Tag: LeBron James
Analysis

LeBron James’ Amazing Playoff Statistical Legacy

- by Fox Doucette

In March of 2019, I took a look at LeBron James‘ amazing career statistically. I talked about the Grand Triple-Double (10,000 each of points, assists, and rebounds; based on his career averages, LeBron will reach that mark sometime during the 2021-22 season if he stays healthy.) I talked about his chances of passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time scoring list—he has 4,147 points to go to get to 38,388, and at his career scoring rate of 27.1 points per game, he’ll do that in two seasons, maybe early in a third if the NBA truncates the 2020-21 season to 60 …

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Editorial

Is Zion Williamson Already Better Than LeBron James?

- by Fox Doucette

Tuesday morning, an interesting question came over the wire on Twitter. Who is the BEST FORWARD currently in the NBA that Zion will instantly be better than once he gets drafted. — Justin Grant (@ThePackageJG) May 14, 2019 “Who’s the best forward that Zion Williamson will already be better than when he gets drafted?” And I thought about it for a minute. Because Zion is, of course, so obvious a lock for Rookie of the Year that they might as well just engrave the trophy now and hope he doesn’t blow out his ACL like Blake Griffin. And then I …

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Editorial

Frank Vogel and Jason Kidd to Coach the LOLakers

- by Fox Doucette

Women with children across Laker Hater Nation got a great Mother’s Day gift from the NBA’s most verklempt franchise—move over Knicks, at least you guys have a fighting chance at getting Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on your team. Frank Vogel is reportedly going to be the new head coach of the purple-and-gold Dumpster fire in Tinseltown, and Jason Kidd is going to be one of his assistants. This is the same Frank Vogel who got himself run out of Indiana for failing to adopt anything remotely resembling modern offensive principles—even Nate McMillan looks like Mike Budenholzer compared to him—and …

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Analysis

LeBron’s Legacy by the Numbers

- by Fox Doucette

The legacy of LeBron James is bookended by NBA history, trying to be better than the greats of the past while setting a standard that will withstand the challenge of the greats of the future. The legacy of LeBron is also bookended alphabetically, by the letter K on one end—Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Karl Malone—and by the letter M on the other, in the person of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. Kareem, Karl, and Kobe are the three guys left in the way of LeBron setting the career record for scoring. Magic is the gold standard for versatility, his …

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Editorial

LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and “Making Teammates Better”

- by Fox Doucette

The Lakers are a burning Dumpster fire of a franchise, and it looks like for the first time since 2005, the NBA playoffs will happen with no LeBron James present. Despite this, LeBron is having another top-notch season statistically, posting 27.4 points per game (above his career average of 27.2) and, considering his 35.3 minutes per game are a career low, he’s actually posting the highest scoring rate on a per-minute basis in 16 seasons in the league. He’s posting a 26.0 PER, .595 True Shooting, .186 WS/48, and 4.5 VORP, all despite playing in just 50 of the Lakers’ …

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Editorial

What if Colin Kaepernick Played in the NBA?

- by Fox Doucette

NBA Twitter’s been in a bit of a tizzy today after former commissioner David Stern said that embattled quarterback Colin Kaepernick “would still have a job” if he played basketball instead of football or, along the same lines, if the NFL were as progressive as the NBA. Former NBA commissioner David Stern singes the NFL, saying that Kaepernick would still have a job if he played basketball instead of football. https://t.co/H4vNxHg50o via @novy_williams @soshnick — Nick Turner (@NewsyNick) February 14, 2019 Which…well, Stern is right…and Stern is wrong. I’m going to do my best here to try and make the …

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Editorial

The NBA Has a Drama Problem

- by Fox Doucette

by Zach d’Arbeloff On January 28th, Anthony Davis informed the New Orleans Pelicans that he would not sign his Designated Veteran Player Extension – also known as the supermax – and his agent, Rich Paul from Klutch Sports, officially informed the team that Davis “wanted to be traded to a team that allows him a chance to win consistently and compete for a championship.” This marked the biggest fish to land in the trade market since Kevin Garnett in 2007, and arguably, in terms of player value due to Davis’ age, the biggest player to hit the trade market since …

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Highlights

Breakfast Special: LeBron, D-Wade, and Era Farewells

- by Fox Doucette

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade brought the world four Finals runs in Miami, tons of entertaining basketball, and no small few great matchups as foes when the King toiled in Cleveland. And Monday night, we got the last time the two men will meet on a basketball court in a regular-season NBA game (and no, Wade doesn’t get to be an All-Star. Unless Victor Oladipo stays hurt. Then we can talk.) Of course it was a competitive game. The Lakers won 108-105 to go to 17-10 overall and 11-4 at home. Wade got some extended run off the bench and …

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Highlights

Breakfast Special: Heavy is the Burden on LeBron

- by Fox Doucette

The story of LeBron James‘ career has, with a couple of rare exceptions in Miami where Dwyane Wade was a bona fide Hall of Fame sidekick, been a case of carrying utterly wretched teams further than they have any right to go. Indeed, most of the case for James as the NBA’s greatest of all time hinges on the narrative of “he won a championship with a G-League team in 2016.” (and if you want me to say something nice about Kyrie Irving, you must be new here.) And here he is in Los Angeles, dragging the freaking South Bay …

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Analysis

Re-Opening Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s GOAT Case

- by Fox Doucette

With 10 Finals appearances, six rings, the all-time record for points scored, the second-most games (behind Robert Parish) and most minutes, 6 MVP awards, 19 All-Star games, only one season in his entire career where he was in the top ten in turnovers, tops in history in both offensive and overall Win Shares, an icon for two different franchises, and all of it capped off by the one of the most slam-dunk first-ballot Hall of Fame inductions you’re likely to see? Are we sure Kareem Abdul-Jabbar isn’t still the greatest of all time? After all, when Kareem finally retired in …

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