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Where SHOULD LeBron Play in 2018-2019?

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Where Should LeBron Play in 2018-2019?

  • Cleveland

    Votes: 84 53.2%

  • Houston

    Votes: 11 7.0%

  • Los Angeles Lakers

    Votes: 3 1.9%

  • Philadelphia

    Votes: 48 30.4%

  • Miami

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • San Antonio

    Votes: 5 3.2%

  • Milwaukee

    Votes: 1 0.6%

  • New York

    Votes: 1 0.6%

  • Other

    Votes: 5 3.2%
  • Total voters
    158
LeBron and Ben might be a weird fit, but it would allow him to play off the ball and conserve some energy. Paul George is a perfect fit there but either guy could help them win a title.
 
PIP said:
Really depends on what the end game is ? (And I apologize if this is long winded)

See the rings right now don’t really matter at all in my opinion because the man has lost 5 NBA finals (and he has a few rings— it’s not like Jerry West with 1) Granted I could say Magic Johnson’s 5 rings in 9 finals is pretty close to Jordan and he lost 4. On one hand I rather win 6 but I can see the case for wanting to compete for 9.

But to me it doesn’t matter if LeBron wins 6 rings in 11 tries. That could only put him on that Magic level in that case (in terms of being a winner, not greatest ever)

In my opinion what separates Jordan in terms of legacy is not so much 6/6 in the finals — it’s all the greats of his era that he prevented from winning titles and nobody ever brings that up.

He prevented at some point from winning it all:
Ewing
Miller
Shaq (got his when Jordan was retired)
Penny
Zo (got 1 at the end of his career)
Tim Hardaway

That’s just guys in the east. What about actually in the finals ?

Magic (from winning his 6th)
Drexler (snuck his in when MJ was playing baseball and could debate if Olajuwon would have ever gotten one if MJ didn’t ?? I’ll give Hakeem the benefit of the doubt)
Barkley
Kevin Johnson
Kemp
Payton
Malone
Stockton

Just think how different those legacies would be if some of those guys had just 1 ring to put on their finger (Ewing/Miller/Malone/Stockton/Barkley)

Like MJ completely altered legacies. Whereas LeBron has sometimes underwhelmed when he was suppose to rise (09,10,11)

He couldn’t prevent guys like Garnett, Allen, Pierce from getting 1.. Needed a super team to take out his competition eventually..

He helped Kidd and Nowitzki enhance their legacies. Now he did prevent Westbrook, Harden and at the time Durant from getting one but they were awfully green at that point— did prevent Duncan from getting a 6th And we all know the stuff with the Warriors ..

My point in all of this is that if LeBron’s end game is to be the greatest ever it’s not about the rings at this point (tho it will help) he’s simply gonna have to carve that path out a different way from Jordan cause he’s already almost lost as many as Jordan won..

Where LeBron could carve out his path is what he did with Cavs and to do the same in New York with the Knicks...

If LeBron lead the New York Knicks to just 1 nba title he would be viewed as the greatest ever... You take the Cavs and Knicks to a championship (coupled with all the other accomplishments on the resume) and he surpasses Jordan...

Winning just another ring or 2 with the Rockets or Lakers or Sixers is great and all— but it’s jusy another ring... None would be as impressive as winning 1 with the Knicks...

So if it’s not the Cavs... He should try to recruit and do whatever it takes to make the NY Knicks the favorites... Would be legendary...
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But this doesn't make sense. 6 championships in 11 finals is far more impressive than 6 championships in 6 finals. That means he would get to the finals 5 more times than Jordan, thus advancing farther in the playoffs each of those years than Jordan. The "finals record" stuff is just stupid anyway. Losing before the finals isn't better than losing in it.
 
Steve_424 said:
So if LeBron ends up winning 6 championships in 11 Finals appearances that's not as good as Jordan winning 6 championships in 6 appearances? Just not buying that. That would be FIVE more times LeBron advanced further than MJ did.

As far as prevented others from winning titles, guys like Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce have less rings because of LeBron, and Paul George, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, and others have no rings because of LeBron.

He ended the mid-2000s Pistons run, the early 2010s Celtics run, and never let the Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, or Atlanta Hawks get to the Finals with teams that likely would have qualified without him blocking their path.

Heck - he forced his primary individual rival (KD) to join his primary team rival (Golden State) because they needed each other to get by him.
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I think KD did what he did because of the Warriors moreso than LeBron.

Mid 2000’s Pistons run was ended by the Celtics. LeBron didn’t win a title in the mid 2000’s.. Pistons got back to the conference finals in 2008 after losing to the Cavs... Cavs couldn’t get back to the conference finals because of the Celtics... So no, he didn’t end the Pistons— Boston did...

And I certainly don’t put that 6th man, 2nd year James Harden or Butler, Rose, or even Paul George anywhere near the level of the guys Jordan prevented? Maybe if you wanted to compare George/Penny ? I could listen..

Now it’s hard to knock LeBron for his weak era— but I’m looking for ways to enhance his legacy because he doesn’t have the competition, nor does he have the rings argument... (That’s why taking a legendary franchise like the Knicks could boost him)

But c’mon preventing the Raptors ? The Hawks ?

Jordan broke the Pistons (back to back champs)

Ended Magic Johnson’s championship dreams..

Stopped the following:

Cavs (one of the best to never win a title of that era including the 1992 team with 57 wins)
Knicks— multiple times including the 60 win team of 1993 with Ewing)
1996 Magic (Defending east champs, 60 wins— Shaq/Penny)
1997 Heat (61 wins) (Zo/Hardaway)
1998 Pacers (58 wins with a legend of the era who never won - Miller)
1992 Blazers (57 wins team with Drexler)
1993 Suns (62 wins with Barkley/KJ)
1996 Sonics (64 wins Kemp/Payton)
1997 Jazz (64 wins with Malone/Stockton)
1998 Jazz (62 wins with Malone/Stockton)


The only guys ‘Championship-Jordan’ allowed get a piece of the pie was Hakeem and Clyde because he wanted to play minor league baseball... Otherwise he prevented all time greats chances at rings...

Curryx2 Durant, Kidd, Dirk, Duncanx2 all could be considered all time greats and all picked one off LeBron (unlike Jordan) and Curry/Duncan/Durant/Westbrook can all say they lost a ring to LeBron— still nowhere near the destruction and career altering legacies that Jordan destroyed...
 
The Human Q-Tip said:
No offense, but why I should I give a fuck where LBJ plays if it isn't in Cleveland?

This is Real Cavs Fans, not Real LeBron Knob Gobblers.
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Only difference for me now is that if he leaves, I won't despise him like I did when he went to Miami.

Guy won us a title. If he's sick of our trash roster, inept front office, and awful coaching and wants to leave, I'll wish him the best and harbor no hard feelings.

EDIT: On the whole Jordan/LBJ argument - I've given my thoughts before and am planning on making a top-50 this summer.

Career accolades? Jordan.
Better player? LeBron - and it's not even close.
 
MediumBaller said:
But this doesn't make sense. 6 championships in 11 finals is far more impressive than 6 championships in 6 finals. That means he would get to the finals 5 more times than Jordan, thus advancing farther in the playoffs each of those years than Jordan. The "finals record" stuff is just stupid anyway. Losing before the finals isn't better than losing in it.
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So is Magic’s 5 rings in 9 finals more impressive ? 1 less title but 3 more finals ?

Or is Kobe more impressive cause he has 5 rings and played in 7 finals ? than Jordan’s 6 for 6 ?

Does the ring itself outweigh getting there to compete for 1 more ?
 
Rings are a team and organization accomplishment, and while they do look super nice on a resume (especially for a guy like Dirk Nowitzki who legitimately carried his squad past a super-team), they aren't even close to being an end-all, be-all discussion for me in determining a better player.

If that were the case, Robert Horry would be among the best power forwards of all time. Seven rings, and while not a star, he was a key factor in getting all seven.
 
Stark said:
Rings are a team and organization accomplishment, and while they do look super nice on a resume (especially for a guy like Dirk Nowitzki who legitimately carried his squad past a super-team), they aren't even close to being an end-all, be-all discussion for me in determining a better player.

If that were the case, Robert Horry would be among the best power forwards of all time. Seven rings, and while not a star, he was a key factor in getting all seven.
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Rings matter for NBA superstars... Not Robert Horry types...

Rings only matter for the following:

NBA stars- (nobody cares about role players rings)

NFL QB’s- (nobody cares about RB’s, WR’s, DB’s D-Lineman, O-Lineman, LB’s etc..)

NHL Stars

Baseball players it has no meaning.. People care more about stats than rings in baseball.. “All time ______ King”— do you have 3000 hits, 500 homeruns, 300 wins, yada yada yada — World Series rings don’t matter at all...
 
PIP said:
So is Magic’s 5 rings in 9 finals more impressive ? 1 less title but 3 more finals ?

Or is Kobe more impressive cause he has 5 rings and played in 7 finals ? than Jordan’s 6 for 6 ?

Does the ring itself outweigh getting there to compete for 1 more ?
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I don't think a player's "finals record" is even relevant to the discussion, honestly. You either win the championship or you don't. It doesn't make any sense to think of LeBron's 5 finals losses as a negative. Losing in the finals isn't worse than losing in the conference finals. I mean, would LeBron's career be more impressive if he was 3 for 3 in the finals and had lost in the ECF those other 5 years? Of course not. Making deep playoff runs is more impressive than getting bounced in the first round. Just look at the number of rings a player has. Jordan has 6, Magic has 5, LeBron has 3, etc.

Sure, Jordan never lost in the finals, but it's not like he only played 6 seasons. There were 9 years that he failed to win a championship. So really, his "finals record" should be 6-9. He won the finals 6 times and he failed to win the finals 9 times.
 
So I have a wild thought watching this GSW-NOP game. What if Bron pulled a KD and formed a team with another top 3 player in the league AD. Him Bron and Steph are in a class of their own. And for all the talk about the West being the harder conference, for the 2020s the East is easily going to be the tougher conference with Philly and Boston coming up. He'd be able to go all out on defense and get set up by the greatest Pure PG in the league, Rondo

@gourimoko can you do your cap sorcery and tell me if this is real or not? Can they actually do this and somehow get PG. We could trade Bron for Boogie and see where that goes with him and Love and the BK pick (Mikal Bridges). We can have a fun ass team that maybe caps out in the 2nd round in 2 years but hey that's something.
 
The Cavs have had a championship contending team the past 3 years...this years roster is mediocre at best..so LBJ will bail?...I hope he gives them a chance to improve the roster before he decides..is this what the NBA has become....your current team has a down year so you leave...stick it out man this region loves this guy more than any other city possibly could...winning a title for Philly...Houston ...LA ...has no significance...LBJ doesnt need any other titles to eclipse Jordon...he already has...he will be the leader in so many catagories when he retires as well...
 
Heej said:
So I have a wild thought watching this GSW-NOP game. What if Bron pulled a KD and formed a team with another top 3 player in the league AD. Him Bron and Steph are in a class of their own. And for all the talk about the West being the harder conference, for the 2020s the East is easily going to be the tougher conference with Philly and Boston coming up. He'd be able to go all out on defense and get set up by the greatest Pure PG in the league, Rondo

@gourimoko can you do your cap sorcery and tell me if this is real or not? Can they actually do this and somehow get PG. We could trade Bron for Boogie and see where that goes with him and Love and the BK pick (Mikal Bridges). We can have a fun ass team that maybe caps out in the 2nd round in 2 years but hey that's something.
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I was speculating about NO earlier as well. I'm surprised more people have not thought of the Pels as a possible landing spot.
 
Maybe he should.... retire?

If not, it doesn't matter where he goes. GSW is going to win every title for the next five years.
 
czvo said:
Maybe he should.... retire?

If not, it doesn't matter where he goes. GSW is going to win every title for the next five years.
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Bro are you watching this game? Oh my fucking God I was reminded all over again why I hate watching them play. They foul SO MUCH on defense and never get called for it. This shit is unbearable. They're literally unbeatable and will sweep the playoffs if they're allowed to do this. Fuck the Pels. Bron needs to go to Philly just so that frontcourt can physically rape these pussyboys
 
Lebron going to Spurs and with healthy Kawhi and Pelicans gonna trade Aldridge for Davis....championship.

At least that’s what I did on 2K
 
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