2012 NBA Playoffs

[Judge Jude]

"I don't subscribe to that theory. I also have no problem considering people like Ted Williams or Ty Cobb for my All-Time Top 10 in Baseball, or Dan Marino or Barry Sanders for my Top 10 in the NFL."

There is no comparison between NBA and NFL or MLB, in terms of the amount of impact that a single superstar has.
And LeBron's 4th-qtr performance in the NBA Finals last year was historically awful for players of this level.
And no superstar ever quit on a team than LeBron did in his final playoff go-round in Cleveland.

Still an incredible talent, and a long way to go in his career. But he had the horses to win last year, and he failed.

[OaklandA's]

Why no love for Malone or Stockton?

Malone is close. He is a better rebounder than James, but James is better than Malone at scoring, passing, ballhandling, and defense. I don't think Stockton is close to the all-time Top 10 - it's hard for a player with a career average of 13.1 P/G and 2.7 R/G to be one of the best ever. Even his 10 assists per game are only 3 more than James.

[B-Fly]

If you're talking about fielding the best 10 NBA players at the peaks of their respective talents and execution, as opposed to a retrospective analysis of their career resume, then I think you would have to consider LeBron in a top-10 discussion. And I think that's where Hornsby and Oak are coming from. It is hard to name too many NBA players who have been better across all aspects of the game than LeBron has been this season.

[OaklandA's]

If you're talking about fielding the best 10 NBA players at the peaks of their respective talents and execution, as opposed to a retrospective analysis of their career resume, then I think you would have to consider LeBron in a top-10 discussion. And I think that's where Hornsby and Oak are coming from. It is hard to name too many NBA players who have been better across all aspects of the game than LeBron has been this season.

Yeah, there are many ways to look at the Top 10. Obviously, LeBron doesn't have the career stats of guys like Shaq. And clearly he doesn't have the titles either. But I think his last four regular seasons are better than any four seasons from Shaq (or Kobe or Duncan).

[OaklandA's]

Ranking NBA guys is really tough. There are a lot of "stat guys" throughout the history of the NBA who don't, and shouldn't, get any real mention in the conversation about the greatest of all time. Dominique Wilkins scored the 11th most points all time. Alex English was #13. Allen Iverson is 17. Nate Thurmond had the 8th most rebounds of all time. Gary Payton had the 8th most assists of all time.

Agreed. When I said that LeBron has had 4 great stat seasons, I wasn't referring to raw numbers like points or rebounds, but to the more "advanced" basketball stats that try to combine all of the stats into a single number, like WAR in baseball. If you look at basketball stats like Win Shares (WS) or Player Efficiency Rating (PER), there is a good argument for LeBron in the Top 10 All Time.

[Hornsby]

This is your prerogative but you're in the minority here, not the rest of us 'idiots'.

Am I really? Sure doesn't look like it to me...

Bottom line is that LeBron has a skill set that's damn unique for a guy his size. He can literally do anything on a basketball court, and very few people in the history of the NBA can make that claim on a consistent basis. Add in the fact that he's playing in the current era, against the best, biggest, and strongest players in the history of the game. I don't care that he hasn't won a title or ten, that simply not germane to the issue of where he belongs in the pantheon of great players...Shaq had Kobe, Kobe had Shaq, Russell had a supporting cast 2nd to none, and Wilt had bupkis for a large portion of his career, same as Oscar. Bottom line is that great TEAMS win multiple championships, but that doesn't make the accomplishments of an individual any less significant. And barring injury, we could see Lebron playing at this level for another 6-8 years...where does that put him?

[JudeBaldo]

Absolutely LOVE LOVE The Heat's reply tonight. It was like 80s NBA, hell it was like hockey out there.

[dslaw]

we could see Lebron playing at this level for another 6-8 years...where does that put him?

I think this is where Lebron will put his mark on his all time standing. After 7 or 8 years of MJ he was a guy that could score at will but not a great team player. 7 or 8 years later he was arguably the best ever. I think I would have LeBron out of the top 10 right now but he can get better.

[TS Garp]

Pittman suspended for 3 games, Haslem out for 1. Really surprised the NBA didn't suspend Pittman for the remainder of the playoffs and then some. That was one of the dirtiest plays I've ever seen.

[JudeBaldo]

Statement game by The Heat and especially DWade. Dude was playing bonkers.

[JudeBaldo]

OKC/San Antonio! Get you mutha frakking popcorn ready. This is going to be a helluva game.

[chancellor]

OKC/San Antonio! Get you mutha frakking popcorn ready. This is going to be a helluva game.

IMO, the two best teams in the NBA are playing in this series. The Spurs just look relentless this year.

[Judge Jude]

Spurs on a tidy 33-3 roll in last 36 games

[JudeBaldo]

IMO, the two best teams in the NBA are playing in this series. The Spurs just look relentless this year.

I agree. Their motion offense is run so well it looks like it was built by an engineer. If OKC wasn't athletic that game would have been a blowout. With that said, OKC has made strides as well.

[B-Fly]

So the Thunder and Heat are both right back where they were at this stage last year, except the Spurs strike me as a much better team right now than the Mavs were last year. So although I agree that OKC has made strides, I don't know if they're quite ready to knock off this Spurs team the way it's clicking right now. I hope they can take it to seven games. As for the Heat, they should be able to beat Boston without Bosh, but I think he needs to be pretty close to full strength for them to win in the Finals, and even then the Heat would be a deserved underdog.