His Greatness

No, he's just LeBron James. Camby is strictly a weakside shot blocker. LeBron is much more than that. Why does there have to be any comparisons? No I'm not. I'm simply writing up what LeBron is good at. You could do the same for every good defender. And no, that's not the same thing. Not even close. 1) LeBron's highlights come as a result of playing quality defense. Shannon Brown is an athlete that just happens to make the occassional highlight. Big difference. 2) Just because he blocks shots and picks off passes does not mean he is as good as LeBron at it. Doesn't have the timing, doesn't have the anticipation, and certainly doesn't have the physical tools. Nash and Calderon are both pass-first point guards, but I'm sure you can tell the difference. 3) Help/team defense is much more than steals and blocks. It's neutralizing open looks when there is a misstep on defense. It's assisting your teammates in recovery while they're navigating traffic. It's reading a set and reacting promptly with appropriate adjustments. It's denying penetration and challenging every shot at the rim. It's boxing out so you or your teammates secure the defensive board. Shannon Brown does not do any of that as good as LeBron (if he does it at all), and he's not special enough at any one thing to compensate. They had LeBron check Rafer to make the most of his ability as a help defender. It made sense from a strategic standpoint: Cleveland's defense is predicated on providing help, Alston presented the least threat offensively, and it's simply too much to ask LeBron, who already shoulders a massive load on both sides of the floor, to shut down Turkoglu or Lewis for 48 minutes. It's not that he "refuses" the assignment—he still occasionally defends the best player in crunch time, as you saw with Carmelo last week—it's just that conserving his stamina is much more important.

Absolutely he should, and he's going to be the favorite to win it every year. Howard's total defensive impact is in another league.

Playing our worst? We have that? Funny, I hadn't noticed.

Cavs fans just had a heart attack.

Dirk Nowitzki is an elite basketball player. He is not in the discussion as the best. They're flaws. Every great defender has them if you want to nitpick. It's not like he's biting on every feint or yielding an open look on every possession, they're just areas he can improve on. You won't see him making those mistakes when he 'turns it on'. LeBron's athleticism is a tremendous asset to his defense. It is not why he is an elite defender. Read again: Those were literally my last few statements defending his man D. How did you miss that? Team defense. LeBron is very good at it. That's why I rate him so highly. That is essentially what I've been saying this whole time. Very convincing argument.

Stefanski signed Brand to that mammoth contract, gave Iguodala franchise money, overpaid Lou, and still hasn't fired Eddie Jordan. The Brand misstep didn't look bad to start, but you need more foresight than that as a GM if you're going to pay someone a ton of cash to be your feature player for five years. Now we're stuck as a middling team, not qualifying for a championship or a lottery pick, with a non-contending group of players being paid contender money. Yes Stefanski was probably [expletive] out of luck when he accepted the position, but he really hasn't done much to fix what was an originally a reparable situation. And while Jordan has been the worst at his job by far, the reason he's here (and still here) is all on Stefanski.

I'm arguing with you for knocking LeBron and underestimating the value of what he does defensively. Well not necessarily, because 'substantial' isn't quantifiable. Overall impact is most prominent when it comes to evaluating defense. It's not static. I don't believe in 'allotting points' — you're either an elite defender or you're not. LeBron's minor fundamental flaws in man defense are all perfectible, but they're not quite significant enough to call him a liability or demote him to "average". Yes he cheats too much, and yes he can tighten up his perimeter stances. But on the flipside, he cannot be overpowered, he doesn't foul, he's one of the top d-rebounders at his position, and there's not a better recovery defender in the league. What more, who else has that same combo of size, length, power, speed and quickness? On top of that, he's such a special help defender that I can't not call him elite.

On top of the five years, she kept cheating even after knowing he bought the ring, and would've probably continued after the marriage. [expletive] deserved more.

Why doesn't every elite defender shut down his man every night? Because those games happen. It's unrealistic to always expect a defensive shutout. LeBron will get lit up every now and then just like every good defender. You stick any player on a team where defense is an afterthought and their individual defense will inevitably decline. That's natural. You need your help to be there... that's the entire concept of defense. LeBron is not an elite on-ball defender. I never called him one. Fortunately, defense is not only played on the ball.

They should all just join forces and form a super-team. Easy answer.

The difference is, I'm not citing a single game to prove or disprove his defensive ability. That's not how defense is gauged, not even close. I picked that game out to disprove what you said about how Granger would always light LeBron up as if it were fact. I probably approached it wrong by flatly citing the 4 points, but I remember that game and it was truly a defensive clinic put on by LeBron. What? No, I never even implied it.

Carmelo was on fire, and it would've been tough for any defender to stop him that night. Also, it was one game. If one game is enough to sully a player's reputation as a defender, then there would be no elite defensive players in the NBA. ... and in another game that year, Granger scored 16 on 28%, and this season Granger is averaging 16 PPG, 29% against Cleveland. But my question is this: did LeBron actually guard Granger the entire night by himself in all those games? Because on that 4-point game he did, and did a damn good job shutting him down. You said this:

Because on-ball defense is the only form of defense. Besides, where is this reputation coming from that LeBron is a poor man-to-man defender? He's improved substantially in that area every season, and this year I can legitimately call him an elite defender overall. In that scenario, on one play, I'd actually be more inclined to take my chances with LeBron. If he's focused on getting one last stop, there is not a player more physically capable than he is, and he can recover better than any player in the league. And just for the record, the last time LeBron checked Granger one-on-one for the entire game, he held him to 4 points, 2/7 shooting.

The disguised weapons one is brilliant.

Classy moves like these are exactly why all the big-name free agents are dying to play with Philly.

Did you miss work because of it? Do you have a history of professional misconduct? Party all you'd like, but if it's interfering with your job then it becomes unacceptable.

Pretty much. He's probably the hardest player to officiate, inconsistent calls come with the territory.

Oh Stefanski. I still remember how excited we were when Brand was first signed.

You missed the point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80_UFhJuMBU

They'll miss out on the playoffs, get a mediocre pick, draft a mediocre player, and continue being mediocre for the rest of eternity.

It's for cap relief, and I categorically disapprove of it. No trade involving Iguodala should even be considered unless Brand is going with him. And while it's likely that Stoudemire opts out, keep in mind that his player option is worth an upwards of $17 million. No one is going to give him that kind of dough, especially with the decreasing salary cap.

So the trade would essentially be J.J. Hickson for Amar'e Stoudemire. Huh.

Yeah, because that would be so much more worse than this one.

The best part about this dunk contest is that it's over. The second best part was Charles Barkley. I'm praying for LeBron to resuscitate it next year.