I was just watching Shaq highlights in the 2004 finals and a question popped in my mind

How do you think Giannis would’ve fared against the 2004 pistons defense?

Do you think they would’ve been able to build a wall, like the Raptors?

How many points do you think he would’ve averaged in a series?

PG:

SG:

SF:

PF: (Current players only)

Up until today’s game I have been pretty critical of bronnys chances of making the nba legitimately. I think today’s game changed my mind. Which might be surprising given his shooting form and only one late basket.

But here’s why: -he’s got great defensive positioning and lateral movement. Potentially very high level.

• he’s got potentially elite defensive hands. He’s got quick hands, and quality slaps and pokes at balls and recovery attempts. An important and overlooked part of defense, given all players get past you at some point.
• he is good at creating space for his shots. Obviously his touch isn’t there, but this isn’t rare for a rookie. He creates enough space for good looks, and despite poor finishing, creates good opportunities.
• General floor and passing iq is solid

So, like almost all rookies, he’s going to need time to find an nba level finishing ability. But after today’s game I think he looks like a genuine nba player potentially, and a good decision at pick 55, with or without his dad.

Source: https://www.vacstats.com/lab

For everyone who talks about who their Starting 5 would be, here's a tool with some data behind it. You can put any current 5 players in the league together and get back an expected +/-, along with a couple of other stats.

Random scenarios I've run:

1. A lineup of all Giannis's
2. LeBron James on the Warriors
3. Team EUR v Team USA

While accuracy is a nice goal to have, this is meant to be fun.

Next iteration will probably have historical players.

Anybody find it funny that the two best pure point guards in NBA history have never one a ring. I’m talking about John Stockton and Chris Paul. Weird that the NBA literally revolves around the PG but the two guys who have literally play the position to the definition of how it should be played have not won a ring. Anyone else think this is funny?

View Poll

Steph vs magic Isiah Thomas vs Kyrie Westbrook vs Robinson Stockton vs Jason Kidd

There are a lot of candidates. Klay's 37 points in a quarter, TMac's 13 points in 33 seconds, Reggie Miller's 8 points in 9 seconds, Kobe's 81 point game, etc.. what do you think it is?

I know you can't watch the teams in your market but can you at least watch the replay days later?

https://preview.redd.it/pyevse4vntsd1.jpg?width=474&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=652cc3e2ffa7e5d20cc42138a21ce9924a018270

There was a lot of talk about how LeBron's finals opponents were far superior to Jordan's, and there can be an argument there.

But before we do let's talk about how weak the east was from 2003 to 2018 (LeBron's entire east tenure). The east had a 3015-3945 record vs the west for a 43.3% winning percentage (giving the west a 56.7% winning percentage). The west also was 12-6 in the NBA finals from 2004-2018 (the years LeBron was in the east.

The biggest competitors (playoff wise) for LeBron out east were, in ranked order:

Toronto

Boston

Indiana/Chicago/New York

I put Toronto as the best team LeBron has faced during his tenure out east because they were the team LeBron faced the most (tied with Boston) while finishing 1st within their division each time. The Celtics were a very old team in 2008, 2010, and 2011 when Boston played the Heat/Cavs in the playoffs. But they beat LeBron when he was essentially the team's only star. Toronto had two budding starts in Lowry and DeRozan but they weren't top tier NBA talent by any stretch, but the Cavs teams were generally more talented than the Raptor's teams.

The Indiana/Chi/NY is tough because I couldn't really pick an opponent that was truly 3rd.

But what I am essentially trying to say is that there was no historically great team LeBron faced out east ever. He had no competition compared to his 2nd stint Cavs squad and Heat squad and his first stint in Cleveland his biggest competition was Boston and Detroit...two teams that were very unlike the 80s Celtics and 80s Pistons.

Looking at MJ's competition out east he had run into the Celtics dynasty (including the historic 86 Celtics) for 86 and 87, and the Pistons for 88-91. So for 5 straight years MJ had to play historically great teams (I would call those Pistons a mini-dynasty). Then during the Bulls dynasty he played against Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers, and New Knicks teams that he consistently knocked out of the playoffs...all of whom made the finals only when his team wasn't present. Not to mention Charlotte, Miami, and Washington were all very talented teams during the early to mid 90s. LeBron can only state that claim with Toronto, but they made the finals because of the Kawhi Leonard trade. The other teams that LeBron has beaten in the playoffs have never sniffed the finals.

During MJ's time out east the record of east vs west was 2168-1916 for a 53% winning percentage. During his playing years (I didn't count his two retirement years obviously) from 1985 to 1998 the east won 10 titles to the West's 3.

So while Lebron might make a case for a stronger finals opponents (that research will have to come at a later date), his first 3 rounds were cake walks compared to MJ's first 3 rounds.

For those who say LeBron took his 2007 Cavs team to the finals and MJ never did prior to Pippen, I want to remind people that MJ's first 3 years without Pippen he played the Bucks (which were a forgettable team), the 86 Celtics, and the 87 Celtics...all as first round playoff opponents. He also missed most of his 2nd season with a broken foot. He clearly ran into a dynasty as a young rookie and people want to bash him for it.

LeBron was swept in the 2007 finals by the champion spurs. If LeBron played the Spurs in the first round they would've lost period and no one would've said "at least Lebron carried a bad team to the finals". The 2007 season was perfect for LeBron to carry his team to the finals, which is a great achievement.

However the 2007 playoffs for the Cavs were a perfect storm. Their opening round opponent, the Wizards (which weren't very good anyways), lost their two best players prior to the series. Their 2nd round opponent was the 41-41 New Jersey Nets and probably their best competition in the east and remains the last team with a .500 regular season record to win a playoff series. The 2007 Pistons team were very old and slow and won the east's #1 seed with just 53 wins. They had no one who could score consistently to really be a threat.

LeBron went to many finals coming out of a weaker conference. MJ went to many finals coming out of a stronger conference.

With all that being said, I don't see how LeBron has the audacity to claim that he is the king when his road to championships were clearly easier but yet has less hardware despite playing with so many all time greats.

Perkins’ list isn’t terrible, as a list of the best players to be drafted #1. It’s an assessment of how good their career was, and I may have a different list but this one is not bad.

But what about if you considered only what they did for the team that drafted them? For example, Shaq was a dominant force, but he only took Orlando to the Finals. His stuff from the Lakers puts him atop the greatest Free Agency signing of all time, but that’s a different list than I’m pitching.

Using only what they did for the team that drafted them, I come up with:

1. Magic- Five rings, numerous MVPs, made the Lakers an incredibly valuable franchise, saving the NBA along the way with his rivalry with Bird.

2. Duncan- Close to Magic because he has five titles, 15 years of excellence, and a ton of awards. Extra credit for doing this for a smaller market team.

3. Hakeem- Two rings for a franchise he played for his entire career. HIS ENTIRE CAREER. Those Raptor photos are A.I. or some shit.

4. LeBron- It took a circuitous route, but he came home to the team that drafted him and won the city their first pro championship since the pre-merger AFL days.

5. Tie- Kareem and Walton- Both UCLA greats went to a smaller market city, played for only a short while, but won a title before leaving. Walton’s was injuries and Kareem wanted to go to LA, but a banner still hangs in those gyms.

Who you got?

Currently having a back and forth with someone and they stated that winning isn't the only way to measure success. My opinion is when it comes to sports, the ONLY way to measure actual success is winning. That's why games get played and why the score is kept. What's your opinion?

The new NBA season is upon us so I've decided to let the season unfold. I am thankful for you guys hearing my takes and mainly agreeing on them as well. But sadly, I have to take a break. There are other things to attend to in my life. Can't wait how this NBA season shapes up and how Tatum gets exposed for the choke artist he is. He'll probably have a season ending injury (2k cover), ruining any chances for Boston to repeat. But nonetheless, I'll be back at some point this season to put out great takes.

And overall numbers?

Like 40-50 ppg?

Players are not ordered within tiers

Tier 1: Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Tier 2: Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O'Neal

Tier 3: Hakeem Olajuwon, Steph Curry, Kobe Bryant, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, George Mikan, Julius Erving

Tier 4: Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Charles Barkley, K*rl Malone, David Robinson, Moses Malone