How Legitimate Was This Chip?

[FireDavidKahn]

They faced a Suns team that only got to the Finals because every team they faced was devastated by injuries.

It'd be like Mike Tyson winning the Finals against Justin

[rawimpact]

Shut up dumbass

[K Xerxes]

100% as legitimate as every other NBA championship, plus/minus 0%.

[tontoz]

The Suns had the 2nd best record in the league playing in the tougher conference and were the favorites in the Finals. Now all of a sudden people act like they were the 6 seed. :facepalm

[Bronbron23]

They faced a Suns team that only got to the Finals because every team they faced was devastated by injuries.

It'd be like Mike Tyson winning the Finals against Justin

Very legitimate. If your gonna take this one away due to injuries than you have to do the same for every other chip that got the same breaks.

[basketballcat]

double asterisk

[Jasper]

thread is stupid

/

[FireDavidKahn]

The Suns had the 2nd best record in the league playing in the tougher conference and were the favorites in the Finals. Now all of a sudden people act like they were the 6 seed. :facepalm

James Harden is a regular season superstar:confusedshrug:

Lakers: AD and LeBron injured and hobbled all series
Nuggets: Jamal Murray
Clippers: KaWhit quit and Playoff P leading the way:oldlol:

[Shogon]

There are no such thing as asterisks championships.

But yeah, there were a lot of factors that went in both the Suns' and Bucks' favor. If everything played out how it was supposed to and teams were all healthy, it's very likely the Bucks don't win. They might not even make the Finals. But since when do things go exactly as they're supposed to?

Nobody knows.

Even with the exact same health problems every team faced, the seeding itself can alter the entire outcome.

Answers like these are quite simply... unknowable.

[MaxPlayer]

Staying healthy is a skill.

The Nets put all their eggs in 3 baskets. It was a high-risk strategy that failed.

[Shogon]

Staying healthy is a skill.

The Nets put all their eggs in 3 baskets. It was a high-risk strategy that failed.

lol. Staying healthy is not just a skill, it's also luck.

Irving was perfectly healthy... until he wasn't. Harden was perfectly healthy... until he wasn't. Don't act like both of these guys haven't been to conference finals before.

[hold this L]

I wonder if OP made a concern topic about his hero after last year's finals when the weakest Eastern NBA finalists of the last 10 years made the final and lost 2/3 best players with injury?

[Bronbron23]

lol. Staying healthy is not just a skill, it's also luck.

Irving was perfectly healthy... until he wasn't. Harden was perfectly healthy... until he wasn't. Don't act like both of these guys haven't been to conference finals before.

Nah man. Staying healthy isn't a skill but it's not just luck either. It's definitely a predictable factor in some cases. Kyrie has a history of being hurt and kd was coming off a Achilles injury. Saying injuries were gonna be factor with nets would be a good bet.

[Shogon]

Staying healthy is a combination of genetics, diet, conditioning, physical behaviors/actions... and luck.

[Bronbron23]

Staying healthy is a combination of genetics, diet, conditioning, physical behaviors/actions... and luck.

Yeah i agree with that.

[MaxPlayer]

lol. Staying healthy is not just a skill, it's also luck.

Irving was perfectly healthy... until he wasn't. Harden was perfectly healthy... until he wasn't. Don't act like both of these guys haven't been to conference finals before.

Of course luck is a factor also. And Kyrie and Harden are great players, but they're not exactly famous for their work ethic, whereas Giannis has obviously worked incredibly hard developing his body. It's definitely possible that his elite conditioning allowed him to recover from his hyperextended knee in the ECF faster than other guys could have.

Anyway, my point was that injuries are part of the game, and one team failing to stay healthy doesn't negate anything their healthier competition achieved.

[FireDavidKahn]

Staying healthy is a skill.

The Nets put all their eggs in 3 baskets. It was a high-risk strategy that failed.

No it isn't. Health is a trait someone has.

[MaxPlayer]

No it isn't. Health is a trait someone has.

Potato, potahto

[tpols]

They faced a Suns team that only got to the Finals because every team they faced was devastated by injuries.

It'd be like Mike Tyson winning the Finals against Justin

Agreed. A knockout on evander holyfield >>> knocking out some random bum. That's what the bucks lineup was this year.

I don't like hearing "x won without a super team" as a shot at lebron tbh. If the top contenders in 2010 ~ Lakers and Celtics lost Kobe and Garnett, Cavs are champs too. "Organically". So its a massive display of ignorance to omit all of this context.

[tpols]

Of course luck is a factor also. And Kyrie and Harden are great players, but they're not exactly famous for their work ethic, whereas Giannis has obviously worked incredibly hard developing his body. It's definitely possible that his elite conditioning allowed him to recover from his hyperextended knee in the ECF faster than other guys could have.

Anyway, my point was that injuries are part of the game, and one team failing to stay healthy doesn't negate anything their healthier competition achieved.

Harden has been an iron man his entire career. That was sheer dumb luck.

[tontoz]

Harden has been an iron man his entire career. That was sheer dumb luck.

No it wasn't. Harden came to camp fat and out of shape trying to force his way out of Houston. Not surprising at all that an out of shape guy pulled his hamstring.

[tpols]

No it wasn't. Harden came to camp fat and out of shape trying to force his way out of Houston. Not surprising at all that an out of shape guy pulled his hamstring.

Hardens always been chunky. He plays below the rim. He looked like an MVP in the Celtic series, and then blew his leg out in the first 5 minutes of the buck series. Sheer dumb luck.

[tontoz]

Hardens always been chunky. He plays below the rim. He looked like an MVP in the Celtic series, and then blew his leg out in the first 5 minutes of the buck series. Sheer dumb luck.

He was never fat, until this season. People were joking that he was wearing a fat suit to get traded.

He was clearly out of shape which was a problem in a condensed season. He missed over a month then came back right before the playoffs started. He probably wasn't completely healed and he definitely wasn't back in game shape when the playoffs started.

[Spurs m8]

100 times more legit than mickey mouse

[StrongLurk]

Very legitimate. If your gonna take this one away due to injuries than you have to do the same for every other chip that got the same breaks.

That's the thing, no other chip got this many breaks. These playoffs set a record by a huge amount for having all-star/superstar players getting hurt, no other playoff run was even close. Obviously the Suns and Bucks are good teams, but they had massive breaks.

Hell, even the one series where Giannis got hurt, Trae Young literally got hurt the game before Giannis did...can't even write this stuff.

[Bronbron23]

That's the thing, no other chip got this many breaks. These playoffs set a record by a huge amount for having all-star/superstar players getting hurt, no other playoff run was even close. Obviously the Suns and Bucks are good teams, but they had massive breaks.

Hell, even the one series where Giannis got hurt, Trae Young literally got hurt the game before Giannis did...can't even write this stuff.

I don't know man. 2015 warriors got breaks with alot of injuries. What's the difference between them in 2015 and bucs this year?

[Axe]

That's like asking how legitimate was the chip last year, if the lakers faced a team with a hampered bam adebayo and goran dragic in the finals. Interesting.

[tontoz]

Seriously the Suns were 1 game away from the best record in the league playing in the tougher conference. They were healthy and the favorites in the Finals. And they went up 2-0.

Not to mention that the Bucks were missing a starter and faced last year's finalist in the first round. Some revisionist history going on here

[Axe]

I don't know man. 2015 warriors got breaks with alot of injuries. What's the difference between them in 2015 and bucs this year?
It's as if all of the last five years have been like this, really.

2017 - kawhi
2018 - cp3, kong, kyrie, hayward
2019 - gsw all-stars (cousins, kd, iggy, klay)
2020 - adebayo, dragic, giannis, westbrook, etc.


But 2021 just takes the cake in terms of how many names have been affected tho. However, like what's said earlier, the team that won it all are also a victim of it because giannis had it in the ecf too. Then role player donte was missing since the earlier rounds as well.

[kawhileonard2]

100 times more legit than mickey mouse

This! At least fans were in the stadiums.

[plowking]

This whole "legitimate championship" narrative is such a new generation mindset.

You get injured, there are hurdles, setbacks, etc. Deal with it.

Best team this year won. Just like every other year.

[Jasper]

Potato, potahto

he was a republican

[SaintzFury13]

Seriously the Suns were 1 game away from the best record in the league playing in the tougher conference. They were healthy and the favorites in the Finals. And they went up 2-0.

Not to mention that the Bucks were missing a starter and faced last year's finalist in the first round. Some revisionist history going on here

You keep pushing the “Bucks faced last years finalist in the first round “ narrative and it holds little to no weight. The Heat didn’t have Derrick Jones Jr or Jae Crowder this season, both of whom were instrumental to Miami getting to the finals in the first place. 2020 Heat had multiple versatile defensive wings who could guard multiple positions on the floor both within their starting unit and on the bench. They were a team bully and designed (not literally but coincidentally) to beat a team like Milwaukee. No matter who Giannis went up against, there was always someone out there who could give him fits. Losing Jones and Crowder took away the defensive versatility that made Miami such a dangerous team. This year they were just another team.

The Suns were in fact a great team, and I think they earned their spot in the finals even with all the luck that fell upon them. But the Bucks had numerous match up advantages over them. They lacked the bigs to keep them off the glass. They didn’t have the size to deal with Giannis. This series was easy pickings for Giannis. We need to stop pretending the Bucks were massive underdogs. In reality the Suns were a great team but with very exploitable weaknesses. The fact of the matter is, if Anthony Davis didn’t get injured, they wouldn’t have made it out of the first round.

[Bankaii]

If Lebron had won it he’d be getting slaughtered right now.
But he didn’t win it so nobody cares. He’s still somehow getting more talked about than Giannis lol.

[tontoz]

You keep pushing the “Bucks faced last years finalist in the first round “ narrative and it holds little to no weight. The Heat didn’t have Derrick Jones Jr or Jae Crowder this season, both of whom were instrumental to Miami getting to the finals in the first place. 2020 Heat had multiple versatile defensive wings who could guard multiple positions on the floor both within their starting unit and on the bench. They were a team bully and designed (not literally but coincidentally) to beat a team like Milwaukee. No matter who Giannis went up against, there was always someone out there who could give him fits. Losing Jones and Crowder took away the defensive versatility that made Miami such a dangerous team. This year they were just another team.

The Suns were in fact a great team, and I think they earned their spot in the finals even with all the luck that fell upon them. But the Bucks had numerous match up advantages over them. They lacked the bigs to keep them off the glass. They didn’t have the size to deal with Giannis. This series was easy pickings for Giannis. We need to stop pretending the Bucks were massive underdogs. In reality the Suns were a great team but with very exploitable weaknesses. The fact of the matter is, if Anthony Davis didn’t get injured, they wouldn’t have made it out of the first round.



If it was so "easy" to beat the Suns why did the Bucks lose the first two games?

The Heat won 12 of their last 16 games prior to the playoffs so they must have been doing something right. Pretty much every team has roster changes year over year.

Lebron and AD played game 1 against the Suns and lost. Why didnt they exploit the Suns weakness from the jump?

The "if AD wasn't hurt" narrative doesn't work because he is routinely hurt. This year he played only 36 games in the regular season. Last year he wasn't hurt at least in part due to having several months off due to the lockdown. So i could say without the lockdown the Lakers don't win last year because AD would have gotten hurt per usual.

[Manny98]

100% as legitimate as every other NBA championship, plus/minus 0%.
This i strongly don't believe in asterisks or shit like one championship being more valuable than the other

[Joey Turnbuckle]

They faced a Suns team that only got to the Finals because every team they faced was devastated by injuries.

It'd be like Mike Tyson winning the Finals against Justin

Far more than the Covid Lakers. Raptors. Cavs. Heat over Mavs 06. Lakers over blazers kings 00 01.

[SaintzFury13]

If it was so "easy" to beat the Suns why did the Bucks lose the first two games?

The Heat won 12 of their last 16 games prior to the playoffs so they must have been doing something right. Pretty much every team has roster changes year over year.

Lebron and AD played game 1 against the Suns and lost. Why didnt they exploit the Suns weakness from the jump?

The "if AD wasn't hurt" narrative doesn't work because he is routinely hurt. This year he played only 36 games in the regular season. Last year he wasn't hurt at least in part due to having several months off due to the lockdown. So i could say without the lockdown the Lakers don't win last year because AD would have gotten hurt per usual.

Because the Suns routinely lit up Lopez in game 1 and Middleton/Holiday both shat the bed in game 2.

Only three of those teams that the Heat beat were in the playoffs. And before those games, they were blown out by Denver and Phoenix. Winning games against mediocre teams don’t really mean much.

Yes, teams go through roster changes every year. How does that disprove my point? Does that mean beating the Cavaliers both years after LeBron left meant something?

The Lakers shot very poorly from the field in game 1. In game 2 and 3 the offense played a lot better and Phoenix had no answer for the Lakers size.

That’s seriously your best argument regarding AD? Bringing up something that literally has nothing to do with this series at hand? AD was still out there playing. Then he suddenly wasn’t. A team losing their second best player, especially one the caliber of Anthony Davis, is going to severely impact a teams ability to beat any team, let alone the Suns. You trying to argue otherwise tells me you lack very basic basketball knowledge.

[bullettooth]

They faced a Suns team that only got to the Finals because every team they faced was devastated by injuries.

It'd be like Mike Tyson winning the Finals against Justin

Kind of like LeBron's Eastern Conference opponents for 8 years straight, right?

[Indian guy]

I think it almost entirely depends on how Milwaukee fares in subsequent years. If they can win more, then people will gladly overlook the major breaks both they and Phx caught in order to get to the Finals. If they don't win though, I don't see 'em going down any differently than the 2019 Raptors. A champion that, let's face it, people neither remember nor respect.

[tontoz]

AD has been injury prone his whole career. If you are injury prone as a young player it probably won't get better as you get older.

AD missed half the season. Why would it be surprising that he was hurt in the playoffs? If anything it is surprising that he made it through last year's playoffs healthy.

The Suns were 1 game away from the best record in the league playing in the tougher conference. They weren't a 6 seed that got through due to higher seeds getting hit with injuries.

They were the favorites in the finals ffs and the Bucks beat them 4 straight. In last year's Finals the heat got nailed with injuries in game 1. Bam/Butler/Dragic all got hurt so spare me the Bucks got lucky nonsense.

[3ba11]

Suns make the Finals regardless of injuries - Lebron was only a 20 ppg scorer in these playoffs and didn't have it

And how are the Suns getting knocked for their Finals path, when Lebron got 8 free Finals trips in the East from 11-18'?.. He had a super-team in a conference that 1-star teams were winning (Dwight), while George/Hibbert was his best comp

[SaintzFury13]

AD has been injury prone his whole career. If you are injury prone as a young player it probably won't get better as you get older.

AD missed half the season. Why would it be surprising that he was hurt in the playoffs? If anything it is surprising that he made it through last year's playoffs healthy.

The Suns were 1 game away from the best record in the league playing in the tougher conference. They weren't a 6 seed that got through due to higher seeds getting hit with injuries.

Dude, literally nothing here you just stated matters. At all. The fact of the matter is, the Lakers looked like the clear cut better team through the first three games, with game 1 only going to the Suns due to a dismal shooting performance. The Suns lacked the size and bigs to deal with the Lakers frontcourt. They had no chance of competing in a seven game series against them. The tide turned against them once Anthony Davis got injured.

It does not matter that Anthony Davis was injury prone. It does not matter that Anthony Davis getting injured wasn't surprising. The Lakers were on pace to win that series, and lost any chance the moment they lost Davis to injury. Nothing you say proves this wrong.


They were the favorites in the finals ffs and the Bucks beat them 4 straight.

First off, the Suns, based on sports betting, only had a 57% win probability. Yes, they were favorites, but that's not exactly projecting confidence. That's very close to basically saying "it could go either way". In fact, most people still expected this series to at the very least be a close one that could go either way. Second, almost no one in the sports world had any idea how healthy Giannis would be, and that was being factored into the predictions. Of course the Suns are going to be favorites based on that aspect alone. As soon as it was announced that Giannis was ready to go, a lot of people changed their perception of how the series would turn out.


In last year's Finals the heat got nailed with injuries in game 1. Bam/Butler/Dragic all got hurt so spare me the Bucks got lucky nonsense.

Once again, you are brining something completely irrelevant into this discussion to justify your logic. What the hell does last years finals have to do with this? How does that prove the Bucks didn't get lucky this year? At this point I am getting a legitimate headache just trying to understand your logic here. It's not making any sense.

[red1]

very legitimate.



kd and kawhi both choked.











massive gagging.

[Axe]

I think it almost entirely depends on how Milwaukee fares in subsequent years. If they can win more, then people will gladly overlook the major breaks both they and Phx caught in order to get to the Finals. If they don't win though, I don't see 'em going down any differently than the 2019 Raptors. A champion that, let's face it, people neither remember nor respect.
Imho 2019 raptors were still memorable for stopping a three-peat from curry, kd and the warriors. This is regardless if the latter had injuries, as they also had beaten injury-plagued teams otw to their rings earlier.

[tontoz]

How can you say that the Suns got lucky when injuries are routinely a factor? Last year was just one of many examples. Injuries affect the playoffs virtually every year

Not to mention that the Suns had the 2nd best record in the league, in the tougher conference. Funny how you don't address this in your tldr essays.

Pretty sad you created an alt just to argue about this topic. Must have struck a nerve. :oldlol:

[SaintzFury13]

Suns make the Finals regardless of injuries - Lebron was only a 20 ppg scorer in these playoffs and didn't have it

And yet despite being "only a 20 PPG scorer", the Lakers had a 2-1 lead over Phoenix and had stolen home court advantage from them. Your argument has no merit.

And even if they still somehow get by the Lakers, there's no way they make it past a fully healthy Clippers team. The Clippers were without Kawhi, Ibaka, and Zubac for a couple games and still managed to give Phoenix their toughest playoff series until the finals. Top it off with the fact that Phoenix only managed to get one regular season win against them and the answer becomes pretty obvious: Phoenix benefited greatly from injuries.

Look, make no mistake about it, the Suns were a great team. I actually really liked their roster and wish they had won due to the amount of respect I have for a lot of the personal that they had on the team. And I don't agree with the narrative that they didn't belong there. Injuries are part of the game, and at the end of the day, a true team does everything they can to take advantage of openings presented to them in order to win, which the Suns did. They still earned their finals appearance at the end of the day. But they weren't going to the finals if the Lakers, Clippers, and perhaps even Nuggets were healthy (I seriously doubt Murray makes THAT much of a difference to the point where the Nuggets come out on top. They still had no idea how to contain the Suns offense and Murray doesn't change that).


And how are the Suns getting knocked for their Finals path, when Lebron got 8 free Finals trips in the East from 11-18'?.. He had a super-team in a conference that 1-star teams were winning (Dwight), while George/Hibbert was his best comp

LeBron did not have a super team by any stretch of the imagination in 2018. And in 2015 he played without Kevin Love for most of the playoff run and didn't have Kyrie Irving at all in the ECF where his team still managed to sweep the 60 Atlanta Hawks who, by the way, had FOUR ALL STARS on their team. This idiotic "Lebron had an easy path to the finals" narrative is extremely laughable. The only reason people still pretend those teams he faced were jokes is because he made them look like they were. In reality he still faced some really good teams, sometimes without any legitimate all star help. With that said, the East did improve significantly once he left, but that doesn't disprove my point.

[Axe]

How can you say that the Suns got lucky when injuries are routinely a factor? Last year was just one of many examples. Injuries affect the playoffs virtually every year

Not to mention that the Suns had the 2nd best record in the league, in the tougher conference. Funny how you don't address this in your tldr essays.

Pretty sad you created an alt just to argue about this topic. Must have struck a nerve. :oldlol:
Whose alt/dup do you think does he belong to? Lmao.

[tontoz]

Whose alt/dup do you think does he belong to? Lmao.


Hard to say so many obsessive LeBron stans on here.

[SaintzFury13]

How can you say that the Suns got lucky when injuries are a factor every year? Last year was just one of many examples.

Buddy, at this point I am starting to question whether or not you posses any critical thinking skills.

Of course injuries are a factor every year. That doesn't change the fact that injuries are what turned the tide of that series. Nothing you can at this point disproves that. The Clippers we will give them a pass on because we didn't get a glimpse of what going up against a fully healthy Clippers team would be like, not to mention that very Clippers team still beat the number 1 seeded Jazz in the previous round anyways. But we saw exactly what was going on with the Lakers. They benefited from a terrible game 1 shooting performance but had no answer for them in games 2 and 3. Anthony Davis got hurt and the series flipped just like that. What part of this are you not getting? What is so complicated and difficult for you to understand about that?


Not to mention that the Suns had the 2nd best record in the league, in the tougher conference. Funny how you don't address this in your tldr essays.

First off, the only reason they were number 2 in their conference is because Jamal Murray got injured which allowed Phoenix to pass them, and the Clippers had injury issues all season and were only able to nab the fourth seed. Second, I didn't address it because it's completely irrelevant to the discussion at hand. What the hell does Phoenix being number 2 in their conference have to do with anything? They were a great team. No one is denying this. The reason they had no realistic chance against the Lakers before injuries comes down entirely to match ups. It's the same reason they lost to Milwaukee despite having the better record and arguably the better team. Phoenix had no answer for the Laker bigs, who were able to play a much more physical style of basketball with bigger players that no one on their team could realistically guard. It was happening with Anthony Davis before he got injured and it happened with Giannis in the finals. Hell, Anthony Davis's best game of the regular season came against the Suns, where he lit them up for 42 points.


Pretty sad you created an alt just to argue about this topic. Must have struck a nerve. :oldlol:

Now you're implying I'm an alt account? In reality I'm a person who lurked here for a day, saw how stupid some of the comments were here, and couldn't resist the urge to debate them. By all means though, feel free to try to prove I'm an alt account. Have any mod on this board check my IP so they can see there's no match just so you can be proven wrong about another thing. That seems to be all you're good at.

[tontoz]

Buddy, at this point I am starting to question whether or not you posses any critical thinking skills.

First off, the only reason they were number 2 in their conference is because Jamal Murray got injured which allowed Phoenix to pass them, .


:roll:


If you are just going to make stuff up you should try arguing with someone else. Phoenix was several games ahead of Denver when Murray went down. In fact Denver moved up the standings after his injury, going 13-5 the rest of the way.

Murray got hurt on 4-12 against GS. After that game they were 34-20. The Suns were 38-15 after beating Houston on April 12.











https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/g195/tontoz/.highres/funny-pictures-shut-up-00l.jpg

[kawhileonard2]

More legit than 2020.

[SaintzFury13]

You keep pushing the “Bucks faced last years finalist in the first round “ narrative and it holds little to no weight. The Heat didn’t have Derrick Jones Jr or Jae Crowder this season, both of whom were instrumental to Miami getting to the finals in the first place. 2020 Heat had multiple versatile defensive wings who could guard multiple positions on the floor both within their starting unit and on the bench. They were a team bully and designed (not literally but coincidentally) to beat a team like Milwaukee. No matter who Giannis went up against, there was always someone out there who could give him fits. Losing Jones and Crowder took away the defensive versatility that made Miami such a dangerous team. This year they were just another team.

The Suns were in fact a great team, and I think they earned their spot in the finals even with all the luck that fell upon them. But the Bucks had numerous match up advantages over them. They lacked the bigs to keep them off the glass. They didn’t have the size to deal with Giannis. This series was easy pickings for Giannis. We need to stop pretending the Bucks were massive underdogs. In reality the Suns were a great team but with very exploitable weaknesses. The fact of the matter is, if Anthony Davis didn’t get injured, they wouldn’t have made it out of the first round.


:roll:


If you are just going to make stuff up you should try arguing with someone else. Phoenix was several games ahead of Denver when Murray went down. In fact Denver moved up the standings after his injury, going 13-5 the rest of the way.

Murray got hurt on 4-12 against GS. After that game they were 34-20. The Suns were 38-15 after beating Houston on April 12.











https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/g195/tontoz/.highres/funny-pictures-shut-up-00l.jpg

Yep, you got me on that one. I honestly thought the nuggets had the second seed until they lost Murray. They were in fact the fourth seed.

Still don’t disprove my point.

[tontoz]

Your problem is that you are focusing on one series in the other conference to conclude the Bucks got lucky which is just dumb.

LeBron and AD missed extended time during the regular season. Most likely they weren't fully recovered by the time the playoffs started, making them susceptible to reinjury. At the very least they weren't in game shape and were forced to play big minutes, again making them susceptible to injury.

If they had recovered sooner and played more regular season games then the Suns probably wouldn't have been playing them in the first round anyway.

If they had been healthy all year then they both got hurt early in a series then that would be bad luck.

The Bucks had to win 4 series to win the title. Their best player missed the last two games of the ECF with an injury and they were missing a starter the whole playoffs. Their main guys have a long record of durability so it isn't lucky they had better health than some of their opponents. It was the most likely outcome.

[tontoz]

. Davis also suffered a calf injury that kept him out for over half of the regular season. Prior to hurting his groin, he was dealing with a knee issue that made him questionable before Game 4 even began.

https://lakeshowlife.com/2021/06/03/los-angeles-lakers-anthony-davis-injury-history-updates/



.Lakers' LeBron James was 85 percent healthy in first-round loss to Suns due to ankle injury, per report

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/lakers-lebron-james-was-85-percent-healthy-in-first-round-loss-to-suns-due-to-ankle-injury-per-report/

[tpols]

How can you say that the Suns got lucky when injuries are routinely a factor? Last year was just one of many examples. Injuries affect the playoffs virtually every year

Not to mention that the Suns had the 2nd best record in the league, in the tougher conference. Funny how you don't address this in your tldr essays.

Pretty sad you created an alt just to argue about this topic. Must have struck a nerve. :oldlol:

There definitely hasn't been a year where the top 3 odds contenders all lost a superstar. Clippers - kawhi, Lakers - AD, Nets - Harden and KD. Then the hawks even lost trae.

Go ahead and name a year that's happened besides this one. 2015 is the closest but it would be like if the Cavs lost Lebron instead of Love.

[tontoz]

There definitely hasn't been a year where the top 3 odds contenders all lost a superstar. Clippers - kawhi, Lakers - AD, Nets - Harden and KD. Then the hawks even lost trae.

Go ahead and name a year that's happened besides this one. 2015 is the closest but it would be like if the Cavs lost Lebron instead of Love.

None of those guys were healthy during the regular season. All of them missed extended time in the rs. Not surprising at all they got hurt in the playoffs.

If they had been healthy in the regular season and all got hurt in the playoffs then you could have a case for playing the luck card

[tpols]

None of those guys were healthy during the regular season. All of them missed extended time in the rs. Not surprising at all they got hurt in the playoffs.

If they had been healthy in the regular season and all got hurt in the playoffs then you could have a case for playing the luck card

No. :oldlol:

They were all healthy and playing going into the playoffs except AD and most were load managing because there was such a short turn around this season.

And even if what youre saying is true, the Vegas odds title favorites were the Nets, Clippers, and Lakers. That was in the middle of the season. So if every contender suffers major losses it doesnt matter if it happens late or early. It means the year was extremely diluted by injury.

Go ahead and name a year this many superstars were hurt in the regular season (like you say) and in the playoffs.

Name a single year my friend.

[SaintzFury13]

Your problem is that you are focusing on one series in the other conference to conclude the Bucks got lucky which is just dumb.

LeBron and AD missed extended time during the regular season. Most likely they weren't fully recovered by the time the playoffs started, making them susceptible to reinjury. At the very least they weren't in game shape and were forced to play big minutes, again making them susceptible to injury.

If they had recovered sooner and played more regular season games then the Suns probably wouldn't have been playing them in the first round anyway.

If they had been healthy all year then they both got hurt early in a series then that would be bad luck.

The Bucks had to win 4 series to win the title. Their best player missed the last two games of the ECF with an injury and they were missing a starter the whole playoffs. Their main guys have a long record of durability so it isn't lucky they had better health than some of their opponents. It was the most likely outcome.

My theory that the Bucks got lucky isn’t just based on one series. It’s based on every single series the Suns played in that playoff run as well what the Bucks had to go through. I’m choosing not to look too much into the Clippers series, because even though I truly believe the Suns would’ve had no chance against a fully healthy Clippers team, they still got to the western conference finals without Kawhi and Ibaka. They were still a very good team even without those two. I’m not going to knock the Suns for beating a team like that. It was still by all accounts a very big deal. Same thing with sweeping the Nuggets, although I’m not so sure that Murray guarantees a Nuggets victory. In fact at this point I’m still convinced that Phoenix wins that series even with him there.

The Lakers series is one where we see a night and day difference in regards to how Phoenix played before and after Davis got hurt. Shit like that absolutely matters, because the case can be made that Anthony’s injury opened the door for the Suns to take that series. Imagine if the Lakers faced the Bucks instead. We’re talking a completely different finals. Suddenly, the bucks are facing a team that has the defenders to make life a lot more difficult for Giannis. The bucks no longer have an easy rebounding advantage and have to work harder for everything.

Davis and even LeBron already being injured doesn’t change anything. The only way that matters is if the Suns knew from the very start that they were going to play the Lakers. They obviously didn’t. Davis probably wasn’t 100%. Fine. If your point here is that Davis was going to eventually go down with injury anyways even if they made it past the Suns, then that just further proves my point that Giannis lucked out. No matter who they faced, the opposing team was going to have some kind of major injury issue.

Keep in mind, I am not trying to knock Giannis’ achievement here. He absolutely earned that championship and there is no asterisk on this one. All I am saying is that he benefited from circumstances that, if ever so slightly different, would’ve potentially changed the outcome of this season, including who he faces in the finals. You’re trying to act like that doesn’t matter, and that simply is not the case.

[tontoz]

No. :oldlol:

They were all healthy and playing going into the playoffs except AD and most were load managing because there was such a short turn around this season.

And even if what youre saying is true, the Vegas odds title favorites were the Nets, Clippers, and Lakers. That was in the middle of the season. So if every contender suffers major losses it doesnt matter if it happens late or early. It means the year was extremely diluted by injury.

Go ahead and name a year this many superstars were hurt in the regular season (like you say) and in the playoffs.

Name a single year my friend.


Wow you really have no clue. LeBron said himself he was only 85% going into the Suns series.

Harden missed the second half of the season only playing 2 games right before the playoffs.

Durant also missed half the season after missing the previous two years.

AD ALSO missed half the season and has been injury prone his whole career. He was actually listed as questionable in game 4 vs the Suns with a knee issue before he injured his groin.

Kawhi was actually the healthiest of the group missing "only " 24 games. Including 11 games in the last 6 weeks.

[tpols]

Wow you really have no clue. LeBron said himself he was only 85% going into the Suns series.

Harden missed the second half of the season only playing 2 games right before the playoffs.

Durant also missed half the season after missing the previous two years.

AD ALSO missed half the season and has been injury prone his whole career. He was actually listed as questionable in game 4 vs the Suns with a knee issue before he injured his groin.

Kawhi was actually the healthiest of the group missing "only " 24 games. Including 11 games in the last 6 weeks.

You didn't read my whole reply. I said even if what you're saying is true... that all these superstars were hurt all year ~

Kawhi
Harden
AD
Kyrie
Durant
Trae....

Name another year this many superstars were hurt. (all year as you say)

Name a year every contender lost a superstar.

Prove to us this year wasnt extremely diluted due to injury.

[tontoz]

You didn't read my whole reply. I said even if what you're saying is true... that all these superstars were hurt all year ~

Kawhi
Harden
AD
Kyrie
Durant
Trae....

Name another year this many superstars were hurt. (all year as you say)

Name a year every contender lost a superstar.

Prove to us this year wasnt extremely diluted due to injury.


So what? Some guys have proven to be injury prone so it would be surprising if AD or Kyrie (I wouldn't call him a superstar, or Trae for that matter) didn't get hurt at some point.

Trae only missed two games, same as Giannis, and the Hawks won one of them.

And if you come into camp out of shape like Harden you are more likely to be injured.

Know who doesn't have a history of injuries? Giannis and he actually did miss the last two games of the ECF with a knee injury and was questionable in game 1 of the finals.

I don't have to prove anything. You are the one making a claim so the burden is on you to back it up. Enjoy your research. :lol

I hear this injury crap year after year after year. Everyone wants an exuse for why the playoffs didn't turn out like they wanted. Cry me a river.

[tpols]

"So what?" That's the point of the thread. Yes there were a million injuries and as you say they occurred all year. So we take that into account. Its never happened this bad before and you can't even name a single year it has. You're a coward ducking the question. Obviously there will be a couple injuries every year. But its about the extent of how many there were this year.

[tontoz]

"So what?" That's the point of the thread. Yes there were a million injuries and as you say they occurred all year. So we take that into account. Its never happened this bad before and you can't even name a single year it has. You're a coward ducking the question. Obviously there will be a couple injuries every year. But its about the extent of how many there were this year.


Do you really expect me to go back and research injuries in past years? Why would I do that, to refute an argument I have been hearing for years?

BTW how do you define superstar? I am curious how you can classify kyrie and Trae as superstars.


The bucks faced a healthy team in the finals, a team that had the 2nd beat record in the league in the tougher conference. They went down 0-2 came back and won. They earned their title.

Just last year Bam, Butler and Dragic all got hurt early in the finals but still pushed it to 6 games. I haven't been running around claiming the Lakers got an asterisk title because I injuries are part of the game. Doesn't matter what the circumstances are a ring is a ring but people like you will always cry when things don't go the way they want.

[Axe]

Do you really expect me to go back and research injuries in past years? Why would I do that, to refute an argument I have been hearing for years?

BTW how do you define superstar? I am curious how you can classify kyrie and Trae as superstars.


The bucks faced a healthy team in the finals, a team that had the 2nd beat record in the league in the tougher conference. They went down 0-2 came back and won. They earned their title.

Just last year Bam, Butler and Dragic all got hurt early in the finals but still pushed it to 6 games. I haven't been running around claiming the Lakers got an asterisk title because I injuries are part of the game. Doesn't matter what the circumstances are a ring is a ring but people like you will always cry when things don't go the way they want.
Poor thurston.

[Lakers Legend#32]

Give the Bucks their due.
This is not like the Dodgers winning the championship of a 60 game season*