Demanding better teammates (today's era) vs. elevating teammates (previous eras)

[3ball]

To elevate teammates, a star must figure out great teamwork and how to play great basketball, while team-hopping/demanding better teammates is winning off talent and an entirely lower level of basketball (results in 3/9 - lebron loses to organic teams/teamwork)

This is how we know prior eras were better at basketball and would demolish today's brand of shallow, temporary, mercenary teamwork - if lebron played in the 90's, his team-hopping brand would get crushed by organic teamwork, just like all 6 of his Finals losses in the current era

[bullettooth]

Previous eras also had guys competing against eachother proving who's best.

Today we got guys taking shortcuts and creating superteams... and still losing.

[sdot_thadon]

[QUOTE=Jordan Rules]
....Jackson was having private doubts about whether this Bulls team could win. Jordan was having his own apprehensions. He didn

[3ball]

:biggums:

The bulls won 100% organically, so Jordan didn't force the front office to do anything - and obviously, he didn't team-hop either.. he sucked it up and almost made the 89' Finals with 9 ppg Pippen and a 6 seed

Also, the OP says how elevating teammates required figuring out great teamwork and how to play great basketball - MJ obviously figured it out and elevated the team to championship status, while lebron won off talent (team-hopping)

So sorry bud - lebron won off talent (team-hopping), while MJ won off great basketball and elevating teammates (organic)

Btw, lol at using excerpts from Dray n Klay's book as some sort of proof
.

[sdot_thadon]

stage 1: denial

[3ball]

stage 1: denial
Right, that's you

MJ won organically and lebron won off talent (team-hopped)

Organic teamwork/basketball > team-hopped talent... See the Lebron's Finals record for proof of this

[ImKobe]

It doesn't really work in today's NBA because all these guys are buddy-buddy with eachother. You saw what happened when Butler went MJ on the young Wolves' locker room, these guys are soft as ****.

Jordan could get away with the things he said because he was mostly right about it and most people weren't such ******* about it. He weeded out the weak and got the guys fighting alongside him.

[STATUTORY]

this is spot on. Lebron's "I need more help" mentality forever changed the NBA landscape, people no longer have a team-first mentality, it's all player driven.

they see someone who's winning, they don't think "oh we gonna get better and beat them" they think "oh I'm gonna get better and play with that guy"

its completely corrosive

[StrongLurk]

Lebron is the third best player of all time and would thrive in any era.

OP just got destroyed.

[3ball]

this is spot on. Lebron's "I need more help" mentality forever changed the NBA landscape, people no longer have a team-first mentality, it's all player driven.

they see someone who's winning, they don't think "oh we gonna get better and beat them" they think "oh I'm gonna get better and play with that guy"

its completely corrosive

Agreed, and Bleacher Report speaks to that in a recent article:



But the broader topic is what leadership means today for the modern NBA superstar. In ancient times (like, you know, 15 years ago), leadership meant that NBA stars embraced the challenge of making those around them better. Now, in large part due to the player-movement era that James ushered in when he left Cleveland to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami in 2010, superstars have been conditioned to give up on their current circumstances and demand better teammates, a new home or both.

"Now it's all about deferring and putting blame on somebody else," one of the Western Conference executives said. "Instead of being like an old-school guy and saying: 'I've got to do a better job. I've got to make my teammates better.' Great players and great leaders, that's what they do. That's what Kobe [Bryant] would've done. That's what Michael Jordan would've done."

Not to get romantic about the Jordan era, but in those days, the likes of Bill Cartwright and Steve Kerr needed Jordan to elevate them. How well the biggest star on your team did that defined how effective a leader he was. Today, with star players perpetually angling for better teammates and more attractive markets, the narrative has shifted. Suddenly, it's become the job of the supporting players to make the superstars better. And if the superstar struggles, it must be his teammates' fault.

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2823951-lebron-throwing-people-under-the-bus-like-never-before-and-nba-is-baffled.amp.html



^^^ this is good for business in the short term, but in the long run, removing the leadership, substance and organic teamwork out of the game (and making it all about talent) will drive basketball into a niche sport, like boxing or something

[Rico2016]

:biggums:


Boom :lebronamazed:

[superduper]

Lebron is the third best player of all time and would thrive in any era.

OP just got destroyed.

:biggums: :biggums:


























































































:roll: :roll: :roll:

[STATUTORY]

^^^ this is good for business in the short term, but in the long run, removing the leadership, substance and organic teamwork out of the game (and making it all about talent) will drive basketball into a niche sport, like boxing or something

In the long run it completely destroys the eco-system because it doesn't make sense to be a fan of a team in an environment where players dictate all the power and terms. In the past, fans could root for a team with the underlying trust that the team is the building block around the league and the unit of competition. Now player empowerment has completely shattered that illusion.

[StrongLurk]

In the long run it completely destroys the eco-system because it doesn't make sense to be a fan of a team in an environment where players dictate all the power and terms. In the past, fans could root for a team with the underlying trust that the team is the building block around the league and the unit of competition. Now it just makes no sense.

That's why people have been saying College Basketball > NBA for the last 40 years or so.

College kids giving it their all > overpaid pampered babies