NBA Jan 2017 I You Either Die a Sager Or Live Long Enough to become a Karl

By The Frankman Go To PostI don't get it. Some outlets are trying to say this is a calculated motivational comment by LeBron… HOW? In what manner? The team won 2 in a row before last night's loss, not like it was panic mode again. Again, he already took the high road and the story would've died down with another couple of wins.

Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews combined outscoring TT, Kyrie, Iman, Korver and RJ combined does that to you.

By Dark PhaZe Go To Postwhy LeBron is all of a sudden worried about regular season wins in January is beyond me–he's too experienced now to be doing this

Because he knows what we all know deep down - he's gonna get crushed by the Warriors, if his team even gets that far, and then idiots will start talking about legacy and whether he's a winner again.

By livefromkyoto Go To PostBecause he knows what we all know deep down - he's gonna get crushed by the Warriors, if his team even gets that far, and then idiots will start talking about legacy and whether he's a winner again.

We would have won last year if not for lebron complaining to the nba to get dray suspended, lol

loss was worth it if it landed us KD though. 100% imo

By Method Go To PostWe would have won last year if not for lebron complaining to the nba to get dray suspended, lol

loss was worth it if it landed us KD though. 100% imo

Draymond should have gotten suspended earlier in the playoffs and probably at least one more time if the refs consistently called him on his wild flailing natural body movements, tbh.

By Slizz Go To PostHarrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews combined outscoring TT, Kyrie, Iman, Korver and RJ combined does that to you.

My first reaction was that you were lying, then I looked...

Barnes/Matthews - 45 points.
TT, Kyrie, Iman, Korver and RJ - 0 + 18 + 8 + 4 + 11 = 41 points.

By Kibner Go To PostDraymond should have gotten suspended earlier in the playoffs and probably at least one more time if the refs consistently called him on his wild flailing natural body movements, tbh.

Yep, he already passed the repeatable threshold. I find it funny he got suspended on the least egregious one where LeBron instigated the incident, then politicked to get Dray suspended.

meh, the second he won one for cleveland his legacy was pretty much locked up

By Kibner Go To PostDraymond should have gotten suspended earlier in the playoffs and probably at least one more time if the refs consistently called him on his wild flailing natural body movements, tbh.

I wanted him to be. dude was being a huge dick all playoffs

By Dark PhaZe Go To Postmeh, the second he won one for cleveland his legacy was pretty much locked up

I don't even disagree, but he's a proud man and he sees that L coming.

First Take is going IN on LeBron, goddamn. Basically called him out for a Ad Hominem attack, called it a spineless move. When you think about it... it's the perfect Donald Trump response. Don't address the message, shit on the messenger.

By The Frankman Go To PostFirst Take is going IN on LeBron, goddamn. Basically called him out for a Ad Hominem attack, called it a spineless move. When you think about it… it's the perfect Donald Trump response. Don't address the message, shit on the messenger.

It's a low blow too. Barkley was talking basketball and Bron's feels had to make it personal by attacking his gambling problem etc. etc.

Bron is one of the best I've ever seen play the game but he's such a passive aggressive man baby.

"Golden State isn't a rival"

proceeds to shit on his team (that he built) and ownership (bent over backwards to build the team you wanted) via the media.

This motherfucker has me taking Dan fucking Gilbert's side. Feels dirty.

its amazing how wildly different the reaction is to lebron comments on here vs other bball forums i frequent.

By domino Go To Postits amazing how wildly different the reaction is to lebron comments on here vs other bball forums i frequent.

lol yeah.

I'm fully embracing Snapback Bron.

Yay, just placed an order with my ticket rep for All Star tickets! I'll be going to both Saturday and Sunday's events. :D

By p s y Go To Postlol yeah.

I'm fully embracing Snapback Bron.

And that's fine, people can like cantankerous LeBron all they want. It doesn't make him right or any less whiny because he didn't address the initial comment.

Think the scroll on the Lebatard show on ESPN2 just said Cavs will be working out Chalmers, Hinrich and Lance Stevenson, I'm not sure on Lance I just caught Stevenson.


Why not Nate????

^ Nate Rob was done last season. He's really bad right now.
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This is a good article worth reading:

By Slizz Go To PostThink the scroll on the Lebatard show on ESPN2 just said Cavs will be working out Chalmers, Hinrich and Lance Stevenson, I'm not sure on Lance I just caught Stevenson.


Why not Nate????

all those guys suck

nate sucks and is 5'5''.

What do you guys think are Yogi Farrell's HOF chances?

i aint even mad at lebron, chuck had that shit coming to him, so does anyone else he wants to lash out at. dude's been getting shit for far too long. people still bitch about lebron going to miami 6 years ago, but KD, formerly the "second best player in the nba" goes to a 73 win team and doesn't get nearly enough shit for it.

whats funny is people shitting on LeGM. just shows how short of memory people have, because they won last year and literally everyone, even haters, for a week held that L and gave the man his props. KD goes to the warriors and somehow its back to "lol LeGM" again like its his fault kd is bitchmade. like no shit lebron is gonna say they need more help. the 73 win team he beat last season in the finals upgraded from harrison barnes to kevin durant, can you really blame the dude

Chuck gets paid to comment on the nba. and that's their schtick over on TNT, they clown on everybody.
thats what they do. they've been doing it for years.
Dont blame chuck for Lebron having softer than Charmin Soft skin.

By RobNBanks Go To Posti aint even mad at lebron, chuck had that shit coming to him, so does anyone else he wants to lash out at. dude's been getting shit for far too long. people still bitch about lebron going to miami 6 years ago, but KD, formerly the "second best player in the nba" goes to a 73 win team and doesn't get nearly enough shit for it.

whats funny is people shitting on LeGM. just shows how short of memory people have, because they won last year and literally everyone, even haters, for a week held that L and gave the man his props. KD goes to the warriors and somehow its back to "lol LeGM" again like its his fault kd is bitchmade. like no shit lebron is gonna say they need more help. the 73 win team he beat last season in the finals upgraded from harrison barnes to kevin durant, can you really blame the dude

In what universe has KD not been getting shit on. The dude broke the NBA. A fucking asterisk should go in the record books.

It's not that Lebron wants more help because he realizes the L is coming. It's that he did it publicly while shitting on his team. If his team is "top heavy" it's because he chose the players and had Gilbert fork out more cash they he should have.

I'm looking at the contracts since LeBron came to the team, so many of them influenced by LeBron.

Summer 2014
Shawn Marion, James Jones and Mike Miller sign with the Cavs - Miller and Jones former Heat players and link directly to LeBron
Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett dealt for Kevin Love (after talking up mentoring Wiggins)
January 2015
Got Shumpert/JR Smith/Mozgov to shape out roster - Not linked to LeBron, move made to improve roster
February 2015
Signed Perkins as a big enforcer
Summer 2015
Got Tristan Thompson massively overpaid at the time (5/82) heavy pressure from LeBron
Shumpert got 4/40 (LeBron)
Love got 5/113 (LeBron)
JR got a decent deal at 2/10 (LeBron)
LeBron opted out to sign a deal that's around 2/47.9 with another opt-out

During the year they traded for Mo Williams, got Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye, Jordan McRae and Sasha Kaun (latter 2 didn't pan out). He also was instrumental in getting David Blatt fired for "not being a LeBron guy". The fact Blatt, one of the nicest coaches in the fratenity, actually had words to say about how LeBron "operates" is telling enough. But hey, they chipped thanks to politicking and half the GSW team breaking/playing dumb so hurrah, everything worked out.

2016
Chris Andersen (LeBron)
Mike Dunleavy (acquired for more 3 point gunners)
Fay Felder (Draft Night Trade after LeBron made numerous tweets wanting him, see Napier, Shabazz)
Traded for Kyle Korver (Dunleavy move didn't work)

The result? Cavs are massively into the luxury tax and even if they chip again, the projections are that the team would somehow lose money. If he's so mad about it, maybe LeBron and his people need to stop making GM moves.

EDIT: I just went to check forums outside of this (RealGM, gaf) one to see the reactions. My brain hurts...

I am completely ok if LeBron makes Gilbert's life miserable because his decision to use Comic Sans everywhere and for everything does the same to me.

Why do owners/gm's not try to at least force players to play 20 games or something before a contract becomes fully guaranteed? We're sitting on Mahinimi's injured ass and he's played one fucking game for us, and it's the second time its happened.

There's no reason to go full NFL in terms of lack of commitment in contracts, but the NBA needs to wise the fuck up on this issue. It's hurting fans just as much as its hurting owners having to deal with these injured players.

NBAPA would never go for it.

By reilo Go To PostNBAPA would never go for it.

There's wiggle room. Right now they have the whole pizza. There's no reason to believe the NBA couldn't at least make SOME progress on this issue, even if it's just a slice of pepperoni.

They didn't even give teams another amnesty for this new CBA signing.

By reilo Go To PostNBAPA would never go for it.

Pretty much. If they did, it would have to be a HUGE concession for the owners. Like, going from a 50/50 split to 60/40 kind of huge.
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Here is the source for that Butler-Bulls FO rumor I mentioned last week: https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/5r9ec3/bulls_conspiracy_theory/

Holy shit. Please tell me someone is watching Mike and Mike on ESPN. Ryan Russillo* basically came on the show and said that Jimmy Butler and the Bulls FO are at odds and thats why there are so many Jimmy to Celtics rumors.

Russillo* said basically that before Jimmy was a restricted free agent after his 3rd year he was averaging 13 ppg and the bulls FO offered him a 4 yr/44 mil extension to which Jimmy declined. The Bulls FO then told him that'd they'd start TONY SNELL over him and give SNELL jimmy's minutes and give Jimmy the minutes Snell got off the bench to hurt his numbers and crash his value in the upcoming free agency.

Thibs caught wind of this and basically said "fuck that, I'm starting Jimmy" and Jimmy averaged 20ppg and got cashed out. This is why Jimmy and Thibs are so close, because Thibs had his back and this is also supposedly one of the reasons why Thibs and the FO had issues.

So now Jimmy has this distrust for the Bulls FO and also distrusts Fred Hoiberg* because Jimmy sees Fred as an extension of the FO. And then Wade came over and Jimmy basically told Wade everything that happened and wade sympathized with him because of all the fuck shit he dealt with in MIA which adds to why Jimmy and Wade are so close

Also Russillo* said he trusts this source that told him all that very much

Edit: spelling errors and shit

e: formatted it to be easier to read

By Dark PhaZe Go To PostThere's wiggle room. Right now they have the whole pizza. There's no reason to believe the NBA couldn't at least make SOME progress on this issue, even if it's just a slice of pepperoni.

They didn't even give teams another amnesty for this new CBA signing.

NBA already has provisions where teams can offer contracts that allows them to waive a player before a certain deadline. I don't know what the criteria is for such contracts, but if the Wizards felt like Mahmini might not have panned out, they coulda given him such a contract and then cut him at the waiver deadline.

There is also the stretch provision where you can cut a player and have his salary spread over four years to minimize impact on salary cap for any given year.

It's been talked about a lot in regards to Asik and Ajinca for the Pels.

wonder how the NFL has such an advantage in negotiations over its players by comparison

The NFL has ten times as many players.

By reilo Go To PostThe NFL has ten times as many players.

and 10 times more dangerous.

Explains why NBA players generally have much higher salaries, but not a lot else from a CBA standpoint

By Dark PhaZe Go To Postwonder how the NFL has such an advantage in negotiations over its players by comparison

Because their union is weak as shit. MLB has the strongest player's union. NHL is between NBA and NFL.

By Dark PhaZe Go To PostExplains why NBA players generally have much higher salaries, but not a lot else from a CBA standpoint

Be cause very few aren't replaceable parts. Just bodies on the field. Which gives you minimal bargaining power.

By Dark PhaZe Go To PostExplains why NBA players generally have much higher salaries, but not a lot else from a CBA standpoint

It's harder to keep 10x the amount of people in a collective bargaining agreement in line. Hence the union is weaker. The NFL also has a lower league minimum for it's players also making it more likely players buckle under pressure sooner when checks stop showing up. I'm not sure, but I think NBA players handle their money better than NFL players too, but don't quote me on that. All in all the union is weaker the the players suffer because of it.

An injury on the job should not forfeit your income. If we think that way for us peons it should be the same for the athletes too.

I'm amazed at how many people think that these Mascot shows are real. Doesn't stop me from enjoying them though.

What am I seeing here.

Kibner, you told me your team always has 8 guys injured.

By RobNBanks Go To Posti aint even mad at lebron, chuck had that shit coming to him, so does anyone else he wants to lash out at. dude's been getting shit for far too long. people still bitch about lebron going to miami 6 years ago, but KD, formerly the "second best player in the nba" goes to a 73 win team and doesn't get nearly enough shit for it.

whats funny is people shitting on LeGM. just shows how short of memory people have, because they won last year and literally everyone, even haters, for a week held that L and gave the man his props. KD goes to the warriors and somehow its back to "lol LeGM" again like its his fault kd is bitchmade. like no shit lebron is gonna say they need more help. the 73 win team he beat last season in the finals upgraded from harrison barnes to kevin durant, can you really blame the dude

So LBJ shouldn't be held accountable for what he says and does because KD went to GSW?

I'm not sure the logic is there on this one.

Everything he's been getting called out for lately he's been point blank wrong on. He's just throwing shade everywhere he can and hope some of it sticks and none lands on him. Whether he's dong it to deflect from his teams losses. Deflect from his previous stupid comments. He's preparing for a L in the finals. It's not working because he's been doing it REALLY badly.

The only other thing i could come up with is he's trying to inspire his team by getting them to unite behind a common enemy. He picked Griffin first, to unite the team against corporate men! But failed. Now he's trying the "media hates us, fuck those guys" routine? But ... he's doing it really badly.

I dunno. Feels like LBJ needs to worry less about everyone else and more about his team.

By livefromkyoto Go To Post
What am I seeing here.

Kibner, you told me your team always has 8 guys injured.

The guy who submits their injury reports is out injured with RSI.

By livefromkyoto Go To Post
What am I seeing here.

Kibner, you told me your team always has 8 guys injured.

They left off Pondexter who hasn't played since they were in the playoffs. Davis is still fighting a quad bruise, Tyreke still coming back from like a year hiatus, and Cunningham has a minor leg or knee injury.

They are healthier than they've been in a long time, though.

By Kibner Go To PostThey left off Pondexter who hasn't played since they were in the playoffs. Davis is still fighting a quad bruise, Tyreke still coming back from like a year hiatus, and Cunningham has a minor leg or knee injury.

Okay, but how does that stack up to an acute teamwide case of Defensive Motivation Deficiency?

how did I not know the raptors are like 1-9 over their last ten games

By livefromkyoto Go To PostOkay, but how does that stack up to an acute teamwide case of Defensive Motivation Deficiency?

Well, the Pels offense is mostly terrible outside of Davis and Jrue. They rely on getting in transition and ball movement to get easy points. Once the ball stops moving, they likely won't score. They've gotten off to slow starts lately before going on a tear in the third.

The defense, however, has been excellent. Holiday is a top perimeter defender this year, Davis has improved a lot, Moore is fantastic, and everyone else is good enough to not be a sieve while heavily switching.

Except Buddy. He's been terrible on defense. Galloway has also disappointed a bit on that end of the floor.

Big picture, Pels play good defense but if you can force them into iso offense (which they are prone to do on their own), they aren't especially difficult to beat. However, if you let them get some easy and free flowing offense, you might get blown out.

By Kibner Go To PostWell, the Pels offense is mostly terrible outside of Davis and Jrue. They rely on getting in transition and ball movement to get easy points. Once the ball stops moving, they likely won't score. They've gotten off to slow starts lately before going on a tear in the third.

The defense, however, has been excellent. Holiday is a top perimeter defender this year, Davis has improved a lot, Moore is fantastic, and everyone else is good enough to not be a sieve while heavily switching.

Except Buddy. He's been terrible on defense. Galloway has also disappointed a bit on that end of the floor.

Big picture, Pels play good defense but if you can force them into iso offense (which they are prone to do on their own), they aren't especially difficult to beat. However, if you let them get some easy and free flowing offense, you might get blown out.

The Raptors rely on magic Kyle Lowry powers, which can be defeated by socking him in the mouth and the refs not calling it. He'll spend the rest of the game pouting & getting teched up.

Also, the Raptors can't force anybody into an anything offence. Their whole defence is predicated on rubber Bebe arms, getting turnovers & outshooting the other guys.

By Dark PhaZe Go To Posthow did I not know the raptors are like 1-9 over their last ten games

Come on now, 4-6. They're only playing Rockets bad, not Lakers bad.

By Dark PhaZe Go To PostWhy do owners/gm's not try to at least force players to play 20 games or something before a contract becomes fully guaranteed? We're sitting on Mahinimi's injured ass and he's played one fucking game for us, and it's the second time its happened.

There's no reason to go full NFL in terms of lack of commitment in contracts, but the NBA needs to wise the fuck up on this issue. It's hurting fans just as much as its hurting owners having to deal with these injured players.

give em an inch and they'll take a mile. the NBAPA better never back down on guaranteed contracts.