Have you bought into Lebron HypeMachine???

[vinnie]

There is no better player in the NBA right now and Lebron could end up being the best of all time, depending on how his career goes. The hype is just part of the 24/7 internet/cable news world in which we live. I don't like it, but that's just the way it is going to be

[ScalPal]

Call it Hype all you want. He's the best player in the world. Those players usually get and deserve the hype.

Have you bought into the Hype?

I respond with: Have you seen him play?

[Donoghus]

There is no better player in the NBA right now and Lebron could end up being the best of all time, depending on how his career goes. The hype is just part of the 24/7 internet/cable news world in which we live. I don't like it, but that's just the way it is going to be

That's a really good point.

Can you imagine the type of hype Bird or Magic would've gotten in today's day & age of 24/7 media? 

People would be whining about it too.

Its just a by-product of today's media.

[ManUp]

Lol, we all know that Kobe jacks up plenty of shots to get into the 30, 40+ points range I mean, how could he not feel pressured to score the way Jordan did if Phil Jackson is his current coach and he has to be the primary scorer for that team since Shaq has left the franchise? May I also mention that Jordan's archetype of player has already been thoruoghly scrutinized even while he was still playing to the point that teams would come up with different methods of trying to defend him (either double-teaming, hacking, etc.) so Kobe Bryant, another SG who models his game after MJ and is 6'6" the same height MJ was (also the same weight) and plays for Phil Jackson people would already have at least some idea of how to guard Kobe after watching Jordan before him. I hope that makes sense...

Your not very good at arguing your case. The fact that you acknowledge Kobe as a chucker, disregard his inefficency, and blame Phil Jackson  for Kobe's chucking ways is all some bias bull, IMO. The Lakers have plenty of talent Phil isn't forcing him to do anything. The Lakers actually do a lot better when they go to Gasol more and move the ball. The only reason Kobe takes more than 20+ shots a night is because he wants to. You can compare Kobe and his situation to Jordan all you want, but he's not Jordan. No one ever figured out how to stop Jordan at 38 he was a 20/5/5 player on bad knees. Jordan's agenda was nothing more than winning, Kobe only cares about winning if he's the one leading the way.

http://www.redsarmy.com/home/2010/02/jackson-gasol-call-kobe-greedy.html

    Gasol was asked about Bryant’s new record and offered politically correct – and believably authentic – commentary (“I’m proud of him; I congratulate him”) before adding the kicker: “Now we can focus on winning games again.”

...

    Bear in mind that Phil Jackson was a little miffed at Bryant on his historic night, too. Jackson told the team at halftime, when Bryant had 23 of the Lakers’ 50 points, that Bryant was “forcing the action.” Jackson also said in the halftime locker room, alluding to the 29 points Bryant needed in the game to pass Jerry West: “Let’s get him over the hump, so we can play team ball again.”

This is what Kobe's about. That's the night that Kobe past Jerry West on the Lakers all time leading scorers list. Doesn't sound like Gasol or Phil were to pressuring Kobe to keep chucking to get his numbers. His hype machine is miles ahead of Lebron, because some people actually believe he is a great and unselfish teammate. His hype machine still has people thinking he's better than Lebron.

[CelticG1]

I can't believe this conversation has gone this far. Lebron is by far the best player in the league as of now. He dominates every part of the game and can pretty much score at will. He is the most difficult person to guard in the NBA. If you don't think he is the best player in the game than it is because of other agenda IMO. CP3? Are you kidding me?

I will say that I think Kobe cares about winning more than Lebron does. Right now Lebron seems like he is enjoying the ride, attention, commercials, dancing, Yankees, New York, air guitar, Jay-z concerts etc. Kobe is basketball and winning first everything else second. Lebron hasn't hit that competitive level yet.

I hate both of them pretty much equally with all that said

[Donoghus]

I can't believe this conversation has gone this far. Lebron is by far the best player in the league as of now. He dominates every part of the game and can pretty much score at will. He is the most difficult person to guard in the NBA. If you don't think he is the best player in the game than it is because of other agenda IMO. CP3? Are you kidding me?

I will say that I think Kobe cares about winning more than Lebron does. Right now Lebron seems like he is enjoying the ride, attention, commercials, dancing, Yankees, New York, air guitar, Jay-z concerts etc. Kobe is basketball and winning first everything else second. Lebron hasn't hit that competitive level yet.

I hate both of them pretty much equally with all that said

I think once Lebron sorts out this possible free agency and impending payday, you'll start to see his focus shift more to winning and his overall legacy.

Obviously, I do think he cares about winning a title now but I have this sense that he's still rather young to really grasp the legacy thing yet and its association with championships.  It's not his fault.  We've seen this sort of mentality from a good chunk of players in their 20s and see a transformation as their career progresses.

[housecall]

Lebron is the best player in the game.

He has become just about impossible to guard with his combination of size, speed, shooting (an improving aspect) and vision to hit the open man with a pass. 


And once he decided to play defense, he has become probably the best defensive SF in the NBA, because of his size and speed.


Lebron is ether bigger then his man or faster then his man or (most likely) bigger and faster then his man.



Kobe is still number 2. 


Wade, Melo and Durrant are the next class below.  Durrant has the best chance of jumping up if he ever decided to play defense.

If most games were called on a even playing field(correctly)Lebron wouldn't be as productive offensively...in the 70's,80's Lebron wouldn't be close to the success he's had so far today.I feel he is in a era of players with less talented players,and defense is not top priority to most teams.I think Melo,Durant,Wade,Pierce and a few others would be more successful than James in a different era of players because of  their natural ability without aid from bias officiating.
  

So your saying an era where Lebron will be even bigger and faster by comparision to other SFs and he is allowed to be more physical on defense is a bad thing for him?


He (much like the scorers of that era) would be able to adjust to the more physical play.  He has more then enough size to deal with that. 

He would still be bigger.  He would still be faster.  And he would still have the improving shot and good vision. 


It is a guy like Wade that would have problems.  He would have been injured even more. 

Im saying he wouldn't be coming thru the paint as often,and as successful...he would have developed an outside game quicker than he did in this era.I have heard retired players like Mahorn,Pippens,Lambeire on different NBA talk shows make reference to if Lebron was playing in their day,with quotes like he would be fresh meat(laughing).There were more physical players per team in those days to either shut him down or make him think twice about coming thru the paint.

Is it that he is much better than other players or is some of his success from the way the game is being called these days?...todays officiating has some to do with his success.

I still feel Melo would win 6 out 10 games head to head aganist Lebron and Melo is a better NBA player than James.

Why would Lebron stop attacking the basket?  He is still physically bigger then the man defending him.  Heck, he is probably bigger and stronger then some of the PF back then. 

And in a deeper NBA, he would have better talent around him making it harder to double him all the time, especially with his talent to see and pass the ball. 

And by what measure do you use to say Melo is better?

James has better numbers
James plays better defense.
James has been further in the playoff and has had his team being a true contender for a longer time. 

Apparently you aren't old enough to appreciate the types of defense played in those past eras.If you were an NBA fan(adult)in those days i don't think you would be asking these questions.I see you keep repeating Lebron's size/strength,whereas there were players in the 70's,80's able to slow him down.I would bet money Lebron would have thought twice before driving to the basket like he does in this present day NBA.  

 As far as Melo vs Lebron...my measuring stick is mostly eyeball.Although James might be leading in scoring,assists,rebounds,their stats are probably close in most categories,depending on the week.I do not keep up with stats regularly but i think Melo is close in points.As far as defense,Melo has stepped his defense up this season just as James has.Whenever a team's primetime scorer plays the Nuggets,i see Melo taking on the responsibility of playing one on one defense on him,like James does.Melo has been just as successful as James playing guys like Kobe,Wade.Playoff wise,Lebron has had better players around him until this past season.In the past i say Lebron was better because Melo was going through some maturity issues besides playing with a lot of scrubs,but we are rating them today.Melo is a more complete player today than he was a few seasons ago.Prior to Billups showing up in Denver,he did shoot the ball to much and didn't include his team mates enough.It could be the players around him wasn't that good at the time.The only player i can remember in Denver that was any good(pre-Billups)was AI. 
  I look at the intanglables what both players bring to the table as well...they both are doing the little things for their teams that don't show up in the stat sheets night after night.I don't see Lebron running away with anything in this case either.
  Remember,right before Melo went down with injuries several months ago,he was the leading candidate for MVP.When he returned the media had jumped on the Lebron banwagon for MVP...But Melo has regained his high level of play,like he never left,but the media seems to want Lebron to win no matter what.

[CelticG1]

I can't believe this conversation has gone this far. Lebron is by far the best player in the league as of now. He dominates every part of the game and can pretty much score at will. He is the most difficult person to guard in the NBA. If you don't think he is the best player in the game than it is because of other agenda IMO. CP3? Are you kidding me?

I will say that I think Kobe cares about winning more than Lebron does. Right now Lebron seems like he is enjoying the ride, attention, commercials, dancing, Yankees, New York, air guitar, Jay-z concerts etc. Kobe is basketball and winning first everything else second. Lebron hasn't hit that competitive level yet.

I hate both of them pretty much equally with all that said

I think once Lebron sorts out this possible free agency and impending payday, you'll start to see his focus shift more to winning and his overall legacy.

Obviously, I do think he cares about winning a title now but I have this sense that he's still rather young to really grasp the legacy thing yet and its association with championships.  It's not his fault.  We've seen this sort of mentality from a good chunk of players in their 20s and see a transformation as their career progresses.

Yeah I definitely agree. When they compare the two thats one glaring difference I see and it is because of age. You can tell that Kobe wants as much as he can get for the remaining of his career. Lebron will start to feel that itch pretty soon especially if they don't win it this year.

[rav123]

Lebron is the best player in the game.

He has become just about impossible to guard with his combination of size, speed, shooting (an improving aspect) and vision to hit the open man with a pass. 


And once he decided to play defense, he has become probably the best defensive SF in the NBA, because of his size and speed.


Lebron is ether bigger then his man or faster then his man or (most likely) bigger and faster then his man.



Kobe is still number 2. 


Wade, Melo and Durrant are the next class below.  Durrant has the best chance of jumping up if he ever decided to play defense.

If most games were called on a even playing field(correctly)Lebron wouldn't be as productive offensively...in the 70's,80's Lebron wouldn't be close to the success he's had so far today.I feel he is in a era of players with less talented players,and defense is not top priority to most teams.I think Melo,Durant,Wade,Pierce and a few others would be more successful than James in a different era of players because of  their natural ability without aid from bias officiating.
  

So your saying an era where Lebron will be even bigger and faster by comparision to other SFs and he is allowed to be more physical on defense is a bad thing for him?


He (much like the scorers of that era) would be able to adjust to the more physical play.  He has more then enough size to deal with that. 

He would still be bigger.  He would still be faster.  And he would still have the improving shot and good vision. 


It is a guy like Wade that would have problems.  He would have been injured even more. 

Im saying he wouldn't be coming thru the paint as often,and as successful...he would have developed an outside game quicker than he did in this era.I have heard retired players like Mahorn,Pippens,Lambeire on different NBA talk shows make reference to if Lebron was playing in their day,with quotes like he would be fresh meat(laughing).There were more physical players per team in those days to either shut him down or make him think twice about coming thru the paint.

Is it that he is much better than other players or is some of his success from the way the game is being called these days?...todays officiating has some to do with his success.

I still feel Melo would win 6 out 10 games head to head aganist Lebron and Melo is a better NBA player than James.

Why would Lebron stop attacking the basket?  He is still physically bigger then the man defending him.  Heck, he is probably bigger and stronger then some of the PF back then. 

And in a deeper NBA, he would have better talent around him making it harder to double him all the time, especially with his talent to see and pass the ball. 

And by what measure do you use to say Melo is better?

James has better numbers
James plays better defense.
James has been further in the playoff and has had his team being a true contender for a longer time. 

Apparently you aren't old enough to appreciate the types of defense played in those past eras.If you were an NBA fan(adult)in those days i don't think you would be asking these questions.I see you keep repeating Lebron's size/strength,whereas there were players in the 70's,80's able to slow him down.I would bet money Lebron would have thought twice before driving to the basket like he does in this present day NBA.  

 As far as Melo vs Lebron...my measuring stick is mostly eyeball.Although James might be leading in scoring,assists,rebounds,their stats are probably close in most categories,depending on the week.I do not keep up with stats regularly but i think Melo is close in points.As far as defense,Melo has stepped his defense up this season just as James has.Whenever a team's primetime scorer plays the Nuggets,i see Melo taking on the responsibility of playing one on one defense on him,like James does.Melo has been just as successful as James playing guys like Kobe,Wade.Playoff wise,Lebron has had better players around him until this past season.In the past i say Lebron was better because Melo was going through some maturity issues besides playing with a lot of scrubs,but we are rating them today.Melo is a more complete player today than he was a few seasons ago.Prior to Billups showing up in Denver,he did shoot the ball to much and didn't include his team mates enough.It could be the players around him wasn't that good at the time.The only player i can remember in Denver that was any good(pre-Billups)was AI. 
  I look at the intanglables what both players bring to the table as well...they both are doing the little things for their teams that don't show up in the stat sheets night after night.I don't see Lebron running away with anything in this case either.
  Remember,right before Melo went down with injuries several months ago,he was the leading candidate for MVP.When he returned the media had jumped on the Lebron banwagon for MVP...But Melo has regained his high level of play,like he never left,but the media seems to want Lebron to win no matter what.

So basically, to look good, 'Melo needed Chauncey Billups (who led a team to 1 NBA title, 2 NBA finals in succession and 6 straight Conference finals - a possible candidate for the Hall of Fame)...

While Lebron has been acknowledged as a superstar since entering the NBA.

BTW, anyone who says Lebron is a bad 3-point shooter should know that he is shooting .346, better than Wade (.293), Ben Gordon (.307), Anthony (.314), Bryant (.321), Brandon Roy (.340), Kevin Martin (.344) and Scal (.341).

[Witch-King]

Lol, we all know that Kobe jacks up plenty of shots to get into the 30, 40+ points range I mean, how could he not feel pressured to score the way Jordan did if Phil Jackson is his current coach and he has to be the primary scorer for that team since Shaq has left the franchise? May I also mention that Jordan's archetype of player has already been thoruoghly scrutinized even while he was still playing to the point that teams would come up with different methods of trying to defend him (either double-teaming, hacking, etc.) so Kobe Bryant, another SG who models his game after MJ and is 6'6" the same height MJ was (also the same weight) and plays for Phil Jackson people would already have at least some idea of how to guard Kobe after watching Jordan before him. I hope that makes sense...

Your not very good at arguing your case. The fact that you acknowledge Kobe as a chucker, disregard his inefficency, and blame Phil Jackson  for Kobe's chucking ways is all some bias bull, IMO. The Lakers have plenty of talent Phil isn't forcing him to do anything. The Lakers actually do a lot better when they go to Gasol more and move the ball. The only reason Kobe takes more than 20+ shots a night is because he wants to. You can compare Kobe and his situation to Jordan all you want, but he's not Jordan. No one ever figured out how to stop Jordan at 38 he was a 20/5/5 player on bad knees. Jordan's agenda was nothing more than winning, Kobe only cares about winning if he's the one leading the way.

http://www.redsarmy.com/home/2010/02/jackson-gasol-call-kobe-greedy.html

    Gasol was asked about Bryant’s new record and offered politically correct – and believably authentic – commentary (“I’m proud of him; I congratulate him”) before adding the kicker: “Now we can focus on winning games again.”

...

    Bear in mind that Phil Jackson was a little miffed at Bryant on his historic night, too. Jackson told the team at halftime, when Bryant had 23 of the Lakers’ 50 points, that Bryant was “forcing the action.” Jackson also said in the halftime locker room, alluding to the 29 points Bryant needed in the game to pass Jerry West: “Let’s get him over the hump, so we can play team ball again.”

This is what Kobe's about. That's the night that Kobe past Jerry West on the Lakers all time leading scorers list. Doesn't sound like Gasol or Phil were to pressuring Kobe to keep chucking to get his numbers. His hype machine is miles ahead of Lebron, because some people actually believe he is a great and unselfish teammate. His hype machine still has people thinking he's better than Lebron.

Lol, you obviously didn't understand what I was subtly hinting at. To save some time I will just send you a link to an older post that I have had on the Kobe vs MJ discussion because to me it would be a waste of time to sit here and argue about something that should be obvious to both of us.

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=34243.0

^exactly why I don't by into any of the LeBron James hype. This thread is one post away from becoming a flame war, for no good reason ('Man Up' was the last person to post in the topic that I just linked so if he says anything to me from this point on I will not respond to him).

[wdleehi]

Lebron is the best player in the game.

He has become just about impossible to guard with his combination of size, speed, shooting (an improving aspect) and vision to hit the open man with a pass. 


And once he decided to play defense, he has become probably the best defensive SF in the NBA, because of his size and speed.


Lebron is ether bigger then his man or faster then his man or (most likely) bigger and faster then his man.



Kobe is still number 2. 


Wade, Melo and Durrant are the next class below.  Durrant has the best chance of jumping up if he ever decided to play defense.

If most games were called on a even playing field(correctly)Lebron wouldn't be as productive offensively...in the 70's,80's Lebron wouldn't be close to the success he's had so far today.I feel he is in a era of players with less talented players,and defense is not top priority to most teams.I think Melo,Durant,Wade,Pierce and a few others would be more successful than James in a different era of players because of  their natural ability without aid from bias officiating.
  

So your saying an era where Lebron will be even bigger and faster by comparision to other SFs and he is allowed to be more physical on defense is a bad thing for him?


He (much like the scorers of that era) would be able to adjust to the more physical play.  He has more then enough size to deal with that. 

He would still be bigger.  He would still be faster.  And he would still have the improving shot and good vision. 


It is a guy like Wade that would have problems.  He would have been injured even more. 

Im saying he wouldn't be coming thru the paint as often,and as successful...he would have developed an outside game quicker than he did in this era.I have heard retired players like Mahorn,Pippens,Lambeire on different NBA talk shows make reference to if Lebron was playing in their day,with quotes like he would be fresh meat(laughing).There were more physical players per team in those days to either shut him down or make him think twice about coming thru the paint.

Is it that he is much better than other players or is some of his success from the way the game is being called these days?...todays officiating has some to do with his success.

I still feel Melo would win 6 out 10 games head to head aganist Lebron and Melo is a better NBA player than James.

Why would Lebron stop attacking the basket?  He is still physically bigger then the man defending him.  Heck, he is probably bigger and stronger then some of the PF back then. 

And in a deeper NBA, he would have better talent around him making it harder to double him all the time, especially with his talent to see and pass the ball. 

And by what measure do you use to say Melo is better?

James has better numbers
James plays better defense.
James has been further in the playoff and has had his team being a true contender for a longer time. 

Apparently you aren't old enough to appreciate the types of defense played in those past eras.If you were an NBA fan(adult)in those days i don't think you would be asking these questions.I see you keep repeating Lebron's size/strength,whereas there were players in the 70's,80's able to slow him down.I would bet money Lebron would have thought twice before driving to the basket like he does in this present day NBA.  

 As far as Melo vs Lebron...my measuring stick is mostly eyeball.Although James might be leading in scoring,assists,rebounds,their stats are probably close in most categories,depending on the week.I do not keep up with stats regularly but i think Melo is close in points.As far as defense,Melo has stepped his defense up this season just as James has.Whenever a team's primetime scorer plays the Nuggets,i see Melo taking on the responsibility of playing one on one defense on him,like James does.Melo has been just as successful as James playing guys like Kobe,Wade.Playoff wise,Lebron has had better players around him until this past season.In the past i say Lebron was better because Melo was going through some maturity issues besides playing with a lot of scrubs,but we are rating them today.Melo is a more complete player today than he was a few seasons ago.Prior to Billups showing up in Denver,he did shoot the ball to much and didn't include his team mates enough.It could be the players around him wasn't that good at the time.The only player i can remember in Denver that was any good(pre-Billups)was AI. 
  I look at the intanglables what both players bring to the table as well...they both are doing the little things for their teams that don't show up in the stat sheets night after night.I don't see Lebron running away with anything in this case either.
  Remember,right before Melo went down with injuries several months ago,he was the leading candidate for MVP.When he returned the media had jumped on the Lebron banwagon for MVP...But Melo has regained his high level of play,like he never left,but the media seems to want Lebron to win no matter what.

Yeah, being 33 means I have never seen a game before Lebron played.

 


And the 70's and 80's were known for defense.   




And Lebron didn't have to deal with any good defense in his career.  He never had to play the Boston Celtics before this season. 

 


Who has Lebron played with that is as good as Billups while still close to his prime?

No, Lebron has actually beaten Billups in the playoffs.


If Lebron had to play in the era of real physical defenses (the early 90's with the Pistons, Knicks and Heat) he (much like Jordan had to) would have been pushed to improve his game to beat those defenses. 


Playing in an era with tougher defense would have pushed today stars to be better then they are.

[MMacOH]

For the people on here who say Lebron isn't worried about winning yet in his career.  A clip from Brian Windhorst's blog (Cavs beat writer) on Lebron:

* Right about this time every season LeBron James flips a switch. It isn't always easy to see because his play on the floor always looks about the same. But in the middle of March he begins to slowly dial up his intensity as he heads toward the playoffs.

You really start to see it on gamedays. For the last couple of weeks, James has been starting to crank up his routine. He takes more time after shootaround and he prepares more before games. When on the road, there are two busses that come over from the team hotel, an early and a late. Most of the season James comes on the late bus, which is a half hour behind and gets to the arena about two hours before tip off. When he starts his playoff mode, James starts coming on the first bus to get extra shooting and pregame work in.

Before the game with the Hornets, which James takes a little more seriously because it is against close friend Chris Paul, James got his own ride and came to the arena before anyone else on the team to do shooting work. In fact, James did two shooting sessions before he even came out for the standard pregame warmups. Then he went out and went 15-of-22 shooting and scored 38 points.

When the cameras are on and when fans are in the building pregame it can look like James is just messing around, dunking and trying halfcourt shots. At some points in the season he is. But don't just believe what you see, James is working harder than ever.

[Donoghus]

For the people on here who say Lebron isn't worried about winning yet in his career.  A clip from Brian Windhorst's blog (Cavs beat writer) on Lebron:

* Right about this time every season LeBron James flips a switch. It isn't always easy to see because his play on the floor always looks about the same. But in the middle of March he begins to slowly dial up his intensity as he heads toward the playoffs.

You really start to see it on gamedays. For the last couple of weeks, James has been starting to crank up his routine. He takes more time after shootaround and he prepares more before games. When on the road, there are two busses that come over from the team hotel, an early and a late. Most of the season James comes on the late bus, which is a half hour behind and gets to the arena about two hours before tip off. When he starts his playoff mode, James starts coming on the first bus to get extra shooting and pregame work in.

Before the game with the Hornets, which James takes a little more seriously because it is against close friend Chris Paul, James got his own ride and came to the arena before anyone else on the team to do shooting work. In fact, James did two shooting sessions before he even came out for the standard pregame warmups. Then he went out and went 15-of-22 shooting and scored 38 points.

When the cameras are on and when fans are in the building pregame it can look like James is just messing around, dunking and trying halfcourt shots. At some points in the season he is. But don't just believe what you see, James is working harder than ever.

Here's the thing, though.  And I consider a pretty big Lebron fan.

Until he goes out and wins that first ring, the criticisms are going to be there, justified or not.  The clowning around and posing for pictures are gonna rub a lot of people the same way.  Especially those who will point out and say that Bird, Magic, and Jordan would never have done that. Antics like that are just going to fuel the critics fire.  The "hype machine" that may are refering to (Nike, ESPN, etc.) may keep pumping him up but this will probably create more critics. The pressure is going to slowly increase if he progresses in his career and he doesn't have a ring.  We saw it with Malone, we saw it with Barkley, we saw it with Ewing. 

There's no doubt in my mind that he's working hard. Genetics or not, you still have to work hard to maintain what he's got going physically.  However, people are gonna overlook that and point out the negatives until he gets it done on the court in the form of a title. 

[MMacOH]

For the people on here who say Lebron isn't worried about winning yet in his career.  A clip from Brian Windhorst's blog (Cavs beat writer) on Lebron:

* Right about this time every season LeBron James flips a switch. It isn't always easy to see because his play on the floor always looks about the same. But in the middle of March he begins to slowly dial up his intensity as he heads toward the playoffs.

You really start to see it on gamedays. For the last couple of weeks, James has been starting to crank up his routine. He takes more time after shootaround and he prepares more before games. When on the road, there are two busses that come over from the team hotel, an early and a late. Most of the season James comes on the late bus, which is a half hour behind and gets to the arena about two hours before tip off. When he starts his playoff mode, James starts coming on the first bus to get extra shooting and pregame work in.

Before the game with the Hornets, which James takes a little more seriously because it is against close friend Chris Paul, James got his own ride and came to the arena before anyone else on the team to do shooting work. In fact, James did two shooting sessions before he even came out for the standard pregame warmups. Then he went out and went 15-of-22 shooting and scored 38 points.

When the cameras are on and when fans are in the building pregame it can look like James is just messing around, dunking and trying halfcourt shots. At some points in the season he is. But don't just believe what you see, James is working harder than ever.

Here's the thing, though.  And I consider a pretty big Lebron fan.

Until he goes out and wins that first ring, the criticisms are going to be there, justified or not.  The clowning around and posing for pictures are gonna rub a lot of people the same way.  Especially those who will point out and say that Bird, Magic, and Jordan would never have done that. Antics like that are just going to fuel the critics fire.  The "hype machine" that may are refering to (Nike, ESPN, etc.) may keep pumping him up but this will probably create more critics. The pressure is going to slowly increase if he progresses in his career and he doesn't have a ring.  We saw it with Malone, we saw it with Barkley, we saw it with Ewing. 

There's no doubt in my mind that he's working hard. Genetics or not, you still have to work hard to maintain what he's got going physically.  However, people are gonna overlook that and point out the negatives until he gets it done on the court in the form of a title. 

Great point.  TP for it.

I think the clowning is one of the reasons his teammates like him so much

[nickagneta]

For the people on here who say Lebron isn't worried about winning yet in his career.  A clip from Brian Windhorst's blog (Cavs beat writer) on Lebron:

* Right about this time every season LeBron James flips a switch. It isn't always easy to see because his play on the floor always looks about the same. But in the middle of March he begins to slowly dial up his intensity as he heads toward the playoffs.

You really start to see it on gamedays. For the last couple of weeks, James has been starting to crank up his routine. He takes more time after shootaround and he prepares more before games. When on the road, there are two busses that come over from the team hotel, an early and a late. Most of the season James comes on the late bus, which is a half hour behind and gets to the arena about two hours before tip off. When he starts his playoff mode, James starts coming on the first bus to get extra shooting and pregame work in.

Before the game with the Hornets, which James takes a little more seriously because it is against close friend Chris Paul, James got his own ride and came to the arena before anyone else on the team to do shooting work. In fact, James did two shooting sessions before he even came out for the standard pregame warmups. Then he went out and went 15-of-22 shooting and scored 38 points.

When the cameras are on and when fans are in the building pregame it can look like James is just messing around, dunking and trying halfcourt shots. At some points in the season he is. But don't just believe what you see, James is working harder than ever.

MMac, do you or Brian Windhorst really think that what LeBron is doing in committing himself to more pregame work and so forth as the playoffs near is really any different than any other superstar in the NBA? I don't think that piece proves anything or separates LeBron in any way from any other very good player in the NBA.