Brace yourselves people

[marcus_sr]

I am very excited to see what LeBron brings this season, having seen him play since middle school I think we definitely will get the best he has ever played. I will not however make blasphemous statements and compare or even think to say he is better than MJ, he has to catch Kobe first.

[MemphisX]

It still amazes me how people make judgments about the personality of people they have never met.

[e-monk]

Originally Posted by MemphisX

It still amazes me how people make judgments about the personality of people they have never met.

I know - it's really strange, especially when all we have to go on is the things they say and the way they act and what people who know them and are around them say about them unlike where if we 'knew' them we'd be able to judge them by the things they say and the way they act and-

oh wait, that's right this is a public person leading a very lucrative public life and the only real assumption we're going on is that what we are being exposed to is supposed to be their best behavior since there's so much money riding on how they act and how they're percieved - it is amazing, isnt it?

(because, see, if this was a smart, mature individual he'd have complete control of his image and we'd have nothing to talk about - it's kind of self evident)

[PauloCatarino]

Originally Posted by MemphisX

It still amazes me how people make judgments about the personality of people they have never met.

Yeah. God forbid passing judgement on someone like Michael Vick's torturing of animals... I've never met him!!!!!

[R-Star]

Originally Posted by MemphisX

It still amazes me how people make judgments about the personality of people they have never met.

Meh. You see how DWade acts and you know he's a bitch in real life. And its not just on the court, its running to the twitter and the media all the time to try to take shots at people so he looks cool, then crying to the media saying they twisted his words whenever there's a backlash. The guy is pathetic.

With Lebron he just got a bit of a big head for a few years and acted like a douche. River dancing during blowouts, constantly crying when there wasn't a foul if someone breathed on him, saying stupid shit to the media all the time.... He's moved past that and has grown up quite a bit.

[Dre]

FWIW when I said the extra bs I meant how ultimately everything turns into a "but he's not better than Magic/Jordan" discussion every time he does something.

As far as the whole "but I think he's a jerk" crap...take that to EBB in the first place.

[R-Star]

Originally Posted by Dre

FWIW when I said the extra bs I meant how ultimately everything turns into a "but he's not better than Magic/Jordan" discussion every time he does something.

As far as the whole "but I think he's a jerk" crap...take that to EBB in the first place.

I don't know if I agree. If the "jerk" stuff is acting like an unsportsmanlike asshole, or calling out players IE joke coughing for Dirk or calling guys out on twitter like Wade tries, yelling at your coach like a little girl on the sidelines, crying to refs anytime anything happens, etc, then its pertinent. At least to me.


Outside of some shitty 4th quarters prior to this year, Lebrons always been amazing. I just hated him because of his douche bag antics. He dropped it this past season and in my eyes I respect him a lot more as a player.

[e-monk]

Originally Posted by Dre

FWIW when I said the extra bs I meant how ultimately everything turns into a "but he's not better than Magic/Jordan" discussion every time he does something.

As far as the whole "but I think he's a jerk" crap...take that to EBB in the first place.

I know you're a moderator and all but what's the point of starting a thread on a public board about a provocative individual and then deciding what is and what isnt worthy of being discussed? I dont think you understand what forums like this are for

& btw the huge amount of naivete' implicit in your statement (what the hell else is so divisive about Lebron)is staggering - if you wanted to have a thread about whether Lebron is clutch I propose you could have done a better job with the wording in your original post - as it stands you've managed to get a solid thread started that has people working many different fruitful themes - be happy, stop burning books and trying to censor people, it's unbecoming

[R-Star]

Originally Posted by e-monk

I know you're a moderator and all but what's the point of starting a thread on a public board about a provocative individual and then deciding what is and what isnt worthy of being discussed? I dont think you understand what forums like this are for

& btw the huge amount of naivete' implicit in your statement (what the hell else is so divisive about Lebron)is staggering - if you wanted to have a thread about whether Lebron is clutch I propose you could have done a better job with the wording in your original post - as it stands you've managed to get a solid thread started that has people working many different fruitful themes - be happy, stop burning books and trying to censor people, it's unbecoming

Its not how you're taking it. There's Dre and a handful of other posters on here who think that whatever a player does off the court, or how he comes across in interviews and in public should have no bearing with how we judge them as players.

I obviously don't agree, but its two sides to a debate.

I never viewed Lebron less as a player when he was being a douche. I just didn't like him. Now that he's smartened up my view has become a lot more soft on him.

[e-monk]

all Im saying (and this was my starting point) is that both things can be true, he can be a great player and a total tool - the examples are numerous

if dre wants to have a debate about whether we should judge players as people or vice versa that's cool - not cool however and counterintuitive to the point of flummoxing is a moderator trying to shut down avenues of conversation in public threads - hey let's all agree and high five each other here now and forever!

[Dre]

Originally Posted by e-monk

I know you're a moderator and all but what's the point of starting a thread on a public board about a provocative individual and then deciding what is and what isnt worthy of being discussed? I dont think you understand what forums like this are for

& btw the huge amount of naivete' implicit in your statement (what the hell else is so divisive about Lebron)is staggering - if you wanted to have a thread about whether Lebron is clutch I propose you could have done a better job with the wording in your original post - as it stands you've managed to get a solid thread started that has people working many different fruitful themes - be happy, stop burning books and trying to censor people, it's unbecoming

My thing is I've been frustrated with this board for a long time because I feel like we should be able to find creative and intelligent analysis to contextualize a player's success and leave it at that sometimes. It's not as simple as me wanting everyone to circle jerk, but in analyzing a great player or team or game there's always things that can be shared from one POV that maybe another person didn't really think about and we can build constructively.

Not just to meander every single thread into PER fests and dueling dissertations comparing players where no one budges. This place is kind of just one big "yeah but.."..and things as finicky as a guy's attitude or whatever are the easiest way to divert a thread.

You think if say Phil Jackson and Larry Brown were to end up side by side during a Heat game they'd end up just debating LeBron vs. Jordan?

Ultimately that's what I think a constructive conversation should be about between basketball fans, but I guess people disagree because it's never happened once. I'm not shutting anything down either, just telling the truth. Sometimes it's not about "yeah but..".

Stop being so condescending too, don't tell me what I don't and do understand

[e-monk]

also I cant accept you (r-star) as the 'reasonable one', there's something off about that

[R-Star]

R-Star is a national treasure.

[e-monk]

Originally Posted by Dre

M
Stop being so condescending too, don't tell me what I don't and do understand

here's an offer, stop telling people what and where they can and cant post mr moderator - if I break a rule go ahead give me an infraction but otherwise stop being such a little hitler - and maybe just maybe I'll play nice

[Dre]

I didn't say what and where anyone could post anything. Do you see me editing or deleting posts...all I said was if you were a real basketball fan all that extracurricular shit should take a back seat to historic play..without the "yeah but he's a douche"

And you ignoring the rest of what I said pretty much proves you just want this to be a pissing match where you play the rebel up against the "system" or something...so this is my last post to you, carry on as you'd like.