Brandname

Establishment I guess.

It's frustrating for now, seeing as how people are by and large somewhat ignorant of what Lebron's been doing this year, but I suspect Lebron will have the same kind of treatment late in his career. He'll probably be held in high esteem longer than he should because everyone wants to go with the proven veteran over the up-and-comer.

Although I guess that doesn't explain people taking Chris Paul over Lebron for DPOY. But I think that's just more ignorance than anything.

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hendrix2430

Although he's getting much more respect for his defensive play than he used to (which is definitely warranted), I get a kick out of people who disrespect his D like it was still 2004.

Along with averaging 30/8/7.5, he's getting 2 steals and 1 block each nigh. If you base your judgment solely on statistics, that's pretty darn good right there for a small forward, or any position for that matter.

But if you watch the games, you'll notice that Lebron's been guarding the opposing team's best player down the stretch, and the vast majority of the time he's been highly successful at it.

He seems to take a lot of pride playing tough defense these days, and players/coaches are unquestionably noticing that. Quoting Ben Wallace during his press conference after the trade: "Lebron's becoming a great defender...". That's a compliment, coming from a 4 time DPOY.

I wouldn't call him a lockdown defender by any means, but he's certainly worthy of at the very least a second team All D selection this year.

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Basel57

Kobe can do no wrong in the media? Is this a joke? Don't be fooled by Bucher and ESPN. Most people still don't like Kobe.

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“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never tasted victory or defeat.”

tetrax

He is absolutely not universally discussed as the best or 2nd best player in the NBA. Do you have backup for this? Lebron is generally mentioned as one of the best players in the NBA, and possibly a person who will go on to become the best player in the NBA. That's it. I don't recall a single time in a national broadcast of a Cavs game that an announcer argued that he could possibly be the best player in the NBA. By comparison, every Lakers game I watch includes "Kobe is the best player in the NBA and he has been for 4 years," "How is it possible that Kobe has not yet won an MVP," "undisputably the best player of our generation." There is a tremendous difference between the sort of attention Kobe gets and the sort of attention Lebron gets. This is independent of team success. It's understandable that the Lakers get attention that the Cavs don't, but we're talking about individual player talk here.

Yeah, he shows up on the highlight reel with a dunk every other game, and some mentions of him getting to 10,000 points. That's it. If anything, your expectations are a little out of whack. This guy is having a historically good season. If you don't understand how good Lebron has been this year, you're not going to have a fair view of how respected Lebron should be.

Brandname

Kobe is a very divisive figure, for sure. I think Pioneer10 was talking about how there are quite a few big Kobe fans in the national media (Bucher, BJ Armstrong, etc.) and also because the LA writers like Plaschke and Adande get a lot of air time in the national spotlight, while there is no equivalent for Cleveland (understandable to an extent because of the differences in market size, but frustrating nonetheless).

Kobe does have his share of haters in the national media like Bill Walton et al. But he also has his share of rabid supporters. Lebron seems to attract the same haters in the national media, but he doesn't have that guy posing as an analyst who will fight tooth and nail to support him. The best he's got is the Sportscenter anchors who see a couple of highlights and jock him up based on those, but nobody takes them seriously. At least some people take ESPN's 'analysts' seriously on occasion.

I see Kobe get torn to shreds by analysts a lot, but I also see others who will defend him and prop him up no matter what. I can't think of a single guy who'll defend Lebron like that, but he still attracts idiots like Rosen and Bayless.

I'd say Kobe's reputation in the media is more black and white. Either you love him or hate him. I don't see the same effect with Lebron (although there are plenty of guys who really hate him I guess).

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Pioneer10

Who is the equivalent of Bucher for Lebron: ?????
Who is the equivalent of Bayless for Kobe: ????
Who is the equivalent of Marc Jackson saying saying Kobe is better then Jordan: ????

Kobe has detractors but he's also got huge amounts of institutional support.

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futuristxen

Maybe if Bron had gone to UNC for a year he could have gotten all the stupid UNC crazies on ESPN to vouch for him.

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“Rainbowarriors are on a crusade for the kind of drug-free America where the elected officials are tranny shaman and the religious leaders are winged evangelists who speak in tongues of Happy Core. Rainbowarriors horse gallop through miles of balmy grass roads all the way to the swingset swamps. They witch water and have witches for fathers; they hear disharmonies of sadness sung by drunken glowworms. They sleep in swollen barns; they sleep through silver nights. Rainbowarriors live by the hero myth; Rainbowarriors ain’t nothin’ to **** with.” -Cocorosie

My comic book review site: http://mercurialblonde.blogspot.com

Basel57

And this is why I said not to let Bucher and ESPN fool you. All the guys you mentioned work for ESPN/ABC. Their opinions should not really matter. You should know that by now.

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“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never tasted victory or defeat.”

Pioneer10

Most NBA games and most sports prognosticators are on ABC/ESPN. It is many ways has a monopoly on NBA. Other networks/sites feature a lot more regarding football etc. because they have contracts

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KillWill

win it all. and probably more than once.

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"Some people, they play the piano. And some people, they move the piano."

-O. Schmidt

futuristxen

like pioneer said...it's hard to escape ESPN for basketball since all of the games are on there that aren't on TNT. And the TNT guys don't like Lebron because they don't like anyone.

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“Rainbowarriors are on a crusade for the kind of drug-free America where the elected officials are tranny shaman and the religious leaders are winged evangelists who speak in tongues of Happy Core. Rainbowarriors horse gallop through miles of balmy grass roads all the way to the swingset swamps. They witch water and have witches for fathers; they hear disharmonies of sadness sung by drunken glowworms. They sleep in swollen barns; they sleep through silver nights. Rainbowarriors live by the hero myth; Rainbowarriors ain’t nothin’ to **** with.” -Cocorosie

My comic book review site: http://mercurialblonde.blogspot.com

Larry Hughes for Retirement

Well I am not sure about you guys but Lebron and the Cavaliers get plenty of attention/"respect" on 1st and 10 and PTI and Around the Horn. I think they get it just as much as Kobe and the Lakers, and way more than Paul and the Hornets.

I think it just could be that Kobe is leading a team in the best division at a peak level. And no one thought he would, they weren't very good last year. He turned that team around and then he got Gasol, which really helped the team.

Lebron and the Cavaliers were NBA finaliest last year and we are currently in the 5th position. Lebron is having a great year with a bunch of injuries, but our conference is terrible.

I personally think Lebron has gotten plenty of attention. Its just this year their are three great players, and the other two players are leading their teams to a better record in a better division. If I were a Paul fan I would be upset at the lack of attention he has gotten.

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