The Official Lakers Thread

#1,803
#1,803
BadJerry20 said:
What he is or isn't does matter in this conversation. KD believes he is the best player in the world, he has said it multiple times. Hell he said last year after his game winner that it felt like a passing of the torch.

The Warriors would beat The Lakers with Kawhi, he's winning 5+ with them baring major injuries.
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Warriors are champions without KD.
KD is a decent player without the Warriors. Major league difference.
 
#1,810
#1,810
The recent game against OKC proved it. When Durant is the best player on the Warriors team, and Westbrook is the best player on the other team, Durant will lead his team to a blowout loss. Durant is a decent player that needed to join an excellent team in order to be a "champion". Plain and simple. He will never be the focal point of a championship team. He's not built for it. Not at all.

#SecondFiddle
 
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#1,811
#1,811
So, the Lakers just beat the Warriors on the road by 26 points (127-101). LeBron James only played 21 minutes (had to leave the game in the 3rd period with a groin pull). Meanwhile, Golden State was reasonably healthy and got at least 25 minutes a piece from their starters (Curry, Thompson, Durant, Green and Looney) and 27 minutes from Iguodala and 15 minutes from Livingston off the bench. The Lakers killed them on the boards (49-37) and out shot them from the floor (55.3% to 40.9%). The 3's aren't falling for the Warriors this year and they look vulnerable. They were just 9-36 (25%) tonight from 3 point range. Curry was just 2-8, while Thompson was 1-3.
 
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#1,812
#1,812
That's only one game. But Golden State isn't what they were. And LeBron with this Laker team isn't physically overmatched like the Cavaliers were with LeBron. Exciting victory for us in many ways. Certainly didn't appear very toxic yesterday. May help out in "recruiting" as well. Great day all around. #WWLG
 
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#1,813
#1,813
AD and Cousins reunited and with the 🐐. The Western Conference in the 2019/20 season will come down to us and the Clippers. I hope we find a way to add Iggy but like our team regardless.
 
#1,814
#1,814
The Sheriff said:
AD and Cousins reunited and with the 🐐. The Western Conference in the 2019/20 season will come down to us and the Clippers. I hope we find a way to add Iggy but like our team regardless.
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Cousins sucks. The Pels were just as good/better without Cousins in 2017-18, and then he had an achilles. Almost nobody comes back to form with that injury, especially overweight big men. Lakers may be the 2nd best team just by virtue of having Lebron and AD, but Jazz, Rockets, Blazers, and Nuggets will give you hell.
 
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#1,815
#1,815
I love that the NBA finally has some parity to it again. It's not just a Golden State vs. whoever conversation anymore. Finally the NBA is going to be fun to watch again.

As far as the Lakers go, I feel like they made the best out of the situation. They had to wait on Kawhi. If they didn't, then people would say they didn't give themselves a chance. But since they did, they had to make a piecemeal roster, and I felt like they did a good job with that. If they can add Iggy, then that would be absolutely amazing. But I'm very happy with the team Pelinka put together, and I have a little more confidence in him now.

Just ready for football and basketball season to get here.
 
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#1,816
#1,816
The Sheriff said:
AD and Cousins reunited and with the 🐐. The Western Conference in the 2019/20 season will come down to us and the Clippers. I hope we find a way to add Iggy but like our team regardless.
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Jordan retired over two decades ago...
 
#1,818
#1,818
The Sheriff said:
MJ is the second best player ever. LeBron went to more NBA Finals IN A ROW than Jordan went to in his entire career.
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It's so hard to pick a GOAT, and I think anybody who tries to say there is no conversation is being close-minded. The 4 guys I tend to put above all else are Magic, Kareem, Lebron, and MJ. One thing I will say is Kareem was dominant in an era of big men. Lebron has been dominant in an era of wings/perimeter players. MJ was dominant in an era where guards/wings were pretty weak, particularly on defense. Magic was made for the run and gun 80's. I think Lebron is just as good if you put him in the 80s or 90s. I think Kareem is just as dominant in the 90s and 2000s. I don't think Magic and MJ are quite as dominant in the current era, but their finals records may trump that consideration.

It's hard to pick one.
 
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#1,819
#1,819
n_huffhines said:
It's so hard to pick a GOAT, and I think anybody who tries to say there is no conversation is being close-minded. The 4 guys I tend to put above all else are Magic, Kareem, Lebron, and MJ. One thing I will say is Kareem was dominant in an era of big men. Lebron has been dominant in an era of wings/perimeter players. MJ was dominant in an era where guards/wings were pretty weak, particularly on defense. Magic was made for the run and gun 80's. I think Lebron is just as good if you put him in the 80s or 90s. I think Kareem is just as dominant in the 90s and 2000s. I don't think Magic and MJ are quite as dominant in the current era, but their finals records may trump that consideration.

It's hard to pick one.
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What's your take on Russell in this conversation?
 
#1,820
#1,820
Chris4Vols22 said:
What's your take on Russell in this conversation?
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It's really tough with Russell. On the one hand, he was beating Wilt, the most dominant player ever, but on the other hand his team was stacked and he was playing in an era where a lot of players were mechanics in the offseason. For the sake of this conversation, I pretend like the NBA started with the ABA merger.
 
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#1,821
#1,821
n_huffhines said:
It's really tough with Russell. On the one hand, he was beating Wilt, the most dominant player ever, but on the other hand his team was stacked and he was playing in an era where a lot of players were mechanics in the offseason. For the sake of this conversation, I pretend like the NBA started with the ABA merger.
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Fair enough. I agree with your first post I quoted. I think the short list of best players ever are not comparable enough to definitively rank them, except for perhaps Magic vs James.
 
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#1,822
#1,822
I always base my rankings on who would dominate every era and who I would pick to build my team around. It's MJ, LBJ, and Kareem then everyone else. I would also put Shaq, Wilt, Olajuwon, Timmy, and probably Admiral over Russell as far as bigs. And super unpopular opinion I'd take Bird over Magic as I think Bird would thrive in any era, and Magic would not today.
 
#1,823
#1,823
I also take everyone's rankings with a grain of salt cause feelings. Person A loves MJ and hates LBJ, person B loves LBJ but hates MJ. I hate every top player so like always I'm just a superior life form to the rest of you.
 
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