The only criticism that I ever had of LeBron was his going to Miami and bringing an All Star team with him. I don't think there was anything special about him winning championships in Miami, but this championship establishes him in my opinion as an all time great. That blocked shot that he had at the end was unbelievable. He is a different type of player from the others who are discussed in the greatest of all time discussion. He is probably the greatest defender of any player in that conversation.
Yes, it's pretty hard to make a logical comparison between Bill Russell, Michael Jordan and LeBron James. They're different types of players.
"Hating the Yankees like it's a religion since 94'" RIP Mike.
"It's also a simple and indisputable fact that WAR isn't the be-all end-all in valuations, especially in real life. Wanna know why? Because an ace in run-prevention for 120 innings means more often than not, a sub-standard pitcher covering for the rest of the IP that pitcher fails to provide. You can't see value in a vacuum when a player does not provide full-time production."
You don't really hear about Russell much in the discussion of the greatest player of all-time, except by some old hardcore Celtics fans. I don't think there is much dispute that Russell was the greatest defender in history, but I don't see him in too many discussions of "greatest player". A big part of that is that defense doesn't get proper recognition. Of those players commonly in that discussion of greatest player like Jordan, Bird, Magic, Jabbar, Kobe, West, etc, LeBron is by far the best defender.
Edit: I don't want to burst anyone's bubble in Boston, but Russell wasn't even close to the player that Wilt the Stilt was.
Lebron would dunk on MJ. all day long. and i hate lebron. but it's not even close. MJ dominated when most of the league spent the offseason never looking at a weight room or practice court.
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