffed by Scott Foster. Certain refs just have bias against certain teams and players.
Keep in mind that the 27 missed 3's in a row included 2 fouls on 3 point attempts that weren't called and the 4 point play that didn't count. If they had been called correctly then it wouldn't have been 27 missed 3's in a row.
That being said, let's see how Lebron does against the Warriors before we are overly critical of the Rockets losing without CP3 in game 7 with a historically bad shooting night. No other team has even taken the Warriors past game 5 since Durant joined them. To be fair, Iggy was out, and it could have been over by game 5 had he been able to play. But yeah, Houston balled their hearts out. mbah a moute was too injured to be a positive contributor the little he did play and Ryan Anderson was still recovering from his ankle sprain and barely played, so to me that cancels out Iggy's injury. If you think that, you don't seem to understand how bad the warriors bench is this year. Turns out losing one of the NBAs best executives has a downside. You say that as if the Rockets bench had any depth with those 2 injured. Iguodala is important to the Warriors and they would definitely be better with him. That being said, before he was injured in the last game of the year Mbah a Moute was playing 25.6 minutes a game for Houston and was having a better season than Iguodala. Show nested quote +On June 01 2018 03:18 JimmiC wrote:
On most teams iggy is your 3rd best player. Hes a big loss, he can defend score and facilitate. Very much like pippen, he also is not far removed from being a finals MVP. He's been better in the playoffs when healthy this year, but this was the worst regular season of his career.
I don't doubt that Mbah would have helped (although IMO Anderson, even while healthy, is unplayable in that series), but Iggy is basically Manu for the Warriors in that he is a bench player in name only, and for these playoffs basically has been 1 of the only 5 guys that has been even semi-reliable. They are a 5 man team at the moment, when he is healthy.
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On June 01 2018 05:35 andrewlt wrote:Show nested quote +On June 01 2018 03:18 JimmiC wrote:
On most teams iggy is your 3rd best player. Hes a big loss, he can defend score and facilitate. Very much like pippen, he also is not far removed from being a finals MVP. At this point of his career, Iggy is very overrated as an athlete. His main function on the team is to be the adult in the room, the guy steering them back to Warriors basketball. The rest of the team, especially their star players, have a tendency to play like boneheads for stretches. Their game 4 and 5 losses were mostly the result of bad decision making on turnovers and bad shot selection. Show nested quote +On June 01 2018 03:05 cLutZ wrote:On May 31 2018 23:05 karazax wrote:On May 31 2018 14:17 Twinkle Toes wrote:On May 31 2018 02:46 karazax wrote:
The refs were pretty terrible for the Rockets, but they were bad over all so it certainly wasn't the only reason they lost. Rockets are now 0-6 in playoff games reffed by Scott Foster. Certain refs just have bias against certain teams and players.
Keep in mind that the 27 missed 3's in a row included 2 fouls on 3 point attempts that weren't called and the 4 point play that didn't count. If they had been called correctly then it wouldn't have been 27 missed 3's in a row.
That being said, let's see how Lebron does against the Warriors before we are overly critical of the Rockets losing without CP3 in game 7 with a historically bad shooting night. No other team has even taken the Warriors past game 5 since Durant joined them. To be fair, Iggy was out, and it could have been over by game 5 had he been able to play. But yeah, Houston balled their hearts out. mbah a moute was too injured to be a positive contributor the little he did play and Ryan Anderson was still recovering from his ankle sprain and barely played, so to me that cancels out Iggy's injury. If you think that, you don't seem to understand how bad the warriors bench is this year. Turns out losing one of the NBAs best executives has a downside. I still don't know how the Warriors of all teams ended up with a surplus of centers and a lack of wings on their roster. I get that they need traditional centers to spare Draymond wear and tear during the regular season but the Pelicans, Rockets and likely the Cavs are going small to match up with them. Injuries to their wings contributed to the lack of cohesion on their bench but they ended up with too many unplayable centers deep into the playoffs. Curry's untimely injury did lead them to cut Casspi in favor of Quinn Cook though I wonder if that was really necessary.
houston was the ONLY team that these centers were "unplayable" against. they certainly played a fair amount of minutes vs spurs and pelicans and will also do so vs the cavs. if houston never made the conference finals, they would've needed these centers as well.
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They have 6 players they play at the center position (Draymond, Bell, Zaza, McGee, West, Looney). The Spurs are a big team but the Pelicans played small ball with Cousins injured. There's really no need for all of the other 5.
Looney played around 20 minutes per game during the Pelicans series. The minutes for the others are inflated because Kerr played 3 of them at the same time during garbage time.
edit: And looking at their roster, they have another young, project center they never play. None of these guys is a stretch big unless you count West's long 2s.
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On June 01 2018 01:21 Elroi wrote:
When you hook the defenders arm to go up into a jump shot, that should be an offensive foul 100% of the times.
On June 01 2018 01:25 andrewlt wrote:
The Harden rule was a point of emphasis in the offseason. The refs should have called it correctly in the regular season instead of waiting for the playoffs.
Too much of Houston's offense is based on baiting bogus calls from the officials. One of their pet plays is when somebody pretends to screen then pushes Harden's defender into him while he starts shooting a 3. Harden got more foul calls on 3-pt attempts than most teams in the NBA.
The thing with Harden is that he has this move where he initiates the shooting motion as soon as the defender puts an arm to his chest (usually as a result of forcing through screens) or in front of him. This is different from the egregious drive-hook-and-shoot which is an obvious offensive foul. This is the one causing problems with the refs, and Nunn is right that IFyou call this as a foul, it should be a non-shooting foul. Or maybe not call it at all. But I can see the reason why it is a foul since it is an obvious intrusion into the offensive player's space. The defense has to adjust and get better, I guess, which, if anything, what we can appreciate from this whole thing - Harden's "creativity" puts a new flavor into the game.
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On June 01 2018 05:35 andrewlt wrote:Show nested quote +On June 01 2018 03:18 JimmiC wrote:
On most teams iggy is your 3rd best player. Hes a big loss, he can defend score and facilitate. Very much like pippen, he also is not far removed from being a finals MVP. At this point of his career, Iggy is very overrated as an athlete. His main function on the team is to be the adult in the room, the guy steering them back to Warriors basketball. The rest of the team, especially their star players, have a tendency to play like boneheads for stretches. Their game 4 and 5 losses were mostly the result of bad decision making on turnovers and bad shot selection. Show nested quote +On June 01 2018 03:05 cLutZ wrote:On May 31 2018 23:05 karazax wrote:On May 31 2018 14:17 Twinkle Toes wrote:On May 31 2018 02:46 karazax wrote:
The refs were pretty terrible for the Rockets, but they were bad over all so it certainly wasn't the only reason they lost. Rockets are now 0-6 in playoff games reffed by Scott Foster. Certain refs just have bias against certain teams and players.
Keep in mind that the 27 missed 3's in a row included 2 fouls on 3 point attempts that weren't called and the 4 point play that didn't count. If they had been called correctly then it wouldn't have been 27 missed 3's in a row.
That being said, let's see how Lebron does against the Warriors before we are overly critical of the Rockets losing without CP3 in game 7 with a historically bad shooting night. No other team has even taken the Warriors past game 5 since Durant joined them. To be fair, Iggy was out, and it could have been over by game 5 had he been able to play. But yeah, Houston balled their hearts out. mbah a moute was too injured to be a positive contributor the little he did play and Ryan Anderson was still recovering from his ankle sprain and barely played, so to me that cancels out Iggy's injury. If you think that, you don't seem to understand how bad the warriors bench is this year. Turns out losing one of the NBAs best executives has a downside. I still don't know how the Warriors of all teams ended up with a surplus of centers and a lack of wings on their roster. I get that they need traditional centers to spare Draymond wear and tear during the regular season but the Pelicans, Rockets and likely the Cavs are going small to match up with them. Injuries to their wings contributed to the lack of cohesion on their bench but they ended up with too many unplayable centers deep into the playoffs. Curry's untimely injury did lead them to cut Casspi in favor of Quinn Cook though I wonder if that was really necessary.
PTSD with Lebron bullying them in the middle and TT's badonk.
Moreover, they are useless against the Rockets, but would do fine against most other teams.
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On June 01 2018 07:32 Twinkle Toes wrote:Show nested quote +On June 01 2018 01:21 Elroi wrote:
When you hook the defenders arm to go up into a jump shot, that should be an offensive foul 100% of the times. Show nested quote +On June 01 2018 01:25 andrewlt wrote:
The Harden rule was a point of emphasis in the offseason. The refs should have called it correctly in the regular season instead of waiting for the playoffs.
Too much of Houston's offense is based on baiting bogus calls from the officials. One of their pet plays is when somebody pretends to screen then pushes Harden's defender into him while he starts shooting a 3. Harden got more foul calls on 3-pt attempts than most teams in the NBA. The thing with Harden is that he has this move where he initiates the shooting motion as soon as the defender puts an arm to his chest (usually as a result of forcing through screens) or in front of him. This is different from the egregious drive-hook-and-shoot which is an obvious offensive foul. This is the one causing problems with the refs, and Nunn is right that IFyou call this as a foul, it should be a non-shooting foul. Or maybe not call it at all. But I can see the reason why it is a foul since it is an obvious intrusion into the offensive player's space. The defense has to adjust and get better, I guess, which, if anything, what we can appreciate from this whole thing - Harden's "creativity" puts a new flavor into the game.
Except it isn't. All space that isn't currently occupied by the offensive player, or will naturally be occupied as a result of momentum is not his space. Technically ripthroughs and stuff like that are charges/pushes on the offensive player.
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On June 01 2018 07:32 Twinkle Toes wrote:Show nested quote +On June 01 2018 01:21 Elroi wrote:
When you hook the defenders arm to go up into a jump shot, that should be an offensive foul 100% of the times. Show nested quote +On June 01 2018 01:25 andrewlt wrote:
The Harden rule was a point of emphasis in the offseason. The refs should have called it correctly in the regular season instead of waiting for the playoffs.
Too much of Houston's offense is based on baiting bogus calls from the officials. One of their pet plays is when somebody pretends to screen then pushes Harden's defender into him while he starts shooting a 3. Harden got more foul calls on 3-pt attempts than most teams in the NBA. The thing with Harden is that he has this move where he initiates the shooting motion as soon as the defender puts an arm to his chest (usually as a result of forcing through screens) or in front of him. This is different from the egregious drive-hook-and-shoot which is an obvious offensive foul. This is the one causing problems with the refs, and Nunn is right that IFyou call this as a foul, it should be a non-shooting foul. Or maybe not call it at all. But I can see the reason why it is a foul since it is an obvious intrusion into the offensive player's space. The defense has to adjust and get better, I guess, which, if anything, what we can appreciate from this whole thing - Harden's "creativity" puts a new flavor into the game.
That's the point of emphasis in the offseason. Refs were instructed that if perimeter players haven't finished their gather with two hands on the ball before the foul occurred, it would be a non-shooting foul. Harden got a lot of calls on 3-pt attempts during the regular season anyway. The calls that Rockets fans were complaining about were mostly correct.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/how-the-nbas-newly-imposed-harden-rule-will-impact-james-harden-this-season/
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On June 01 2018 07:57 cLutZ wrote:Show nested quote +On June 01 2018 07:32 Twinkle Toes wrote:On June 01 2018 01:21 Elroi wrote:
When you hook the defenders arm to go up into a jump shot, that should be an offensive foul 100% of the times. On June 01 2018 01:25 andrewlt wrote:
The Harden rule was a point of emphasis in the offseason. The refs should have called it correctly in the regular season instead of waiting for the playoffs.
Too much of Houston's offense is based on baiting bogus calls from the officials. One of their pet plays is when somebody pretends to screen then pushes Harden's defender into him while he starts shooting a 3. Harden got more foul calls on 3-pt attempts than most teams in the NBA. The thing with Harden is that he has this move where he initiates the shooting motion as soon as the defender puts an arm to his chest (usually as a result of forcing through screens) or in front of him. This is different from the egregious drive-hook-and-shoot which is an obvious offensive foul. This is the one causing problems with the refs, and Nunn is right that IFyou call this as a foul, it should be a non-shooting foul. Or maybe not call it at all. But I can see the reason why it is a foul since it is an obvious intrusion into the offensive player's space. The defense has to adjust and get better, I guess, which, if anything, what we can appreciate from this whole thing - Harden's "creativity" puts a new flavor into the game. Except it isn't. All space that isn't currently occupied by the offensive player, or will naturally be occupied as a result of momentum is not his space. Technically ripthroughs and stuff like that are charges/pushes on the offensive player.
See 03:39. Not a ripthrough or hooking, safely a foul, or a no-call. But clearly not an offensive foul.
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EPT
