Blue is Me

Tag: basketball

  • Why do some people rank Kobe Bryant as one of the top players despite arguments against it, and what makes this debate so passionate among fans?

    It’s literally feelings over facts.

    They ignore the stats and awards (because that would place Kobe in the fringe top 10) and their arguments are based only on feelings

    -closest to Jordan and Jordan is the GOAT so Kobe must be #2 since he’s the closest (faulty logic)

    -legendary work ethic and ‘mamba mentality’

    -killer instinct, *perceived clutch ability* (statistically not actually clutch though)

    -played through injuries, never took a night off (fans respect that)

    -scored a lot of points in a flashy way (fans love that)

    -stayed on one team (perceived loyalty despite him demanding a trade in the middle)

    -won without a ‘superteam’ (i.e only needed one other all-star to win)

    -More rings, better Finals record (casuals love this argument)

    which you’ll find is exactly the arguments used against Lebron in the GOAT convo

    -Lebron flops (modern NBA game rules)

    -Lebron does not have perceived killer instinct and clutch ability (statistically he does though)

    -Lebron takes (regular season) games off, ‘load management’

    -Lebron scores alot but not in a flashy way (Kobe perceived as more ‘skilled’)

    -Lebron played on multiple teams

    -Lebron needed ‘superteams’ to win (except for 2020, but that ring is discounted for reasons)

    -Losing Finals record (casuals love this argument)

    So you’ll see that feelings (things outside of stats/awards) are used for Kobe’s argument and against Lebron’s argument

    Casual fans don’t care about stats/awards unless it fits their narrative i.e Kobe averaged 40 PPG in this one month! He has 12x All-Def! (but will ignore Lebron’s better stats in every category and huge lead in MVPs/FMVPs)

  • What is your hottest NBA take?

    I have many

    -Hakeem is better than Kobe. there I said it. Kobe literally only has the rings argument over Hakeem (partly because he had Phil Jackson and Shaq). Hakeem has higher playoffs PPG, higher peak playoffs PPG, higher Finals PPG, better defender, 2x DPOY, all time leader in blocks, won 2 rings with less support (I know Kobe fans will disagree saying he carried a bunch of bums but they underrate Gasol and Odom all the time), and had even tougher playoff runs than Kobe did, and guess what he’s just as skilled as Kobe. He’s better, only casuals get enamored with Kobe superficially being like Jordan and put him in the GOAT convo which is nonsense.

    -Jerry West is better than Oscar Robertson he went to way more Finals, he’s a much better defender, he’s almost as good a passer, almost as a good a rebounder, he’s a better peak scorer and a better playoff scorer and more clutch. Oscar just has the triple doubles that’s it.

    –Bob Pettit AND Rick Barry are both better than Elgin Baylor. Baylor is a bit overrated sometimes due to his lofty stats. Pettit won an MVP while Baylor was in the league and comes close to Baylor statistically – he trails Baylor by 1 PPG and actually is ahead of Baylor by 3 RPG. Pettit also beat Russell in the Finals something Baylor couldn’t do in 7 tries. Barry’s playoff performances have always been more impressive than Baylor’s and he had one of the greatest carry jobs ever in 1975 something that again Baylor has never done. He’s a better playmaker and a better playoff scorer than Baylor.

    -Walt Frazier is arguably better than Isiah Thomas no I’m not crazy look up the stats, look up the playoff performances. Isiah is a great PG no doubt but Frazier is just as good a scorer and a better defender. Both have 2 rings. Isiah had the 25 point quarter on a sprained ankle ok great but he lost that game. Frazier put up the 36/10/19 game in the Finals and won it. And tbh he deserved that FMVP in 1970 over Reed.

    -John Havlicek is better than Pippen no really stop putting Pippen ahead of him in all time SF lists. Havlicek is better in every way. More rings, more all-star selections, more All-NBA selections, almost as many All-Def selections, and he has a Finals MVP to boot. He has better stats in every category and is a much more reliable offensive player. Pippen is more athletic but career wise Hondo has it over Pippen and that’s undeniable.

  • Is Dirk the most underrated NBA player ever?

    I’ll give you Dirk’s stats and accomplishments compared to another NBA player and you tell me who’s better:

    Dirk:

    1x Champion
    1x MVP
    1x FMVP
    14x All-Star
    10x All-NBA 1st/2nd
    20.7 PPG (playoffs 25.3 PPG)
    7.5 RPG (playoffs 10.0 RPG)
    2.4 APG (playoffs 2.5 APG)
    led a team to a championship win as underdog

    Player B:

    1x Champion
    1x FMVP
    1x Scoring champ
    12x All-Star
    10x All-NBA / ABA 1st/2nd
    24.8 PPG (playoffs 27.3 PPG)
    6.7 RPG (playoffs 6.4 RPG)
    4.9 APG (playoffs 4.3 APG)
    led a team to a championship win as underdog

    ok so Dirk has one MVP and 2 all-star selections over Player B but Player B has the edge in scoring right? At the very least, you would say that Dirk and Player B are roughly in the same tier when it comes to ranking.

    Have you heard of Player B? It’s Rick Barry.

    How often have you heard Rick Barry’s name mentioned in the top 25 and how often have you heard Dirk’s name mentioned in the top 25? That pretty much answers the question here. Rick Barry is far more underrated than Dirk is.

  • Why do some critics think Stephen Curry wouldn’t have thrived in the 80s or 90s NBA, and how valid are these arguments?

    He would have thrived, but he wouldn’t be as successful that’s for sure and that’s because the game was more physical and hand checking was allowed back then. Curry has undeniably benefitted from playing in a less physical no hand checking era.

    In the 80s and 90s he’d effectively be Mark Price with higher volume shooting. And that’s not an insult to Curry by the way – Mark Price was one of the best PGs in the league and underrated and in his healthy prime he was a top 3 PG in the league and one of the best shooters ever.

    So yeah, Curry in the 90s would be a higher volume Mark Price which means he’d probably be the top PG in the league still. Just maybe not the unanimous MVP level player he was in the modern era. He wouldn’t be quite as impactful as he is today but he’d still be very effective back then.

  • Who is better, Anthony Davis or Joel Embiid?

    Tough one.. I’ll give the career to AD, but the peak to Embiid. I have AD ranked slightly higher, he’s around the top 60 and Embiid is in the top 75.

    Both are injury prone, but as of recently, Embiid has been more so. Embiid at his peak is arguably better – he won 2 scoring titles and MVP. He’s nearly unstoppable near the rim and in the post. He’s a very solid defender and probably on par with AD in that area.

    AD at his peak is probably 90% that of Embiid. He’s got more range than Embiid but not quite as dominant in the paint. He’s just as good defensively.

    AD’s also had the good fortune of playing with Lebron James, and had a very good championship run in 2020, I would say he should be co-MVP with Lebron in that Finals. This pushes AD’s career and legacy up a notch compared to Embiid.

  • How does Hakeem Olajuwon’s performance in his prime compare to other top 10 NBA players?

    I think it’s GOAT worthy to be honest.

    1986 – with Ralph Sampson as his best teammate, he leads the Rockets to the NBA Finals, beating the heavily favored Showtime Lakers in 5 and taking an all time team – the 1986 Celtics – to 6 games.

    1994 – With Otis Thorpe as his best teammate, he leads the Rockets past Barkley’s Suns, Malone’s Jazz, and outplays Ewing’s Knicks in the Finals to win.

    1995 – With older Clyde Drexler as his best teammate, he leads the Rockets past Malone’s Jazz, Barkley’s Suns, Robinson’s Spurs and sweeps Shaq’s Magic in the Finals.

    These 3 playoff runs are amongst the best out of any player all time with minimal help. You know Dirk’s legendary 2011 run? Well Hakeem has multiple runs of that caliber. This is why Hakeem should be in anybody’s top 10 imo but he often gets shafted for only having 2 championships. He’s the superstar that’s done the most with the least help.