Gerald Wallace: LeBron ‘Doesn't have the attitude or the fight’ of Jordan & Kobe

[BudweiserCeltic]

Our friend Gerald Wallace is back, glad to hear from him early in free-agency. Last year we didn't hear from him until November or such.

In any case, some highlights:

“Jordan never had an off night,” Wallace told myfoxal.com. “He found many ways to contribute to the team, and I’d say Kobe [Bryant] is pretty much the same. You can put Lebron in that category. I think what separates LeBron from Kobe and Michael Jordan right now is that he doesn’t have the attitude or the fight that those guys had. For me, he’s not willing to take over a game, demand a game or put the game all on his shoulders. I would like to see him get to that one day, but right now I don’t think he has that, and that’s what Michael Jordan and even Kobe has.”

.........


“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was for me,” Wallace said of Boston. “Being where I’m at in my career, I think once I got there I was kind of against starting over and rebuilding a team, but being there, being a veteran, being able to help some of the young guys mature and develop themselves in the league and just given the experience that I was able to give to those guys turned out to be pretty much a good year for me. So, I was excited about it. I think I had a great time this year. I’m looking forward to going back and improving. We had [Rajon] Rondo for midway of the season, so I’m looking forward to being with him for a full season. So, it’ll be interesting this upcoming year.”

http://greenstreet.weei.com/sports/boston/basketball/celtics/2014/07/10/gerald-wallace-lebron-james-doesnt-have-the-attitude-or-the-fight-of-michael-jordan-kobe-bryant/

[pearljammer10]

Good stuff.

Regardless of what people say about his contract and attitude I've always been a huge Gdub supporter. Sure he is eating up a lot of cap space but I'm glad that he is finally in Celtics green.

Of course if we are able to trade his contract it would be hard to say no.

[NorthernLightning]

I expect a very solid year from him. He seems energized.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Good stuff.

Regardless of what people say about his contract and attitude I've always been a huge Gdub supporter. Sure he is eating up a lot of cap space but I'm glad that he is finally in Celtics green.

Of course if we are able to trade his contract it would be hard to say no.

I'm a fan of Wallace and don't mind him here and don't mind him getting paid. My only concern with him is how he'll affect next year's cap space.

That said, based on his on-court performance I didn't mind much of it. He was an efficient scorer, except he had an abysmal free-throw shooting year. Also, his turnover rate was completely horrible.

He cleans up those two aspects of his game, and I have no problem giving him more minutes from the back-up position.

I liked his energy and of course he provides at the very least decent defense.

So who knows, he might actually contribute something of worth next year, and from a back-up context, I don't think he's that bad of an option, if bad at all.

[D.o.s.]

Good stuff.

Regardless of what people say about his contract and attitude I've always been a huge Gdub supporter. Sure he is eating up a lot of cap space but I'm glad that he is finally in Celtics green.

Of course if we are able to trade his contract it would be hard to say no.

Agreed

[kozlodoev]

He was an efficient scorer, except he had an abysmal free-throw shooting year. Also, his turnover rate was completely horrible.

His turnover rate was what it has always been. The only reason you've noticed it was because Wallace was not a scorer of any sort last season, efficient or otherwise. He took 4 shots a game, couldn't score from outside of 3 feet, and couldn't hit a free throw. He wasn't simply bad, he was completely and utterly abysmal.

I have no problem with him if he could sit on the bench and keep his trap shut (because I certainly don't want to see him in a game), but the latter has been an issue.

[TwinTower14]

Our friend Gerald Wallace is back, glad to hear from him early in free-agency. Last year we didn't hear from him until November or such.

In any case, some highlights:

“Jordan never had an off night,” Wallace told myfoxal.com. “He found many ways to contribute to the team, and I’d say Kobe [Bryant] is pretty much the same. You can put Lebron in that category. I think what separates LeBron from Kobe and Michael Jordan right now is that he doesn’t have the attitude or the fight that those guys had. For me, he’s not willing to take over a game, demand a game or put the game all on his shoulders. I would like to see him get to that one day, but right now I don’t think he has that, and that’s what Michael Jordan and even Kobe has.”

.........


“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was for me,” Wallace said of Boston. “Being where I’m at in my career, I think once I got there I was kind of against starting over and rebuilding a team, but being there, being a veteran, being able to help some of the young guys mature and develop themselves in the league and just given the experience that I was able to give to those guys turned out to be pretty much a good year for me. So, I was excited about it. I think I had a great time this year. I’m looking forward to going back and improving. We had [Rajon] Rondo for midway of the season, so I’m looking forward to being with him for a full season. So, it’ll be interesting this upcoming year.”

http://greenstreet.weei.com/sports/boston/basketball/celtics/2014/07/10/gerald-wallace-lebron-james-doesnt-have-the-attitude-or-the-fight-of-michael-jordan-kobe-bryant/

Not willing to take a game over??? I guess 45 pts 15 boards and 5 assist at the Garden doesn't count?  James was ridiculously dominate in the two titles runs and took over many games during that run.  Has he had bad games? or come up short in some big games, yes!  but what star hasn't??? 

[Donoghus]

I think G-Dub talks way too much but he is on to something here.

Jordan & Kobe along with Bird & a few others have/had this incredible fight about them & attitude.  It's a bit tough to try & convey it in words but essentially losing killed them.  Those guys had this ridiculous competitive gene and you'd often see them take it out on both teammates and opponents.  I don't quite see that from Lebron.  Certainly more passive in that area although he is certainly still a leader out there.  He just seems to lead in a different way than guys like Jordan & Kobe.   

From a basketball skillpoint, Lebron might be better than all of them when all is said & done but, in terms of drive & desire, he's not on the same page.  I don't think you'll ever hear people talking about the "drive & desire" of Lebron James in the first sentence of an epitaph about him.

EDIT:  Also, I'm not what you'd consider a Lebron basher.  I think a lot of the criticism and hatred of him on here is unwarranted.  He's already one of the all-time greats.

[BudweiserCeltic]

He was an efficient scorer, except he had an abysmal free-throw shooting year. Also, his turnover rate was completely horrible.

His turnover rate was what it has always been. The only reason you've noticed it was because Wallace was not a scorer of any sort last season, efficient or otherwise. He took 4 shots a game, couldn't score from outside of 3 feet, and couldn't hit a free throw. He wasn't simply bad, he was completely and utterly abysmal.

I have no problem with him if he could sit on the bench and keep his trap shut (because I certainly don't want to see him in a game), but the latter has been an issue.

Sorry, but that's completely false. His turnover rate was extremely higher this year than in seasons past. It's not even close, particularly when you consider his low usage rate.

[Robert24]

Our friend Gerald Wallace is back, glad to hear from him early in free-agency. Last year we didn't hear from him until November or such.

In any case, some highlights:

“Jordan never had an off night,” Wallace told myfoxal.com. “He found many ways to contribute to the team, and I’d say Kobe [Bryant] is pretty much the same. You can put Lebron in that category. I think what separates LeBron from Kobe and Michael Jordan right now is that he doesn’t have the attitude or the fight that those guys had. For me, he’s not willing to take over a game, demand a game or put the game all on his shoulders. I would like to see him get to that one day, but right now I don’t think he has that, and that’s what Michael Jordan and even Kobe has.”

.........


“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was for me,” Wallace said of Boston. “Being where I’m at in my career, I think once I got there I was kind of against starting over and rebuilding a team, but being there, being a veteran, being able to help some of the young guys mature and develop themselves in the league and just given the experience that I was able to give to those guys turned out to be pretty much a good year for me. So, I was excited about it. I think I had a great time this year. I’m looking forward to going back and improving. We had [Rajon] Rondo for midway of the season, so I’m looking forward to being with him for a full season. So, it’ll be interesting this upcoming year.”

http://greenstreet.weei.com/sports/boston/basketball/celtics/2014/07/10/gerald-wallace-lebron-james-doesnt-have-the-attitude-or-the-fight-of-michael-jordan-kobe-bryant/

Funny he says that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-VzBeOrdAg

[kozlodoev]

He was an efficient scorer, except he had an abysmal free-throw shooting year. Also, his turnover rate was completely horrible.

His turnover rate was what it has always been. The only reason you've noticed it was because Wallace was not a scorer of any sort last season, efficient or otherwise. He took 4 shots a game, couldn't score from outside of 3 feet, and couldn't hit a free throw. He wasn't simply bad, he was completely and utterly abysmal.

I have no problem with him if he could sit on the bench and keep his trap shut (because I certainly don't want to see him in a game), but the latter has been an issue.

Sorry, but that's completely false. His turnover rate was extremely higher this year than in seasons past. It's not even close, particularly when you consider his low usage rate.

His career assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.2; his assist-to-turnover last season was 1.8 -- that's what I'm looking at. The high TO per 100 possessions is an artifact of the fact that he wouldn't shoot.

[Jon]

One thing to consider with Gerald Wallace might be using the stretch provision next summer. Right now it doesn't make sense and would be cumbersome, but if we only had to stretch one year of his deal, the 2-3 million dollar per year hit wouldn't be so bad, especially if Danny is going to use up all his salary cap space for the foreseeable future anyway, signing or acquiring star talent.

[Donoghus]

Wallace is definitely wrong about the "taking over a game & putting the game all on his shoulders" thing.  Detroit in '07 & Boston in '12 were two of the most dominant individual player performances I've ever seen.

[saltlover]

He was an efficient scorer, except he had an abysmal free-throw shooting year. Also, his turnover rate was completely horrible.

His turnover rate was what it has always been. The only reason you've noticed it was because Wallace was not a scorer of any sort last season, efficient or otherwise. He took 4 shots a game, couldn't score from outside of 3 feet, and couldn't hit a free throw. He wasn't simply bad, he was completely and utterly abysmal.

I have no problem with him if he could sit on the bench and keep his trap shut (because I certainly don't want to see him in a game), but the latter has been an issue.

Sorry, but that's completely false. His turnover rate was extremely higher this year than in seasons past. It's not even close, particularly when you consider his low usage rate.

In addition, he had the best shooting percentage from the corner 3 on the team, at 58%.  Whether or not he took enough of them, or passed up good opportunities, is open to debate, but it's a complete and utter inaccuracy to say he couldn't score from outside 3 feet.  He was elite from the corner.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Wallace is definitely wrong about the "taking over a game & putting the game all on his shoulders" thing.  Detroit in '07 & Boston in '12 were two of the most dominant individual player performances I've ever seen.

I agree on this regard. There's an hyperbole going into it, but at the same time there's the context that he often disappears or isn't there when you need him, particularly for someone as dominant as he is.

So there's a case to be made.

The "NEVER" is a conversational hyperbole.