NBA Finals 2015-2016 thread

[D Dub]

Credit Lebron.   That was an unbelievable 3 gm win streak.   

Before this series I had him somewhere in the teens GOAT list, but now I think this pushes him clearly inside of top10.   It will be an interesting offseason, because honestly I thought his team looked beatable.   That was 100% hero-ball and they got away with it.  The league is wide open right now, in my humble opinion. 

[green_bballers13]

I just wish Lebron's teammates would stop winning him championships - Ray Allen and now Kyrie. It's not that Lebron doesn't play extremely well throughout each series, he just disappears when it counts most and his teammates have to bail him out.

We could easily be talking about a 1-6 record for Lebron if he were taking those shots.

And, yes, I am a total hater.   

I honestly think that you did not watch tonight's game if you think that he disappeared.

LeBron James had a triple double tonight: 27 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists and three blocked shots while playing 47 of 48 minutes. The last blocked shot resulted in a game winning play.

He almost did the complete opposite of disappearing by playing in 98% of his team's time on the court.

[PhoSita]

I love the Warriors.  I was really happy to see a player, and a team, overtake LeBron as the centerpiece of the NBA.

It was too good to last.

The Warriors are a really impressive team defensively.  They'll be in the mix for the foreseeable future.

That said, I think this series is a reminder that even if you have truly fantastic outside shooting, it's still really important to be able to play INSIDE OUT rather than always playing OUTSIDE IN, or as the Warriors did the last three games of this series, OUTSIDE AND NOTHING ELSE.

[Redz]

I wish there was some higher quality basketball the last several minutes of that game, but all in all a competitive game 7.  Can't ask for much more.

Congrats to the Cavs and Cleveland.

Love's got to feel pretty good about having an impact.

[PhoSita]

I wish there was some higher quality basketball the last several minutes of that game, but all in all a competitive game 7.  Can't ask for much more.

Congrats to the Cavs and Cleveland.

Love's got to feel pretty good about having an impact.

For his sake I hope he cherishes that he was able to play a positive role, because I think he's going to be playing for a different, worse team next year.

[green_bballers13]

LeBron James passed Larry Bird tonight.  Bumped him out of the top 5.

Next he'll pass Russell, Kareem, and Magic, and only Jordan will be left.

There is no question you didn't watch Larry in his prime for making this statement. Lebron will have the numbers over Bird because Lebron came into the league at 18 when Bird came in at 23. Also Bird missed a whole season and was never the same after 88 retiring early with the last 2 years barely hanging on with a bad back. But people like you will who never watched Larry from 84-87 will look at numbers and make stupid statements like this. Larry Bird had no weakness in his game in that time period. He was a better rebounder, scorer, and passer than James. Larry was also the alpha male in the clutch moments. Want to know a big difference about Larry over Lebron?? Larry would have been the one hitting the 3 that Irving hit tonight. Larry was the one who took over not one of his teammates. You my friend are a disgrace of this Celtics board.

So Larry was awesome, but so is LeBron. "You my friend are a disgrace of this Celtics board." Easy there pal. You sound like a goofball.

[Adelaide Celt]

Delly is an NBA champion. The haters can go and... please themselves. 

[PhoSita]

Larry didn't get to play long enough to have a better career than LeBron.

Now that LeBron has 3 rings to go with 7 Finals appearances and all kinds of statistical dominance, I don't think there's any question.

LeBron will probably dominate for another half decade at least, on top of that.

[Beat LA]

Won two in Miami. Brought one to Cleveland. Knocked off one of the greatest teams ever.  What's next for Bron?  Can he defeat the Monstars?

Lol.  Love it.  Witnessing greatness.

He won two in Miami? Wow! Oh my gosh wow! That is so great! That is just incredible! He won two in Miami!  Not three. Not four. Not five. Not six. He won two! In Miami! Woooooooowwwww!  Oh my gosh wow!  And one more! In Cleveland! Woooooowwwww!  Oh my gosh wow!   He won two in Miami and one in Cleveland! He's an NBA god! Wow!  Wooooowwww!  Oh my gosh wow!

Yeah, nobody has ever won three championships before with so much help from the refs. It is a truly remarkable achievement to be coddled by the NBA like nobody before or since.

Did you miss the Showtime Lakers and Jordan's Bulls?

[jpotter33]

It's just going to suck when James joins the Lakers this summer with Durant.  But it's fun nonetheless. 

Beating the 73 win warriors is like knocking out George foreman

Just stop. We all know that's not going to happen. Durant has more character and pride than that.

It is a legitimate question to ask what Lebron does, though. I think he stays one more year in Cleveland before going somewhere else.

Hell, he could always come here with one of his buddies.  Gawd, I'd be so conflicted if that happened.

[alley oop]

I love the Warriors.  I was really happy to see a player, and a team, overtake LeBron as the centerpiece of the NBA.

It was too good to last.

The Warriors are a really impressive team defensively.  They'll be in the mix for the foreseeable future.

That said, I think this series is a reminder that even if you have truly fantastic outside shooting, it's still really important to be able to play INSIDE OUT rather than always playing OUTSIDE IN, or as the Warriors did the last three games of this series, OUTSIDE AND NOTHING ELSE.

Indeed. They stood pat with their 5's after winning the title last year, and paid the price in this series and the previous one (even though they won it).

[jpotter33]

Larry didn't get to play long enough to have a better career than LeBron.

Now that LeBron has 3 rings to go with 7 Finals appearances and all kinds of statistical dominance, I don't think there's any question.

LeBron will probably dominate for another half decade at least, on top of that.

Naw, he hasn't shown that he's changed his game yet. I know he's probably been the greatest pure athlete in all of sports, but he is still human. He'll start slowing down athletically any day now, especially with how many miles he's put his body through, and unless he adapts his game to his older body, he won't be dominating like this for much longer.

He's also due for a injury of some sort. He's went his whole career without a major injury, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him start having issues before too much longer.

[PhoSita]

I just want to say kudos to all the people that believed LeBron and the Cavs were gonna win this series.

I believed the Warriors were a better team. I didn't believe the Cavs could defend the Warriors well enough  to keep up. I didn't think LeBron could play at such  a high level for three straight. I didn't think Kyrie could be the second best player in the series.

I was wrong. Size and talent still beats the three.

[Beat LA]

Lesson:

Being the best team in the league is great, but it's not as great as having the best player in the playoffs.

superstars matter.  Cavs prob would have beat them last year if lebrons second best player hadn't been delladingle.

Lol, TP.

[Rondo9]

Larry didn't get to play long enough to have a better career than LeBron.

Now that LeBron has 3 rings to go with 7 Finals appearances and all kinds of statistical dominance, I don't think there's any question.

LeBron will probably dominate for another half decade at least, on top of that.

I still think Celtic fans will disagree with you with that one.