NBA Thread 2019-20

[forgetful]

Switch LbJ and JFB and the Heat would have won in 4.

LBJ needs at least one elite player to be along side him to win anything. The only player on the Heat that rises to that level is JFB. So LBJ would be SOL on the Heat.

[The Sultan]

Eh that's a little too simplistic.  The Lakers have the big two and a bunch of replacement level players.  The Heat are better put together overall and have a way better coach.  I think JFB is outplaying LBJ for sure, but just swapping the two over isn't going to substantially change how this series plays out.

[GooooMarquette]

NBA Finals: LeBron James vs. Jimmy Butler is touching history

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30082028/nba-finals-lebron-james-vs-jimmy-butler-touching-history

LeBron James has lived through many NBA Finals games in which he's played great and lost. It's one of the stories of his career.

But the Game 5 duel James staged with Jimmy Butler in the Miami Heat's season-saving 111-108 victory Friday over the Los Angeles Lakers instantly goes in the pantheon of his career showdowns.

----------------

Instant classic.

[Silkk the Shaka]

Switch LbJ and JFB and the Heat would have won in 4.

LOL

[BM1090]

Switch LbJ and JFB and the Heat would have won in 4.

Agreed. 5, max. Miami's 3-9 is so much better than LA's 3-9. Very well built roster.

[MU82]

Switch JFB and LBJ, and the JFB led Lakers would have won in 4.

That's beyond ridiculous.

[Silkk the Shaka]

That's beyond ridiculous.

Especially with Dragic out & Bam out/limited...

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Hypothetically speaking.

Let's say AD is out, LeBron absolutely shits the bed the next two games and JFB does JFB things but the Heat lose the series in 7

Do we get a weird once in a lifetime occurrence of finals MVP on the losing team?

[GooooMarquette]

Hypothetically speaking.

Let's say AD is out, LeBron absolutely craps the bed the next two games and JFB does JFB things but the Heat lose the series in 7

Do we get a weird once in a lifetime occurrence of finals MVP on the losing team?

I think it's unlikely, but you never know.

(Although maybe that opinion is tainted by the fact that I simply can't imagine LA winning if AD is out, LBJ is crappy and Jimmy keeps playing Jimmyball...but that wasn't your question.)

[wadesworld]

Hypothetically speaking.

Let's say AD is out, LeBron absolutely craps the bed the next two games and JFB does JFB things but the Heat lose the series in 7

Do we get a weird once in a lifetime occurrence of finals MVP on the losing team?

No.

[MU82]

I'm pretty sure Mike Trout will be NBA Finals MVP.

He's won as many NBA playoff games as he has MLB playoff games.

[The Big East]

Hypothetically speaking.

Let's say AD is out, LeBron absolutely craps the bed the next two games and JFB does JFB things but the Heat lose the series in 7

Do we get a weird once in a lifetime occurrence of finals MVP on the losing team?

Based on your scenario they would still likely award the Finals MVP to the someone from the winning team . So either Lebron or AD based on their work so far.

[MU82]

LeBron is the obvious MVP choice.

[tower912]

Ah, well.   Still the king.

[GooooMarquette]

Yep. But kudos to JFB and the Heat for a great run.

[tower912]

If you saw the video of Jimmy leaving the dais after answering questions after game 5, tonight's outcome should not have been surprising.   Poor guy was gassed

[Lennys Tap]

Switch JFB and LBJ, and the JFB led Lakers would have won in 4.

Wrong.

[Lennys Tap]

Switch LbJ and JFB and the Heat would have won in 4.

Much more wrong.

[MU82]

I still say Michael is GOAT, but it LeBron creeps closer every year, and he certainly solidified his claim on second-best this season.

Magic and Wilt round out my Mt. Rushmore. I wouldn't argue against Kareem or Russell over Wilt, though. Wilt was a freak who changed the game, Russell won 8000 titles, and Kareem was consistently great for most of two decades while also winning a ton.

[4everwarriors]

He plays basketball very well...so what? Have suspected for a long time that he's an ass hole. Has now removed all doubt, hey?

[withoutbias]

He plays basketball very well...so what? Have suspected for a long time that he's an ass hole. Has now removed all doubt, hey?

Who are you referring to? And what'd whoever it is do?

[The Sultan]

Lebron is a great basketball player, but I probably don't want him as my next door neighbor...ditto MJ...ditto many professional athletes.

I don't worry much about it.

[MUfan12]

LeBron's "nobody respects me" act is so tiresome. Is he really that fragile that Skip Bayless bothers him that much?

[MU82]

LeBron's "nobody respects me" act is so tiresome.

Reminds me of Michael, though LeBron sounds a little more whiny with his public statements.

This kind of stuff doesn't matter to me. I just judge them as basketball players because I don't know them as people, and neither does anybody else here.

A lot of slick-talking jocks whom many consider "good guys" are (or at least were) actually d-bags. Mark Grace is a prime example.

I mean, a LOT of people would have applied Doc's term for LBJ to Al. But those people didn't know Al any better than Doc knows LBJ.

LeBron's a hell of a basketball player, one of the very best any of us have ever seen. And that's what we were talking about before people began offering opinions on stuff they can't possibly know the truth of.

[Jockey]

NBA Finals: LeBron James vs. Jimmy Butler is touching history

But Mitchell vs. Murray was a lot more fun to watch.