Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James was named the top player in the NBA by Sports Illustrated. What does it mean for the six-time winner?
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is ranked in SI’s top 100 as the NBA’s number one player!
Let that sink in Lake Show Lifers. LeBron James is the No. 1 player in the NBA…like again. Sports Illustrated laid out their annual top 100 players list and for the sixth straight year, The King, LeBron James surprised no one by being at the top of the list.
To be totally honest, the biggest surprise was that two-thirds of the Banana Boat crew didn’t make it. Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade were not on the list. In other related news, Los Angeles Lakers guard, Lonzo Ball slides in at 100.
He didn’t play an entire season, struggles on defense, shot poorly and has trouble finishing at the rim. On top of that Josh Hart and Brandon Ingram were better last year running the offense.
Did LaVar Ball have a vote?
Okay, okay, deep breath here… back to the subject at hand. The point here is what do these rankings really mean?
If we are going by stats here, it is hard to take the crown from King James. He averaged 27.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game for a Cleveland squad that had no business making it to the NBA Finals.
During the playoff run, LeBron willed the Cavs past the Indiana Pacers, smoked the Toronto Raptors so badly that he actually got a Canadian city named after him (LeBronto) and shook the franchise into panic by firing their head coach and gambling their future trading their best player (DeMar DeRozan) for a player rumored to be on the move in say about a year (Kawhi Leonard?).
Oh, by the way, James actually hit two game-winning shots in those two series with time running out squelching the myth that he can’t step up and hit the last shot.
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Then in the Eastern Conference Finals, LeBron James ran through the tape by outlasting the Boston Celtics in the last six minutes of Game 7 to reach the Finals. Check the stat line here…35 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists…IN BOSTON!
I wonder if he gets bored sometimes of the accomplishments? James played in the NBA Finals last year for the unheard of eight straight times. The last time that happened the great Bill Russell was donning Celtics green.
For all of the great things that LeBron James did going through the playoffs averaging 34.0 points 9.1 rebounds and nine assists, tallying eight 40 point games, four triple-doubles and hanging 51 on the Warriors in the Finals…something happened.
His team got swept out of the Finals by the Golden State Warriors. One year after avoiding another Finals sweep thanks to Kyrie Irving going nuts in their lone win.
The Golden State team happens to have the services of two players that his teams can’t seem to overcome, happen to be SI’s number two and three ranked players, Kevin Durant (two) and Stephen Curry (three).
Now that LeBron James is in Los Angeles, it seems every NBA rumor in the offseason is attached to him with every high-level free agent available in 2019.
Before James showed up, the Lakers were lucky to get a free agent’s butler on the phone. His signing was so huge that the other signings that include Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee, Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson were widely criticized.
But LeBron James did not win the championship… the two guys ranked behind him did.
Do we include the off-court endeavors of LeBron James? If that is the case, let’s just Fed-Ex the award for the next three years barring injury.
The LeBron James brand is at an all-time high. The multi-time All-Star has figured out the financial and marketing power of the millennial generation. What Michael Jordan has accomplished with “Be Like Mike” and his “Air Jordan” commercials, James has taken that to another level dealing with political scenarios and manipulating them into positive outcomes (Remember that Shut and Dribble comment? Now it’s a documentary under his entertainment umbrella.) for not only himself but others by using his platform to bring awareness.
Let’s look at the magnitude of the school that was opened in Akron. This school will affect children and their families in a positive manner long after James hangs up his sneakers. Education, which is a major issue for underprivileged children, has, for at least one area, helped. Not only that, maybe it’s a blueprint for schools around the country.
But LeBron James did not win the championship… The two guys ranked behind him did.
Make no mistake, the entire NBA business plan has him at the top of the first page. There will be tons of number 23 jerseys that don’t have Cedric Ceballos‘ name on the back sold all over the country. Then when they are gone and have to be reordered, the purple ones will sell out just as quick.
Some may not call him a celebrity athlete yet, but at this point, he really fits the description of one. I don’t know too many athletes lately that spent time on Ellen Degeneres couch next to Channing Tatum promoting his animated film.
Posted by Lake Show Life on Thursday, September 13, 2018
LeBron James is a “Business” man!
But LeBron James did not win the championship… the two guys ranked behind him did.
So what does being the number one player mean? I’m asking you, the reader. Seriously. When Jordan had the throne, six NBA titles, six NBA Finals MVPs, more importantly…no losses.
Great players win championships! In the Jordan era, there was no doubt. There was no debate.
But let’s leave him out of this scenario. That’s Michael Jordan. He would have smoked this era too. His game transcends the test of time.
It seems logical to Lakers Icon, Kobe Bryant…I love his “Mamba Mentality” when it comes to these types of debates determining who is better than who…courtesy of a phone conversation to the Washington Post obtained by the Chicago Tribune.
"“I don’t do that. I don’t do the ranking. If this is a match of being…in a playoff series against somebody, we’re playing against LeBron or matched up with MJ, my concern is not MJ. My concern is how he affects the group and how to break that team apart. To do what? To win the championship. It’s not about being better than MJ or putting up better numbers than LeBron. It’s not about that. I don’t concern myself with the ranking and all that stuff. It doesn’t make any sense to me. We’re here for one thing only, and that’s to win.”"
So in closing, Black Mamba…what’s this debate watered down to?
"“The goal was simple,” Bryant said. “How I measured that was, ‘I have to win more.’ I mean, for me, that’s what it was. Magic [Johnson] won a bunch, [Larry] Bird won a bunch, Micheal won a bunch. My focus as a kid growing up: ‘Okay I have to lead my organization to winning multiple championships like Magic did, like MJ did.’ That was the thing for me.”"
And me too Kobe, LeBron James did not win the title…the two players ranked behind him did.
Again this article is for the readers…Is it right or wrong? I’m old school so I have my thoughts, but I want yours. Leave your comments below or on twitter @sportworldorder.
The debate begins now!