Why LeBron is (maybe) the best player in the NBA

[Yung D-Will]

Yeah, I'm sure your biased perspective is much more trustworthy than stats.

biased of what? The Utah Jazz?

[Lebron23]

biased of what? The Utah Jazz?

Kobenest

[Yung D-Will]

Kobenest

Lol what.

Kobe isn't even in the conversation for best player anymore.

I have nothing against Lebron. In fact I put him as the best player in the leauge for since the season started and in 09-10. I just recently changed it to Wade within the past week.


My point is I hate when people try to throw 200 advanced stats out as proof of why one player is superior.

When I thought Lebron was superior to Wade it had nothing to do with things like win shares. And now that I think Wade superior is has nothing to do with any of these advanced stats. I make my opions based on the games I watch.

[Mr. I'm So Rad]

Do you even watch the games? Lebron is one of the best one on one defenders in the league, and it's not like 1v1 defense is really that important at all. He probably has to defend a 1v1 situation less than once a game. Same with FT shooting, he's at 77% which isn't great, but it's not awful. These were legit criticisms in '07 but not now.

Yes I watch the games and he has trouble keeping guys in front of him. He's great at help defense though. 77% is pretty decent, but he needs to be around the low 80's I think. And @ man defense not being important. He plays man defense more than zone and he usually guards the other team's best player so it is very important. If he allows a guy to go past him then it affects his team.

[az00m]

your hero shot 35% the whole series vs celtics in 08.

your hero shot 25% in game 7

[christian1923]

we all know what happens to him in the playoffs thoo.....

[Inactive]

Thanks but I think if I've watched the majority of their games I can trust my brain a lot more than I can trust stats.

That trust you have in your opinions is one of the limitations I was referring to.

Scientists once knew, from their years of experience treating, and analyzing patients, that draining their blood was an effective treatment for most diseases. How many fans are convinced that their favorite team wins more, when they're watching? How many people claim that they love one brand of soft drink, and hate the other, and then can't tell the difference between the two in blind taste tests? How many people are given placebos, and still think that they were given effective medicine? How many people thought that they were healed by Franz Mesmer's animal magnetism, before he was outed as a fraud?

Unless you're validating your impressions with data, and corroborating with (relatively) unbiased observers, your opinion is practically worthless. You're delusional, if you think otherwise.

[Lebron23]

That trust you have in your opinions is one of the limitations I was referring to.

Scientists once knew, from their years of experience treating, and analyzing patients, that draining their blood was an effective treatment for most diseases. How many fans are convinced that their favorite team wins more, when they're watching? How many people claim that they love one brand of soft drink, and hate the other, and then can't tell the difference between the two in blind taste tests? How many people are given placebos, and still think that they were given effective medicine? How many people thought that they were healed by Franz Mesmer's animal magnetism, before he was outed as a fraud?

Unless you're validating your impressions with data, and corroborating with (relatively) unbiased observers, your opinion is practically worthless. You're delusional, if you think otherwise.

You are a very smart guy. Repped

[knightfall88]

People say Lebron has learnt to shoot EVERY Year.

[Yung D-Will]

Unless you're validating your impressions with data, and corroborating with (relatively) unbiased observers, your opinion is practically worthless. You're delusional, if you think otherwise.

Really? I think you're forgetting we're talking about Sports here. It doesn't take 9000 advanced stats to show you that Tom Brady is one of the greatest QB's in the NFL you can just watch 5 of his games. Just like people in the 60's didn't have to use advanced stats to decided whether or not Russell was better than Wilt or vice versa. The same way I don't need to look at Per to tell you Dirk is better than Bosh. As Sports fans we watch these games, We observe and we witness firsthand the extent of these players individual abilties. We see Their strengths, We see their weakness, We see if they're clutch, We see if they're playoffs performers , we see if they're willing to pass it off to someone else who's wide open for the last shot, We see their ego, we see their confidence, we see the good, the bad and the ugly because everything is left on the court night in and night out. I don't need a win Share to validate my opinion when I can just tell you who was the superior player when it mattered against the the good teams and you can't deny it because you've seen it yourself.


This isn't a political debate where I have to collect data for weeks to prove a point. We all watch the same nba, We all watch what the players do on a normal basis throughout an 82 game season. If that's not a big enough sample size for you to understand who the better players in the leauge are then I find that weird. It's simple and down to the point.

That's always been my view on it

[magnax1]

Really? I think you're forgetting we're talking about Sports here. It doesn't take 9000 advanced stats to show you that Tom Brady is one of the greatest QB's in the NFL you can just watch 5 of his games. Just like people in the 60's didn't have to use advanced stats to decided whether or not Russell was better than Wilt or vice versa. The same way I don't need to look at Per to tell you Dirk is better than Bosh. As Sports fans we watch these games, We observe and we witness firsthand the extent of these players individual abilties. We see Their strengths, We see their weakness, We see if they're clutch, We see if they're playoffs performers , we see if they're willing to pass it off to someone else who's wide open for the last shot, We see their ego, we see their confidence, we see the good, the bad and the ugly because everything is left on the court night in and night out. I don't need a win Share to validate my opinion when I can just tell you who was the superior player when it mattered against the the good teams and you can't deny it because you've seen it yourself.


This isn't a political debate where I have to collect data for weeks to prove a point. We all watch the same nba, We all watch what the players do on a normal basis throughout an 82 game season. If that's not a big enough sample size for you to understand who the better players in the leauge are then I find that weird. It's simple and down to the point.

That's always been my view on it

Deserving of rep, but I must've repped you earlier.

[Chris Quinn]

Well lets see.

Consistent shooter and scorer
Good rebounder
Great court vision and accurate passing
Suffocating defense at times (the regular season doesn't showcase peak defense)
Great speed and athleticism at 6"8 and 250 lbs.

Oh and probably the best transition defense player of all time.

Yep, that about sums it up.

nice POST

[Simple Jack]

Really? I think you're forgetting we're talking about Sports here. It doesn't take 9000 advanced stats to show you that Tom Brady is one of the greatest QB's in the NFL you can just watch 5 of his games. Just like people in the 60's didn't have to use advanced stats to decided whether or not Russell was better than Wilt or vice versa. The same way I don't need to look at Per to tell you Dirk is better than Bosh. As Sports fans we watch these games, We observe and we witness firsthand the extent of these players individual abilties. We see Their strengths, We see their weakness, We see if they're clutch, We see if they're playoffs performers , we see if they're willing to pass it off to someone else who's wide open for the last shot, We see their ego, we see their confidence, we see the good, the bad and the ugly because everything is left on the court night in and night out. I don't need a win Share to validate my opinion when I can just tell you who was the superior player when it mattered against the the good teams and you can't deny it because you've seen it yourself.


This isn't a political debate where I have to collect data for weeks to prove a point. We all watch the same nba, We all watch what the players do on a normal basis throughout an 82 game season. If that's not a big enough sample size for you to understand who the better players in the leauge are then I find that weird. It's simple and down to the point.

That's always been my view on it

You are basically insisting that you are making an observation and it doesn't need to be verified by empirical data to be true. Like the Brady reference; the point is however, that if you WERE to look at the statistics, you would see that Brady is one of the best QB's. It verifies your observations.

The logical approach is to make a claim and then see if it checks out because like plenty of people have already said; we all have biases and think subjectively whether we like to hear it or not. Making a claim that Wade is the best player in the league simply by watching is fine; but it would help your claim, and at least make it more credible, if it were backed up by some sort of fact or measure.

Making a general claim is one thing; like the Brady reference, or saying LeBron/Kobe/Wade are great players....Making a comparative claim however, especially between players that we have established to be "close", requires a bit more than simply saying "i watch the games".

[Yung D-Will]

You are basically insisting that you are making an observation and it doesn't need to be verified by empirical data to be true. Like the Brady reference; the point is however, that if you WERE to look at the statistics, you would see that Brady is one of the best QB's. It verifies your observations.

The logical approach is to make a claim and then see if it checks out because like plenty of people have already said; we all have biases and think subjectively whether we like to hear it or not. Making a claim that Wade is the best player in the league simply by watching is fine; but it would help your claim, and at least make it more credible, if it were backed up by some sort of fact or measure.

Don't get me wrong if we're in a bar and talking about who's better I'm not just gonna say Wade and not give you any reasons. I'll tell you exactly who's come through when they've had the ball in their hands at the end of the game. I'll tell you who's jumpshot has been more consistant. Who's had more cold streaks where they can't make shots, Who maintains the leads when the other guy isn't on the court. Who has more trust in their teamates, Who's been the one counted on for scoring whenever the team gets behind.Who Runs the pick and roll better,Who's better at finishing Who gets the most fast break points I'll tell you who showed up against the elites ( Spurs,Lakers,Celts ext)

Ext

(All of those were hypothetical)

But these are all things you can see from watching games. It's not like I'm gonna tell you a players better and not give you my reasons. I've seen these players enough to tell you their tendencies and who's counted on for what when the games matter.

And everything I say you can go home, Watch the games and confirm.

[Chris Quinn]

lebron JAMES