A40:
I don't know if it was Cuban or Dirk's loyalty that kept the Mavericks relevant. Up till Luka came along the Mavericks had drafted horribly. You have to go back to the 03 draft to find a year the Mavs drafted an Allstar which was the infamous Josh Howard

As for Kidd. I have no comments. The next time blowhards like Draymond try to speak about basketball like it's some secret science and if you didn't play you can't critique. I would easily point to Zeke, Kidd, Nash and hell the GOAT as proof that you could be a HOF/GOAT level athlete and know fuckall about evaluating talent, coaching and seeing the game

Roland17:


I am just asking you guys to give my guy AD his due, that's all!

It is easy to dawg him when he is out injured or playing poorly but when he comes back and is literally carrying the team to the playoffs, everyone goes mute.

Maynman:
Draymond 💪🏽

birdman:


But you cant say that out loud yet, the hype on Kyrie means everyone has to pretend he can be that missing piece for a championship contender. Truth is, if Kyrie wants to play on teams chasing a ring, he will have to take a reduced, disciplined role, but I dont think he is ready to.

Im sure there will be some GM willing to take a risk next season and give Kyrie a huge payday

birdman:


too many excuses mehn, dame himself is not serious. The brother is down low lazy. Even if he wants to stay on portland, I have never seen him put pressure on the front office to win. He just wants to ball and get paid. Like Beal. and thats ok. But stop trying to make the go getters look bad, like you staying in one place cuz you loyal and old school.

steady986:
Analyse this photo critically and you'll see that LeBron didn't/doesn't go to the free throw line as often as his peers. Peep MJ, who played 5 fewer seasons than Bron and yet he's just a few hundreds behind him. What about Kobe, he played 20 years but had some injury plagued seasons, and he also wasn't the main guy right off the block when he came into the league but he's a couple of hundreds ahead of Bron. Let's not even talk about Jerry West who played 14 seasons.

A40:
It's a longevity stat. That's all. You played 300 more games and took almost 3000 more FGs than someone aren't you supposed to pass their record?

This nigga has taken 500 fewer shots but almost 6500 more 3s than Kareem and 5500 more 3s than Jordan. Yet niggas are surprised he has more points.

A40:
It's just putting your skilled, talented or whatever argument to bed. Players struggle when the physicality is raised up a notch.

The Warriors as a whole were able to match whatever physicality the Celtics brought.

We've seen physicality and pressure stop Steph before haven't we?

A40:
Arguing with these people is a waste of time.

They keep forgetting that era also counts. Anybody with two functioning eyes knows that the basketball of the 90s and 00s was just rougher and tougher.

When KD and Kyrie two of the most 'skilled" players of all time got a taste of 90s and early 00s ball against the Celtics we saw the results

How does someone who can compete with less talent and less gaudy numbers be languishing in 13th seed with AD and Westbrook (two top 75ers) when we tell them numbers today just don't carry the same weight they think it's hate

benji93:
Are you alright? Hakeem shot over 51%. You could have just googled this before typing. You don't have to have watched these guys on TV to know some facts. Most of these are on the internet. Just search. Must we help you with everything?

A40:
Bloody hell. Shawn Kemp was a better midrange shooter (he shot 42.5% from 16-23ft) than Blake Griffin and Lebron James and you think he would be useless in today's league?

The league Pascal Siakam is making All NBA? La hawla

The way you lot overrate this current set of players is so amusing. But I'm not surprised shey it's you that was comparing KAT to KG

benji93:
That's it. There's nothing new. Even though I agree that perhaps some skills are becoming increasingly necessary, the elite pool today is not better skilled than that of the 90s. For instance on the issue of bigs shooting 3s, Draymond interviewed Kenny recently and he said Olajuwon shoots threes well in training(Certainly quite different from shooting in actual games), so why then doesn't he shoot it in games? He said, well there are about 3 centers that faze him in the league, so he almost never needs it.

A40:
Are you trying to slander Clyde the Glide? Let me try to understand the logic behind this post.

You can't name two SFs or SGs today that move the ball up the court as quickly and with as much grace as Clyde Drexler. Arguably the best transition player the league ever saw.

Grant Hill was basically Lebron without muscles. What is this guy talking about? This man was 21-8-6 before his ankle injury. Dude was a 6'8 athletic specimen. Go watch tapes man. He had enough tools to not need an elite jumper

Just 6'5? Why didn't you list his weight. Charles was 6'5 and 250 pounds. In his younger years he was pushing 300. He was basically Zion before Zion. He would give everyone the business Today!!

You see the problem with you today NBA fans is you believe players now are reinventing some type of wheel but I hate to break it to you. The human species has not evolved that much physically over the last 30 years. There's no one today who doesn't have a comp from the past. Not a single player. Without a prototype

birdman:


On your last 2 points, thats exactly what would make Lebron thrive. The physical game was acceptable then, which would favor Lebron. A PG would never guard Elton Brand or Malone back in the day for example, because the refs will allow Brand to dominate physically. In today's NBA, Curry can guard Lebron and Lebron has to be careful - he cant just power over smalls. Back in the day, Malone is running towards the basket and you try to catch his body? LOL, joke is on you. Today, the big man will get an offensive foul. The game has moved away from bigs. The fact that Lebron can still have this type of success in a league designed for guards is very special. And just about every NBA player past and present recognizes this. This really is something to watch.

donlittle25:
Nets to Mavs. I don’t know how to feel

Roland17:


Don’t jumble stats and present to me…80% of who? Bench, G-league and role players average? Are those the players fans pay huge sums to come watch? A kid flew thousands of miles to watch Butler only for load management to strike! That kid’s parents did not shell thousands of dollars for the kid to watch Oladipo, Herro, Strus..

Here is a better stat. NBA stars miss an average of 28 games because of load management, not injuries oh, load management. From Zion, to Kawhi, to PG13, KD, Tatum to Embiid, to AD, you name it! Credit to Ajala he has refused to sit longer because of his chase. This shouldn’t even be an argument bro..

Should I give you the average number of minutes of star players from over the last 10 years so you can see the steep decline in minutes played? Not because of injuries but load management and rest! Man rest abeg!

Roland17:


Naaa baba! The NBA players with their Wokeness are the ones trying to be different. The referees have become the MVP and main attraction with their whistles! E remain make we give those ones flags!

The last time me and you checked, the NFL expanded from 16 to 17 games. We are talking about the most violent and physical game. The players don’t want to sit, they want to compete as long as their bar is secure. Have you read or heard load management in the NFL?

How about the NHL, the 2nd most violent sport? Those ones beat themselves, slice each other and sometimes a legal free for all fight for 82 games! There are even talks of even expanding the games.. So na, this isn’t about American sports but a bunch of weaklings in the NBA who are softer than fresh Agege bread. No one dares sit out or load manage their stars even when the teams are bad or in a losing season!

How about the MLB? These cats play 162 games in a season. With the exception of pitchers, healthy players play 100 games or more, nearly 5 hours of each! Who are we kidding here! No load management, especially for outfield players. The NBA is allowing a lot of nonsense and that is why the ratings have continued to drop.

Notice, I no neva even begin talk in game issues.

A40:
Naah this present generation of players are definitely different. They have normalized load management to the point it's now a culture. Bear in mind Michael Jordan in 13 full seasons they say 15 but he really played 13. Featured in 82 games 9 times! Including his age 40 season.

I cannot blame the players and teams when the fans are not voting with their feet. If you're a fan still spending your hard earned money when you're repeatedly burned then you have yourself to blame.

Fewer games mean more costs passed down to the customers. Notice nobody has talked about collecting less money. And nor should they.

In the end everyone is out to game the system as much as they can. Do the least work for the most money. It's the paying customer that has to decide if he wants to be a MAGA or not

A40:
Lol we had people arguing with Luka and Jokic when they said it is easier to score in the NBA than in Europe. Armchair fans were arguing with people that played both environments

A40:
There needs to be a return to normalcy and parity.

When one person decides to take shortcut you can't come and dictate to people which shortcut is acceptable and which is not. Oyinbo call am hypocrisy

Anyway let's hope the parity continues and people don't try to take more shortcuts to easy rings moving forward

A40:
They traded their future for a bubble ring. Ingram, Hart, Lonzo, Kuzma, KCP, Caruso and draft picks pretty much for AD and Westbrook

That's what happens when you try to always load up and hit the home run on stars and never build organically. Yeah you might fluke a ring or two but the aftermath is always terrible.

greypencils:
If the current celtics and bucks roster meet often in the playoffs for a few more years, a good rivalry would form. One could smell it last playoffs. Imagine Horford and Giannis banging bodies again and drawing blood in next years playoffs? Fireworks!


The truth remains, for good rivalries to form, players have to stay long enough in a franchise, be the face of that franchise, take on its weight, pains, challenges and history and bring that emotion each game.

Roland17:
The last surviving NBA rivalry is dead. There are no more NBA rivalries in this generation and it sucks.

There used to be historical rivalries like Bird v Magic, GOAT v Isaiah Thomas, Lakers v Celtics, Bulls v Pistons, Pistons v Sixers, Lakers v Suns, Jazz v Rockets, Pacers (Reggie Miller) v Knicks , Pat Riley v Phil Jackson…

I mean teams, players and coaches that hate each other before, during and after the game!!!

austinceasar:


Any website to watch NBA matches??...Hesgoal wey man dey use has been locked down

steady986:


LeBron, AD, Russ, Schroder, Walker, Reaves, Wenyen, Troy Brown will see good minutes in the playoffs either as key players or as role players. That leaves us with Pat Bev and Nunn. Both have been outright useless on offense this season so far and there's been talks of trading them to get someone manageable. I don't know if Darvin Ham can rely on Beverley's defense alone to give him substantial playoff minutes.

But looking at how we fell short tonight against Cleveland, who knows whether Russ is still there to be traded.

steady986:


Lol. See how you people are suggesting trading LeBron like LeBron is Kyle Kuzma or something
LeBron gets traded only if he asks to. And he's not even playing that badly for anyone to want to trade him. Much of AD's success has to do with him and Westbrook intentionally giving him the ball. That brings us to the delima of whether to trade Westbrook or not. The guy is taking fewer shots these days which is good. He's more interested in finding others. I'm sure even Darvin Ham is happy with this version of Russ. He still remains the top 1 or 2 facilitator on the team. There's a whole lot of decisions to be made over the coming days. I wouldn't be surprised if the team remains as it is come 15th

birdman:


Do you have an example trade in mind? Sell Lebron while stock is high? Or package WB while stock is high?

steady986:
Anthony Davis; that's the name.