I’ll ask the same question again that nobody wants to answer. If Lebron is a top ten or too 5 player right now as people on here continually claim. How is he losing to teams that have a best player like Reggie Jackson or cj McCollum? Has there ever been a top 5 player that led a team to 8 games under .500? When we are we gonna face reality on this?
Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady immediately spring to mind.
I would have to look through their careers but my memory was that McGrady made the playoffs the majority of his career as did kg. It looks like Garnett made it all but three of his of career until the end with Minnesota.
Tracy McGrady averaged 28/6/6 in 2003-04 and Orlando won 21 games. KG averaged 21/13/4 with GOAT-level defence in 05-06 and Minny won 33 games.
LeBron has made the playoffs more consistently than any player in NBA history, so I'm not sure why he doesn't get credit for that if you write "McGrady made the playoffs the majority of his career as did kg".
Little surprised by how aggressive you are pushing this comparison. McGrady didn’t even make the top 75 players of all time. If you want to say Lebron is like Tracy McGrady now I think you will rile up the lbj fans, but he made the all nba second team the season you referenced. I think Lebron is probably headed towards the third team, and maybe off the teams if the lakers plummet to 11th or 12th in the west. My comments are for the people that have been slamming their hands on the table claiming Lebron is still a top 5 player as the lakers potentially fall out of the playin and insist he will play 6 more years. I think he is still a good player, but is more than fair to point out he is t a top 5 player this season. Full stop. Obviously McGrady didn’t make the first team and don’t think he finished top 5 in mvp. I will have to dig into kgs outlier season when I am less tired.
Edit: Garnett made 3rd team all nba the season you referenced. So you kind of just agreed with me in a really roundabout way? Kind of a strange post gouki. Tp tho
Still waiting on those dozen players better than LeBron this season... TP
Ok, guys I have that are playing better and having better seasons off the top of my head. Some of them, like Durant obviously need to come back and be healthy to hold their position.
Giannis
Embid
Jokic
Curry
Durant
Donic
Demar
Ja Morant
I don't think there is much of an argument that those guys are playing better, and in most of their cases significantly better than Lebron and all have their teams poised for greater success. Some of them like Dallas and Denver, don't even have significantly better supporting casts than the what LA has had most of the season.
Lebron is in a group of the next level that has about 5-7 people in it like
Butler
Booker
Tatum
Mitchell
Gobert
Towns
And what we are seeing from Harden in Philly.
So could he be as high as like 9th? Maybe, but he definitely isn't higher than that and that was kind of my point. Also I feel like people are just looking at this counting stats and not really watching their games. He routinely is getting a lot of points in blowouts (for example last night, his box score looks ok but he actually added on 11 points in the 4th quarter when his team was down 30. Players like Curry don;t even go into the game in those situations and this has been happening all year). He even once ran in for a layup after the other team had conceded the game and stopped playing to the point the lakers broadcasters joked he really wanted to pass Kareem. He has also contributed to their awful defense, is constantly pouting and is not putting in the consistent effort of these others guys. People can cry all they want, but he shouldn't be losing to the pelicans by 30 at home and he, like everyone else, has some blame in that.
Hate to say it, but you are probably going to have to add Harden to that first group. I’d go:
Jokic
Durant
Embiid
Giannis
Curry
Harden
Lebron
Clay hates to say it too. He had Harden on death's door a few weeks ago.
Your top 5 is mine albeit in a different order. I'm torn between Harden and Lebron at 6th. If you swapped Lebron for Harden, would the Sixers have a better or worse shot at the championship?
Doncic is close but don't think he's quite there yet. I'd obviously choose Doncic for his age but for at least this season I'd choose Lebron or Harden for at least this season.
Don't think Morant is that close. Think he is getting a bit overhyped. The Grizzlies are good with or without him. He's 6th on their team in +/-. Memphis overall is OFFRTG 113.1 and DEFRTG 108.7. With Morant on court, they are 114.4 and 110.8. Swapping Lebron or Harden for Morant, would give them a much better shot at the championship. Doncic too but to a lesser extent.
I don’t recall saying anything about maxey and harden. I’m not even sure what I would have said? And you are doing the always sunny in Philadelphia routine again. No there are not tons of players that do what harden does party wise, and basically nobody that does it that is 32. It’s very silly to act like this isn’t a potential issue. He also literally has repeatedly injured his hamstrings the last few years including being rendered useless in last years playoffs. These are all objective facts and not refutable. Please stop the nonsense. There is very fair reason to have doubts on harden going on a finals run. Lets go bananas cause they get a disasterous Knicks team and the twolves as home.
You replied to the wrong post. I said I didn't know if it was you. Whoever it was thought Maxey needed the ball in his hands and getting Harden would hinder Maxey's growth.
Don't know how you take my post about Harden as being "always sunny in Philadelphia." I said when the Nets traded for Harden that Harden, Irving and Durant was a really bad fit. Harden and Embiid is obviously a much better fit. I didn't try to refute Harden's injury history. I didn't say he was going to get in shape and stop partying. I said it is what it is.
I made no mention of the Sixers going on a finals run. But since you brought it up, I think they had no chance of making the finals before the trade but after the trade I think they've got as good a shot to do so as any team in the East. Obviously both Harden and Embiid have to stay healthy for that to occur.
BTW, the TWolves games was on the road too. Their 1st home game is Wednesday against the Knicks.
