NBA Los Angeles Lakers thread

[TrueTT]

i 100% agree with you in regards to small market teams not having the same chance as other teams. that's why it bothers me when a guy like tim duncan doesn't get more credit.

i don't agree when you bring up how the clippers are ran and how that somehow makes what they did any different than the lakers. at the end of the day, if they were in charlotte, cleveland, or indiana with the same roster, same management, etc... they would not have gotten kawhi and pg.

and you say the only way AD came was because of behind the scene deals... how is that any different than kawhi being in contact with PG, and ultimately resulting in PG requesting a trade after just signing an extension? players talk to each other all around the league. i don't doubt the same happened with kd and kyrie throughout last season, for example. i'm not saying its right and fair, but how can you only pin it on one player when its happened throughout the history of the nba?

at the end of the day, teams don't give a **** about players, so they should be able to sign wherever they please. case and point the clippers signing blake to an extension just to ship him to detroit soon after.

Kawhi and PG wanting to be Clippers had more to do with coming back home to their families and friends than wanting to be Hollywood like LeBron.

 

[LaVar]

Kawhi and PG wanting to be Clippers had more to do with coming back home to their families and friends than wanting to be Hollywood like LeBron.

so then why did pg re-sign with the thunder lmfao

 

[Stylizer1]

i 100% agree with you in regards to small market teams not having the same chance as other teams. that's why it bothers me when a guy like tim duncan doesn't get more credit.

i don't agree when you bring up how the clippers are ran and how that somehow makes what they did any different than the lakers. at the end of the day, if they were in charlotte, cleveland, or indiana with the same roster, same management, etc... they would not have gotten kawhi and pg.

and you say the only way AD came was because of behind the scene deals... how is that any different than kawhi being in contact with PG, and ultimately resulting in PG requesting a trade after just signing an extension? players talk to each other all around the league. i don't doubt the same happened with kd and kyrie throughout last season, for example. i'm not saying its right and fair, but how can you only pin it on one player when its happened throughout the history of the nba?

at the end of the day, teams don't give a **** about players, so they should be able to sign wherever they please. case and point the clippers signing blake to an extension just to ship him to detroit soon after.

If Kawhi and PG were from Charlotte they probably would have gone. You make good points regarding the comparisons between AD/LJ and KL/PG. As good as PG is I don't think he is a superstar but an allstar with last year being the exception. I think the fact that LeBron is the greatest player of his era and all he does is go to other cities where he thinks he can win rubs me the wrong way. there is no doubt that this breed of player is a lot more self centred than in the past and I think the way LeBron went to Miami started the me first mentality. Yes, Garnett, Allen, and Pierce teamed up to win a championship but they were all heading into the downswing of their careers not heading into there primes. For me Lebron earned 1 championship and manufactured the 2 in Miami. All Lebron cares about is that he gets championships and it doesn't matter how. LeBron will also go down as never being able to lead a team through a Dynasty. All the ones considered great have done that.

 

[Stylizer1]

so then why did pg re-sign with the thunder lmfao

The money. When PG was a free agent who was out there going to give him the contract he wanted and allowed him to play where he wanted? The rumors at the time was that the Lakers wanted him and he said no.

 

[MMC]

If Kawhi and PG were from Charlotte they probably would have gone. You make good points regarding the comparisons between AD/LJ and KL/PG. As good as PG is I don't think he is a superstar but an allstar with last year being the exception. I think the fact that LeBron is the greatest player of his era and all he does is go to other cities where he thinks he can win rubs me the wrong way. there is no doubt that this breed of player is a lot more self centred than in the past and I think the way LeBron went to Miami started the me first mentality. Yes, Garnett, Allen, and Pierce teamed up to win a championship but they were all heading into the downswing of their careers not heading into there primes. For me Lebron earned 1 championship and manufactured the 2 in Miami. All Lebron cares about is that he gets championships and it doesn't matter how. LeBron will also go down as never being able to lead a team through a Dynasty. All the ones considered great have done that.

Yeah how dare players make what they feel are the best decisions for themselves lmao

 

[LaVar]

The money. When PG was a free agent who was out there going to give him the contract he wanted and allowed him to play where he wanted? The rumors at the time was that the Lakers wanted him and he said no.

yeah man, he signed an extension with a small market team for the $$ just to request a trade a year later. he had it all planned out.

i don't buy it lol. he signed in okc because he wanted to "take care of unfinished business", and then when they choked again last year he got in contact with kawhi and requested a trade.

and even if what you said is true, that's 100% worse than what you're accusing lebron and ad of doing...

If Kawhi and PG were from Charlotte they probably would have gone. You make good points regarding the comparisons between AD/LJ and KL/PG. As good as PG is I don't think he is a superstar but an allstar with last year being the exception. I think the fact that LeBron is the greatest player of his era and all he does is go to other cities where he thinks he can win rubs me the wrong way. there is no doubt that this breed of player is a lot more self centred than in the past and I think the way LeBron went to Miami started the me first mentality. Yes, Garnett, Allen, and Pierce teamed up to win a championship but they were all heading into the downswing of their careers not heading into there primes. For me Lebron earned 1 championship and manufactured the 2 in Miami. All Lebron cares about is that he gets championships and it doesn't matter how. LeBron will also go down as never being able to lead a team through a Dynasty. All the ones considered great have done that.

the bottom line is PG is a top 10 player in today's game. he is a first option on most teams. superstar? debatable. but if he's not a superstar then he's the closest thing to it.

lebron went to miami after boston formed a big 3. lebron then returned home to cleveland and delivered that bum franchise a championship. lebron then realized that the cavs sucked after he carried them in 2018 with one of the greatest post-season runs ever, dan gilbert is a clown, and there was nothing more to accomplish there. lebron then did what was best for him and his family, and like you said, signed with one of the worst run franchises. is that not a risk? signing with the garbage lakers. not only did he sign with them, he signed for 4 years (with a PO ofc).

and you say lebron hasn't lead a team through a dynasty... what was he supposed to do vs the most stacked team of all time? he damn near took game 1 from them by himself until jr f***ing smith came through with one of the dumbest plays ever. at the end of the day, only one finals loss is on him (2011).

kd made the weakest move in history (imagine if lebron signed with the celtics after losing to them...), then teamed up with kyrie in bk. kawhi began his career with the greatest trio ever, got traded to a raptors team with insane depth, then signed with the clippers while recruiting a player under contract.

to act like lebron is the only player that wants to play with other good players is just flat out disingenuous.

 

[Cassano]

If LeBron misses a a lot of time, Lakers may lose Home Court advantage. The Lakers are basically a poor man's version of the 2018-19 Pelicans without him.

 

[Stylizer1]

yeah man, he signed an extension with a small market team for the $$ just to request a trade a year later. he had it all planned out.

i don't buy it lol. he signed in okc because he wanted to "take care of unfinished business", and then when they choked again last year he got in contact with kawhi and requested a trade.

and even if what you said is true, that's 100% worse than what you're accusing lebron and ad of doing...
the bottom line is PG is a top 10 player in today's game. he is a first option on most teams. superstar? debatable. but if he's not a superstar then he's the closest thing to it.

lebron went to miami after boston formed a big 3. lebron then returned home to cleveland and delivered that bum franchise a championship. lebron then realized that the cavs sucked after he carried them in 2018 with one of the greatest post-season runs ever, dan gilbert is a clown, and there was nothing more to accomplish there. lebron then did what was best for him and his family, and like you said, signed with one of the worst run franchises. is that not a risk? signing with the garbage lakers. not only did he sign with them, he signed for 4 years (with a PO ofc).

and you say lebron hasn't lead a team through a dynasty... what was he supposed to do vs the most stacked team of all time? he damn near took game 1 from them by himself until jr ****ing smith came through with one of the dumbest plays ever. at the end of the day, only one finals loss is on him (2011).

kd made the weakest move in history (imagine if lebron signed with the celtics after losing to them...), then teamed up with kyrie in bk. kawhi began his career with the greatest trio ever, got traded to a raptors team with insane depth, then signed with the clippers while recruiting a player under contract.

to act like lebron is the only player that wants to play with other good players is just flat out disingenuous.

Never said other players don't want to play with one another I said Lebron started taking the easy route to winning championships and made it the norm.

Most stacked team of all time who drafted their way to a championship. When Lebron was making it known in the media that Cleveland needed to add players to compete because the rumours were that they were trying to get Carmelo the Warriors due to their amazing cap space added KD. GS played Lebron's game and won. I never liked the KD move but understood why. If that didn't happen LeBron would have tried to stack the deck in his favour.

As for JR smith, it wasn't his fault. It was clearly Tyron Lue's for not calling a time out. That's what made LeBron so mad on the bench but the media doesn't report it.

I want to see AD vs LeBron, Kawhi vs George, Westbrook vs Harden, KD vs Kyrie and not the best players trying to team up for 1 and done's. I think it hurt their legacies more than boosts it. I wish teams could only give out 1 max contract but could give out more to players they drafted.

 

[Terry Yake]

The money. When PG was a free agent who was out there going to give him the contract he wanted and allowed him to play where he wanted? The rumors at the time was that the Lakers wanted him and he said no.

he signed with OKC immediately after the FA period started

he was butthurt at the lakers because they didn't trade all their kids for him. because a lakers team with PG and a bunch of g-leaguers would've been a contender

 

[LaVar]

Never said other players don't want to play with one another I said Lebron started taking the easy route to winning championships and made it the norm.

Most stacked team of all time who drafted their way to a championship. When Lebron was making it known in the media that Cleveland needed to add players to compete because the rumours were that they were trying to get Carmelo the Warriors due to their amazing cap space added KD. GS played Lebron's game and won. I never liked the KD move but understood why. If that didn't happen LeBron would have tried to stack the deck in his favour.

As for JR smith, it wasn't his fault. It was clearly Tyron Lue's for not calling a time out. That's what made LeBron so mad on the bench but the media doesn't report it.

I want to see AD vs LeBron, Kawhi vs George, Westbrook vs Harden, KD vs Kyrie and not the best players trying to team up for 1 and done's. I think it hurt their legacies more than boosts it. I wish teams could only give out 1 max contract but could give out more to players they drafted.

amazing cap space? it was pure luck. the cap spiked that year because of the tv deal. for the warriors it was absolutely the right move, but from a competitive aspect? if you wanna talk about "taking the easy route to winning", there will never be a situation that fits that description more than what kd did. everyone knew they were gonna win the championship every year kd was there barring injuries, which is exactly what happened. you can't say the same for any of lebron's teams -- they were never that overpowered. miami was terrible before lebron got there, same with cleveland, same with the lakers. at least those were his teams, with no guarantee of it working out. the warriors? minute away from repeating and then they added the second best player in the world.

lebron busted his ass in cleveland for nearly a decade and they couldn't get him one good player, and he still managed to carry them to the finals in '07. what was he supposed to do... play there his entire career putting his hopes in the hands of an incompetent FO? this whole "played lebron's game" gimmick is so tired and weak when you consider he wasn't even the one to start it. people just use it against him because he was the best player in the world when he did it, but don't take into consideration the shit he dealt with for years in cleveland.

regarding jr... you could put half on lue sure, but if you're in the nba finals and are being paid millions of dollars, you should know what's happening, time left, etc... just common sense

as for your last part, i agree. i wish player movement in the nba was similar to that of the nhl, with players sticking with teams for longer periods.. but if anything you've got to blame fans and the media for making it all about championships, resulting in moves like these to have occurred in the first place. or people having no problem with players sitting 30+ games a year for "load management", because they'll be ready come playoffs... it robs fans of the product and is ultimately why the nhl is the best league in the world.

 

[Cassano]

I wonder if the flared up groin is an excuse for getting Kawhitown'd Christmas day.

 

[Terry Yake]

he needs to sit out for a little while

 

[John Price]

Lakers won again

 

[DueDiligence]

Lakers won again

And Ol' Man Lebron managed to hobble out there and put 21 pts., 7 boards and 16 dimes. Must have been a very mild groin injury.

 

[Stylizer1]

And Ol' Man Lebron managed to hobble out there and put 21 pts., 7 boards and 16 dimes. Must have been a very mild groin injury.

Or an excuse why he played like shit in the 4th against the clippers.

 

[DueDiligence]

Or an excuse why he play like **** in the 4th against the clippers.

Exactly!

 

[LaVar]

And Ol' Man Lebron managed to hobble out there and put 21 pts., 7 boards and 16 dimes. Must have been a very mild groin injury.

i was at the game. he looked better than the game vs the clippers, but still wasn't as explosive as he's been.

might be age or injury, who knows

 

[John Price]

The Lakers beat the nobody mavs last night. Forget that the mavs have the best offense in the league. All the Lakers do is beat bad teams

 

[darko]

The Lakers beat the nobody mavs last night. Forget that the mavs have the best offense in the league. All the Lakers do is beat bad teams

Well said.

 

[The Night King]

Exactly!

You try to play basketball after getting kneed in the groin by Patrick Beverly.

 

[Stylizer1]

You try to play basketball after getting kneed in the groin by Patrick Beverly.

 

[MMC]

 

[Terry Yake]

trading kuzma wouldn't be smart

i don't envision they could get a better player by dealing him. plus he's been shooting the ball pretty well lately

 

[darko]

LeBron would be a fool to trade Kuzma.

 

[John Price]

I don't see why people are so angry about the Lakers. The league needs the Lakers to be successful. The last few years have been very hard on Lakers Nation. Now that they are good again people are upset.