The LeBron James- 23-24 NBA Playoffs & Off-Season Thread -(NO PERSONAL ATTACKS & BAITING)

[therealbig3]

This is the first matchup since the 07 Spurs where LeBron isn't the best player in the series and it shows.

He wasn’t the best player in the series last year too.

Same matchup.

Ah my bad.

[IG2]

He wasn’t the best player in the series last year too.

I'd say LeBron hasn't been the best player in most playoff series' after 2020

[Heej]

He wasn’t the best player in the series last year too.

I'd say LeBron hasn't been the best player in most playoff series' after 2020

I wouldn't take Book Ja Steph over him in their series'. And at the very least they were neck and neck like how his matchups with KD and Steph went. This time he is clearly outclassed. A good game for LeBron is worse than an average Jokic game.

[IG2]

I wouldn't take Book Ja Steph over him in their series'.

2021 and 2023 LeBron was limited by injuries both postseasons. I'd easily take Booker and Curry over him when they matched up.

[therealbig3]

I’ll be honest, even at his absolute peak (pick whichever version of LeBron you want), I don’t think he was ever as dominant offensively as Jokic. I just don’t think you can even slow him down, no matter the defense. I mean, playoff AD is a generational defender, and Jokic just dominates him.

You can take peak LeBron overall, but it would be based on an argument of LeBron being close offensively and clearly better defensively…offense only, I think Jokic is the GOAT. The things he does can’t really be guarded (screening, passing, reading the defense, moving, sealing, offensive rebounding, outside shooting, ball handling), and he’s a dominant scorer from pretty much anywhere on top of that.

[jalengreen]

I wouldn't take Book Ja Steph over him in their series'.

2021 and 2023 LeBron was limited by injuries both postseasons. I'd easily take Booker and Curry over him when they matched up.

Injured LeBron still outplayed Steph in the playoff series last year

[Ian Scuffling]

Here come the think pieces in different places lol about LeBron is a quitter when it was obvious DEN was much better

Can his body language be better at times? Certainly. However, the oldest guy in the league played his ass off in that first half, leaving it all out on the floor and they only had a small lead. When the "help" decided it wasn't going to help again in the second half, he probably became disheartened as well. I agree, bad look, but at the same time, I don't blame him one bit. He's seen this movie before. Difference is this time, he's too old and can't drag the carcass across the finish line, anymore. He knows this, too.

[GSP]

If Mavs lose this series without Kawhi lol......convos will be had about how Bron completely made Kyrie and hes done jack **** without him

Stylistically ppl compare Luka and Bron but defense isnt just a footnote Bron never got effectively targeted, singled out and exposed on defense like this and it bleeds into the offense too. Luka cant protect Kyrie on defense and vice versa

[Heej]

I wouldn't take Book Ja Steph over him in their series'.

2021 and 2023 LeBron was limited by injuries both postseasons. I'd easily take Booker and Curry over him when they matched up.

LeBron had a better series than Steph. More efficient, less turnovers, better defense

[Heej]

Here come the think pieces in different places lol about LeBron is a quitter when it was obvious DEN was much better

Can his body language be better at times? Certainly. However, the oldest guy in the league played his ass off in that first half, leaving it all out on the floor and they only had a small lead. When the "help" decided it wasn't going to help again in the second half, he probably became disheartened as well. I agree, bad look, but at the same time, I don't blame him one bit. He's seen this movie before. Difference is this time, he's too old and can't drag the carcass across the finish line, anymore. He knows this, too.

I think Bron fans know this about him. He's got the IQ to know when his team has a chance and when the math isn't in his favor, but doesn't really have the EQ to completely mask when he's mentally checked out on his supporting situation. Bron has shown time and time again he's not at the point where he'll fight to the death to save a hopeless situation. He'll just recoup and try to get up for the next season.

This Lakers organization is hopeless. He's better off going to whichever contender drafts Bronny as part of an under the table deal

[TroubleS0me]

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[EmpireFalls]

They should’ve tanked for OKC. I don’t care, that was the right move

[rk2023]

They should’ve tanked for OKC. I don’t care, that was the right move

Playing OKC as the 1-8 would be a lot harder than as the 2-7, I see why people are seeing that.. but I still disagree due to how one game variance can be + ADs back injury being a factor here. In a vacuum, OKC & one of Dallas / Clips is not a bad matchup by any means - but then you probably get gentlemen swept by Denver in the WCF anyways.

Wemby’s atop my favorite player list and I’m glad that the Spurs got an unforgettable game from him to beat Denver & end his rookie campaign, but that definitely had seeding ramifications that hurt the Lakers. I think they’d beat a 2 seed OKC as well as Phoenix, but not Minnesota.

[GSP]

They should’ve tanked for OKC. I don’t care, that was the right move

We saw Jimmy and Zion get injured during the playin game

Its basically Nfl playoff style. 1 game anything can happen specially against an offense like the Kings who play as fast as they do and Ad hasnt beaten Sabonis in years. Tanking and losing wouldve been horrible or one of Bron or Ad getting injured. You dont play w/ the basketball gods it always bites you in the ass eventually

[Mos_Heat]

Sooo...GB went ape sh** after "Done with the 90s" stuff, isn't it? Every time I look, there's at least one absolutely deranged thread about Lebron

[homecourtloss]

Sooo...GB went ape sh** after "Done with the 90s" stuff, isn't it? Every time I look, there's at least one absolutely deranged thread about Lebron

This has been gong on for at least 15 years on here.

[thebigbird]

They should’ve tanked for OKC. I don’t care, that was the right move

I think I agree. Bron and AD would’ve packed OKC up in 5.

[Ian Scuffling]

Regarding the turnovers

[1/4] Turns the ball over, immediately makes up for it with a block at the rim.
https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2024/04/20/0042300151/94/39f1b205-13e3-217c-2726-88bb23d2dbe8_1280x720.mp4

[2/4] KCP takes a dive. This one is on the refs
https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2024/04/20/0042300151/259/960ab0af-3356-5296-7e19-c600b64d89a2_1280x720.mp4

[3/4] Pass was on target, fumbled by Rui. This shouldn't have even been charged to him
https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2024/04/20/0042300151/427/c4c11d2a-4c07-db68-f8ba-ee06bd949b31_1280x720.mp4

[4/4] Slips on Gordon's foot with the game basically over. Not sure what the rule on this is but from my understanding it could be interpreted as a blocking foul since Gordon was retreating and not squared up
https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2024/04/20/0042300151/589/5eaa1f11-bb1c-0507-e9f3-d8558cf894aa_1280x720.mp4

That's four of the seven. 27/6/8 on 75% TS is an elite game. His first half alongside AD's should've been enough to give them at least some room for error in the second half. They shouldn't have to play perfect for the Lakers to not go down by double digits.

Ah, context. Love it.

[lessthanjake]

They should’ve tanked for OKC. I don’t care, that was the right move

I think it definitely wouldn’t have been the right move. In a single game of basketball, there’s a significant chance of losing. So if you purposely lose the first play-in game, you give yourself probably at least like a 30% chance of not making the playoffs at all. But if you do win that second game, your reward is then to play OKC instead of Denver, and OKC is really good anyways. Perhaps more importantly, being the 8 seed instead of the 7 seed doesn’t actually allow you to avoid Denver entirely—it just avoids them in the first round. You’d still be on a crash course to play them in the WCF anyways. If you don’t think you can beat Denver, then the value of being the 8 seed instead of the 7 seed is just that there’s a chance someone else knocks Denver off in the first two rounds. Is that chance worth the ~30% chance of not making the playoffs? Seems pretty dubious, unless you think there’s a pretty good chance that Denver loses before the WCF in that scenario. But then that kind of raises a question: If you think there’s a good chance Denver loses in the first or second round, then what’s the justification for thinking they’re so unbeatable that you need to take serious risk of not making the playoffs in order to avoid them? I guess there’s a logical way to get to that conclusion, if you think that Denver is definitely beatable by other teams, but just not by you (due to matchup difficulty or whatever). But I don’t find that all that compelling. Even though they swept the Lakers last year, the Lakers actually lost by the smallest average margin of victory of any of Denver’s playoff opponents last year. The Nuggets are certainly a tough team for the Lakers to beat, but I don’t know that they’re *particularly* tough for the Lakers, compared to how tough they are for other teams. So, to me, this leads to two possible conclusions: (1) the Nuggets are beatable, so there’s no reason to take on serious risk of missing the playoffs just to avoid them; or (2) the Nuggets are not beatable, and there’s no good reason to take on serious risk of missing the playoffs to avoid them, since you’ll almost certainly be stuck playing them eventually anyways. Personally, I’d go with Option #1 there (as great as Jokic is, I don’t think the talent of the Nuggets is enough to make them some unbeatable juggernaut, especially against very talented teams like the Lakers or any other Western Conference playoff team this year).

The other thing I think is worth noting is that there was somehow not any discourse about whether the Pelicans should purposely lose the first play-in game. I think that’s telling. If it would’ve made sense for the Lakers to purposely lose, then why wouldn’t it make sense for the Pelicans to do so? They were in the same basic situation. I think the answer is that it doesn’t make sense for either, but sports media always wants to talk about the Lakers so that discourse was just a way to talk about the Lakers more in the lead-up to the play-in games.

[thebigbird]

20 years from now this will be lopsided in LeBron’s favor. It’s already almost 50/50 with Jordan.

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