Boilermaker Rick wrote:
I think there is a lot of rewriting history there. Lebron, Wade, and Bosh were openly joking about winning 7 titles together. They were far and away the most talented team in the league in a league where stars win titles. He didn't just choose to leave Cleveland. He chose to team up with his good friends and give themselves a massive competitive advantage. Don't get me wrong. That was their choice. Durant made the same choice to take the easy way to a few titles if not more. I even get it after living their whole lives hearing how Malone, Miller, Barkley and others never got a title. We just don't have to pretend it is the same thing as Scottie Pippen going from lightly regarded project who didn't even start as a rookie and having Horace Grant and then a Dennis Rodman with a questionable future to the point that he was traded for Will Perdue. I mean, that's basically what Kevin Durant gave up on in OKC to go win some easy titles though Westbrook was probably regarded higher when he was drafted than Pippen was.
But, let's say that it is true, and that all Lebron did was "even" the talent level with the 90s Bulls. He still went 2/4 with them. He then chose his next destination, dictated all the moves, got another All Star there along with an up and coming star in Irving. 1/3. Probably 1/4.
A pattern starts to develop. Lebron even while giving himself the best possible chance of winning, and being at worst the second best player of all time, is 3/7 under that circumstance in winning a title.
What they said or boasted about is irrelevant. They were not "far and away" the most talented team. Many have addressed that here and you are of course not obliged to agree with those counterarguments, but you haven't really rebutted them either. The point about him being 3/7 or whatever is fine...I'm not trying to apologize for that record in the finals. I don't think he chose the "easy way out." All he did was put himself in a similar situation that other stars with better fortune found themselves in.
1) Durant didn't go to the finals until his team luckily found Westbrook, Harden, and Ibaka in the draft.
2) Kobe didn't get back to the finals until his GM stole Gasol from the Grizzlies to pair him with other stars on the team.
3) Detroit didn't get to the finals until the GM acquired Rasheed Wallace and paired him with other stars on the team.
4) Pierce didn't get to the finals until his GM acquired KG and Ray Allen.
5) Duncan didn't get back to the finals until Ginobli and Parker developed into stars.
6) Jordan didn't get to the finals until Pippen and Grant developed.
The only difference in LBJ's case is that he acted as his own GM by pairing himself with other stars instead of waiting around for it to happen with him. But he's in the same boat as everyone above: he only got to the next level once he was paired with upgraded talent. There's nothing unique about that formula - all the focus on "The Decision" clouds the utter normalness of how players like him get to the finals.