Facts About 2022 Lebron James

[StrongLurk]

I've watched plenty of games and here are the facts.

Fact 1: Lebron, at 37 years old with a massive amount of minutes played (haters really need to understand this) has been really good on offense all year. Legit, he has been REALLY GOOD. The Bron haters are choosing to ignore context and that Bron is doing what NO ONE has done at his age/mileage. To suggest that he has been "terrible" this year is a very strange thing to do...like Bron has legit SPOILED everyone with his amazing prime/longevity that so many people have forgotten the SORRY state of affairs that most superstars are in at 37 years old (i.e mostly retired for a long time or a complete shell of themselves). Also, Bron legit gets no free throws compared to the other best scorers in the league by a large amount, so it's again amazing he is scoring this much (Bron's free throw rate is .279, Giannis/Embiid are over .620 which is a huge, absurd difference).

Fact 2: Lebron has for sure been a terrible leader this year ever since AD started his injury train for the season. I agree with the "haters" pointing this out. Basically he knows they won't do shit without AD and he also doesn't seem to like Westbrook...and I'm guessing he knows he can't truly carry a team anymore through the WHOLE reg season at this stage of his career, which I think makes sense lol.

Fact 3: Lebron has been bad on defense for the second half of the season. He was good the first half when he had more energy/stamina and AD playing...but he has clearly been only able to play one side of the ball for the second half of the season. Bron is basically good for a couple good blocks/steals/deflections and decent rotations...but that applies to maybe 25% of the defense played lol...he is not good the rest. But honestly, what do people expect at his age? Bron playing center at age 37 while having 37 year old Carmelo at the 4 is going to lead to bad defense. But does this make Bron any worse than other superstars/stars who can't play defense (Curry, Luka, Trae, and others)? It's legit amazing Bron is even at this level...everyone needs to appreciate that. Of course, you also need to ignore his stans still claiming he's the best in the world when he definitely isn't.

Lebron is literally 4th in PER, 5th in VORP, 5th in BPM, 15th in WS, 4th in minutes played, leads the league in scoring/shots made (while only being ranked 74th in the WHOLE NBA in free throw rate which is absurd, Giannis/Embiid gets more than double the free throw attempts per shot comparatively), and is elite in other categories as well ALL at age 37. You can certainly hate on his leadership/personality and his lack of defense the second half of this year...but he is objectively still a top 5-8 player in the league right now.

[Elosha]

I've watched plenty of games and here are the facts.

Fact 1: Lebron, at 37 years old with a massive amount of minutes played (haters really need to understand this) has been really good on offense all year. Legit, he has been REALLY GOOD. The Bron haters are choosing to ignore context and that Bron is doing what NO ONE has done at his age/mileage. To suggest that he has been "terrible" this year is a very strange thing to do...like Bron has legit SPOILED everyone with his amazing prime/longevity that so many people have forgotten the SORRY state of affairs that most superstars are in at 37 years old (i.e mostly retired for a long time or a complete shell of themselves). Also, Bron legit gets no free throws compared to the other best scorers in the league by a large amount, so it's again amazing he is scoring this much (Bron's free throw rate is .279, Giannis/Embiid are over .620 which is a huge, absurd difference).

Fact 2: Lebron has for sure been a terrible leader this year ever since AD started his injury train for the season. I agree with the "haters" pointing this out. Basically he knows they won't do shit without AD and he also doesn't seem to like Westbrook...and I'm guessing he knows he can't truly carry a team anymore through the WHOLE reg season at this stage of his career, which I think makes sense lol.

Fact 3: Lebron has been bad on defense for the second half of the season. He was good the first half when he had more energy/stamina and AD playing...but he has clearly been only able to play one side of the ball for the second half of the season. Bron is basically good for a couple good blocks/steals/deflections and decent rotations...but that applies to maybe 25% of the defense played lol...he is not good the rest. But honestly, what do people expect at his age? Bron playing center at age 37 while having 37 year old Carmelo at the 4 is going to lead to bad defense. But does this make Bron any worse than other superstars/stars who can't play defense (Curry, Luka, Trae, etc.)? It's legit amazing Bron is even at this level...everyone needs to appreciate that. Of course, you also need to ignore his stans still claiming he's the best in the world when he definitely isn't.

Lebron is literally 4th in PER, 5th in VORP, 5th in BPM, 15th in WS, 4th in minutes played, leads the league in scoring/shots made (while only being ranked 74th in the WHOLE NBA in free throw rate which is absurd, Giannis/Embiid gets more than double the free throw attempts per shot comparatively), and is elite in other categories as well ALL at age 37. You can certainly hate on his leadership/personality and his lack of defense the second half of this year...but he is objectively still a top 5-8 player in the league right now.

That is actually ... a fair, nuanced, and not unreasonable analysis. I might disagree a bit on how much impact/value his stats have (I think teams really don't care how much he scores/assists since it has little impact on most games and I think some teams are content to let him get points while they get the easy W), but still no one scoring 29 on good percentages, with good other stats should be considered outside top 5-10 players, and to do it at age 37 is unprecedented.

I also agree his defense and leadership have been seriously wanting (and have been for a long time). Lakers would not be elite even had they not had all the injuries this season, but LBJ's lack of intensity, lack of D, and quitting/complaining body language has only made things worse.

[Airupthere]

For fact 1, that is because Lebron is not being guarded as much anymore. He's not being taken seriously anymore and he is taking advantage of it finding easy points. It's bad because I think he is overly conscious of stats in general at the expense of the team. If he can somehow show by stats that he is the only relevant one and all his teammates suck, that justifies it for him.

[StrongLurk]

For fact 1, that is because Lebron is not being guarded as much anymore. He's not being taken seriously anymore and he is taking advantage of it finding easy points. It's bad because I think he is overly conscious of stats in general at the expense of the team. If he can somehow show by stats that he is the only relevant one and all his teammates suck, that justifies it for him.

This literally isn't true :roll:

"No defense in the league cares about Lebron and he is not being taken seriously"...do you hear yourself? I think a big problem is people (including Bron haters) are still trying to compare current Lebron to like...peak MJ or peak Bron himself. So of course Bron is far off from that at 37...but you need to compare him to the rest of the league in 2022. Ignore the stans who will only say Bron is goat and the best in the league...try to be actually objective and see what Bron is doing is pretty amazing even though the Lakers have had a bad year. AD is supposed to be the best player on the team by now but he can't stay healthy...so we have OLD ASS BRON being tasked with carrying a below average roster (no AD) for most of the regular season lol...tell me who would do better at 37? Bird (no)? Magic (no)? Shaq (no)? Kobe (no)? Duncan (no)? MJ (definitely possible if was still playing at 37 and didn't retire in 98...but that didn't happen so we don't know)?

If everyone ignores the bullshit drama/terrible modern age basketball discourse and just look at the facts...you'd be praising Bron's basketball ability for still being an elite player at 37.

I understand if someone doesn't like Lebron himself or some of his intangibles...but I don't understand people dedicating so much time to focus on an athlete they don't like. That makes zero sense.

[beasted]

Fact 1: Mostly agree. But he gets no free throws because he keeps chucking jumpers. Look at his 3PT FGAs per season for the last 10 seasons, you'll see a clear trend. Then research his drives per game over the last 3 seasons and you'll also see a clear trend. He doesn't get to the FT line as much because he doesn't attempt to score from the same areas on the floor. This is a given for a 37 year old that wants to conserve energy and avoid injuries at all costs. But in a vacuum, his offense has been impressive for a 37 yr old.

Fact 2: Agree

Fact 3: Agree

Synopsis: Mostly agree with the exception of the ranking. There's no way a guy who plays no defense can be top 8 for me. As an objectivity comparison I do NOT have Trae Young in my top 10 players. I also think leadership counts a lot. Lowry is still ranked in my top 40 players in part because he's an excellent leader. Same reason Kyrie/LaVine types cannot sniff top 15.

[StrongLurk]

Fact 1: Mostly agree. But he gets no free throws because he keeps chucking jumpers. Look at his 3PT FGAs per season for the last 10 seasons, you'll see a clear trend. Then research his drives per game over the last 3 seasons and you'll also see a clear trend. He doesn't get to the FT line as much because he doesn't attempt to score from the same areas on the floor. This is a given for a 37 year old that wants to conserve energy and avoid injuries at all costs. But in a vacuum, his offense has been impressive for a 37 yr old.

Fact 2: Agree

Fact 3: Agree

Synopsis: Mostly agree with the exception of the ranking. There's no way a guy who plays no defense can be top 8 for me. As an objectivity comparison I do NOT have Trae Young in my top 10 players. I also think leadership counts a lot. Lowry is still ranked in my top 40 players in part because he's an excellent leader. Same reason Kyrie/LaVine types cannot sniff top 15.

I mean, who are your top 8 players then? I feel like Curry/Luka are top 8, but they aren't good defenders either...Jokic is pretty average on defense but I think he's the best player in the league right now.