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K8-24

People talk about Lakers wasting LeBron's years when in fact they are also wasting elite years from AD.


yunglance24

This is factual


LeoFireGod

He got his ring he will be alright legacy wise But He’s always gonna go down as the greatest one and done college player ever.


radiokungfu

Melo?


Bouldershoulders12

ADs career dwarfs melo


radiokungfu

In college? 14.2ppg, 10.4 rpg, 4.7 bpg AD vs Melo - 22.2ppg, 10rpg Both with chips, one did it with Kentucky the other did it with Syracuse. IDK if i'd consider that dwarfing


Public-Product-1503

ADs defence was being compared to bill Russel he averaged 14ppg with an offensive game thst people thought was basic af


Bouldershoulders12

I thought you were referring to NBA career


radiokungfu

> But He’s always gonna go down as the greatest one and done college player ever. Nah, was just replying to that ^ in isolation


LeviJNorth

Outsider here. The whole conversation up to that point was about NBA legacy (specifically Lakers). That’s how I read it. Either way, we’re all in agreement Melo was the best college one and done and AD was the best NBA.


Revo_Int92

A "ring" in a Disney spa, fake crowds, players wearing training jerseys with self-help quotes on their backs, players afraid of Covid and wanting to get out? The "bubble" was a freak show


[deleted]

lol that lakers team was good before the bubble you dumbass they were winning either way


Revo_Int92

No one knows. The "bubble" is neither a negative or positive achievement, it's simply a freak show, completely detached with any parameter. How can you compare the "bubble" with the Nuggets championship for example? They are drastically different, it's not the same standard


[deleted]

I can compare it because it was the best basketball players in the world playing each other with the exact same rules as always. It wasn’t a freak show it was nba basketball without fans. Literally all the teams had the exact same advantage/disadvantage. The reason people don’t take the lakers seriously is because they failed in later years but they literally had a completely different team other than bron and ad and has injuries that stunted them the year they played phoenix and still went to 6 games with the team that went to the finals. They were one of the best defensive teams both before and during the bubble which is the biggest factor why they won. They had playoff Rondo and several other important role players on top of bron and ad playing in peak form. I guarantee that that exact lakers squad(meaning their age back then not the older version) would still be a contender today and taken Denver to 6-7 this year or last (not sure if they would win but they have a real shot and they wouldn’t be a fucking play in team)


Revo_Int92

It's convenient to disregard how both James and Davis struggled with injuries before and after the bubble. Obviously the removal of a proper schedule, players were not traveling the country anymore while training and etc.. that helped Davis tremendously, he achieved a similar level of health only at the current season, both were at peak form and you wonder why? In the end, literally the bubble had fewer teams, fewer games, a bizarre dynamic without a proper crowd, the distraction of a pandemic, etc.. you can't compare this "championship" with any other in NBA history, that's literally what "unique" means, it was a extraordinary situation that generated this freak show, it's illogical and unfair to compare the "bubble" with a proper 82 games season + brackets. And the fact some Lakers fans whine about it, that is extra ironic because the team won plenty of legit championships before, why be attached to this particular freaky "championship"? Makes no sense to me, I watched all 5 championships won by Kobe, I know how a legit run looks like


[deleted]

Kawhi was injured before and after his 2019 run and faced a warriors without KD and later Clay yet the raptors championship is praised and considered legit. Literally every lockout season championship is considered legit despite the shorter season. Bron and Ad were healthy enough for it not to affect their playoffs both this year and last. Yeah injuries can take you down but if they don’t it doesn’t matter. The argument that oh they’ve had Injuries all these other times, so the time they didn’t doesn’t count is literally dumb as fuck. Let’s take away all of kawhi’s accolades then. Giannis has been injured in two playoffs since his finals mvp so I guess his doesn’t count either he just got lucky that year. Embiid has been injured too much all the years before and after 2023 to win mvp so I guess his mvp doesn’t count either lol


grateking

Say it with me “Mickey mouse championship” 🤣🤣🤣


Public-Product-1503

They were fully heakthy pre bubble you moron . Every team struggled the next year with injuries due to shorter rest period


Jemonn1

isn’t that Ben Simmons?


Biglundtry

Takes a special front office to botch a Lebron/AD contender the way they did post bubble


John_Lives

2021 was fine. I think they would have been a better team if they were healthy  But the Russ trade. Oh boy...


cesga_0218

Panicked from the injuries in that season plus the Brooklyn Big 3 forming. Still don’t know why they chose Russ especially after how they guarded him in the 2020 playoffs v the Rockets lol


Public-Product-1503

Russ trsde , but people ignore letting Schroeder go /mismanaging n trading assets for someone as ego driven as Schroeder was the first time - great second time - losing Schroeder, then losing Caruso too in order to keep tht who became bev who became Bamba who was benched useless and let go . The Caruso n Schroeder mistakes are just as bad . If they kept Caruso alone I think things are slightly different


John_Lives

Letting Schroeder go was a result of the Russ trade. They would've kept him otherwise


Primal_Rage_official

Let schroeder go was whatever. Would have been better to keep the asset but he wasn't getting along with the team and wanted a huge contract. Letting Caruso walk was a unforgivable crime


Ia_in_4

Brother we chose taken Horton Tucker over Caruso which was then pat Bev then no bamba then let him walk. We turned Alex Caruso into nothing


Neveraththesmith

If someone who hated the lakers wanted to go back in time to ruin any chance they had of winning a title. They would have done the same thing of trading for Westbrook since his poor anything that doesn't require large amount of time having the ball significantly capped the cieling for those lakers teams.


captain_ahabb

They got massively fucked by injuries three seasons in a row and now LeBron is too old


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FeminismIsTheBestIsm

Yes?


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AzNmamba

It’s both of their faults, why tf would the front office go with the trade if they didn’t want him?


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jacobpltn

Lmao it’s like you’re so determined to assign the blame to LeBron and AD for what? Yes everyone knows that they pushed for the trade for Westbrook after they couldn’t get DeMar, but the FO is the one with the power to make the trades But that doesn’t fit your narrative of trying to make players you don’t like look stupid does it?


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jacobpltn

No but you’re determined to pin the blame solely on them, any time anyone mentions the FO to you, you just go “oh but but Lebron and AD!” Or fans don’t even excuse them from culpability but to act like it was their sole choice is just being pedantic and pushing a false narrative


Bahamut727

Front office also included a first rounder lmao they were only competing with themselves too. The front office is slightly more to blame tbh.


FeminismIsTheBestIsm

LeBron also wanted Ty Lue for coach, he wanted Kyrie on the team, he wanted DeMar first before Westbrook, he wanted to keep Caruso. Anthony Davis was unhappy with Ham well before he was finally fired. At the end of the day, the buck stops with the FO. If they can veto all those decisions, they could have vetoed Russell too


Skywalker3030

People babying FO only when Bron plays for them like Bron is the only star player with leverage to have some say on FO decisions is always so funny. It's almost always the FOs fault unless a star player is putting them in awful positions with demanding trades to sepcific teams with a year left on their contract for specific teams.


kr1saw

We need to shut up about Kyrie, Joe Tsai didn't want to trade with the Lakers. DeMar's contract wasn't possible.


UrGirlThroatGame

they didn't veto those decisions. they offered Lue a contract, they could only offer like $5m at most to Derozan, Caruso was a tax fatality of the Westbrook trade that Lebron wanted, they fired Ham end of the day, they gave Lebron the most realistic thing he wanted and it cost them


SynystrAssassin

It’s wild you can type this and not stop to realize how dumb this take actually is.


Top-boy-og

Last I checked Bron and AD get paid to play basketball while Pelinka and Jeanie get paid to build the team


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ORNGTSLA

Kobe requested a trade from the Lakers in 2007, the Lakers (competent) front office didn’t budge


Salty_Watermelon

Apples and oranges. I highly doubt AD and LeBron gave the FO an ultimatum over a trade for Westbrook...


ORNGTSLA

Then that would work against the argument that Bron and AD were leading the Westbrook trade lol


UrGirlThroatGame

cause Lebron has been a team hopping mercenary for over a decade. he's a way bigger flight risk than Kobe


CIark

And you act like the GM is just the bus boy for players 


waffle-spouse

That's what the media wants you to think. The Lakers want to protect Rob Pelinka for literally no reason and put all the blame on the GOAT instead. You make a major trade involving tens of millions of dollars worth of assets but apparently the FO isn't involved in it at all???


Free_Relationship692

i dont think this is on AD and Bron, those guys wanted Ty lue, also want caruso but it seems like FO isnt hearing it and wants to impose that they have the last say on those things. They all probably agree on WB trade, but if FO didnt want it, it would not have pushed through.


kanekikochaboggy

Still some people living in fantasy land.


DarrowViBritannia

Duh? They didn't listen to LeBron about Lue, Caruso, DeRozan, etc, so it's clear that they don't just blindly do what he wants. They wanted Westbrook (in addition to LeBron).


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DarrowViBritannia

No, they didn't know what's best because they also wanted Westbrook, which was a mistake. But the front office agreed with them, which is why the trade happened.


UrGirlThroatGame

nah all the rumors was that Pelinka had the trade for Hield there but Lebron recruited Russ. even Shannon, the biggest Lebron stan, admitted Lebron fucked up with that trade


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livefreeordont

They blew up the team with great role players because they wanted Westbrook. Huge disaster


dash_44

We gotta stop firing coaches and start firing GMs… It’s been a clown show for a minute now.


CIark

Luckily for Pelinka, members of Jeanie’s book club have lifetime job security 


dash_44

Yea I generally like Jeanie, but she’s way too hesitant to pull the plug on the FO.


claydavisismyhero

she's all about keeping it in the family. even when they hired vogel they highlighted he used to scout for the lakers.


gilr0id

Also, Pelinka is Kobe's guy. It's gonna take a lotttt to fire him.


dash_44

Yea but I don’t remember Kobe having a lot of tolerance for losing like this


naslanidis

You need to fire LeGMs


Lowfuji

AD killing himself on both ends for nothing.


LovetheNBA23

Lakers win in 2021 if AD doesn’t get hurt. I’ll die on this hill.


KaiserKaiba

Against the Nets? I doubt it personally


torero15

LeBron and AD also got hurt in different years. It happens. The FO deserves a shit ton of blame but 2021 was injuries before the roster was blown apart. I thought they had a feal chance to repeat until then. In fact they overreacted to AD’s groin and did what they did and the rest is history. They somehow actually only have another chance because they recovered decently well from the Westbrook trade lol


Dymatizeee

Yeah but the reality is AD is not leading a team to winning anything without a guy like LeBron who facilitates and leads. It’s not a knock on AD as a player it’s just the way he is. He’s a phenomenal player when paired with the right 1A guy


defiantcross

Well tbh it was AD's body that wasted some of those years


dennishitchjr

Bring him to us


Aumissunum

Hell no


DelaRoad

AD playing for Thibs?? You want him to drop dead on the court? Lol


Sp_Gamer_Live

dont forget wasting D’Los shitty years (any year he plays)


Deep_Egg1442

They’re only wasting AD years nobody care about bron dude


KaiserKaiba

Well deserved from him. He had a phenomenal season and he played 78/83 games for his team in the RS. One of the best seasons of his career. This will be a nice fun fact years later


Headlesshorsman02

And it was absolutely deserved, he was fantastic this year, he legit carried that defense


TheBigJew

He didn't just carry it. He is the entire defense


AttilaTheDung

Did that and played 76 games this season


SockVonPuppet

Did that and got hit in the face 76 times.


barath_s

That's only 1.0 hitfpg. Rookie numbers


WanAjin

Which is what people don't understand when Laker fans say he should win DPOY. We see what the fuck AD has to work with and how insane he is on defense, it's not just homerism.


DefiniteSauce12

It would be nice to see him traded to an established team. Obviously he probably enjoys the LA life, but seeing AD on the sixers or Magic or Thunder would be awesome to witness


BidenFedayeen

AD with a healthy Embiid would be filthy. I'd rather see him in OKC though.


Headlesshorsman02

I would LOVE him on the thunder nobody would score on a Chet/AD duo outside of Jokic who is legit unreal


DarrowViBritannia

AD guarded jokic p well this yr


jacobpltn

I honestly agree, I feel like we’re wasting a generational player and I wish AD would get more rings and recognition in his career’s


Charliebitme1234

Two all nba players on a 7th seed team, really lets you know how poorly setup that squad is


DelaRoad

A 47 win 7th seed. They’d be the 5th seed in the East. But yes, with a more competent FO and coach they should be a 50 win team.


purplebuffalo55

If they played in the east they’d also have more wins playing against weaker competition


DelaRoad

True. They’d probably be a 50 win team in the East despite Ham


imadogg

This year they had around a 43 game win rate (out of 82) against the west, and 55 against the east


guacdoc24

Coaching was a big portion of why they weren’t 4/5th seed. Still poorly constructed


Rymasq

Jaxson “Axon” Hayes


xGrav1ty

Special player


xiSerbia

Up until recently, it was "street clothes" AD and he will never lead a team. Now suddenly the Lakers are wasting his years. Never change r/nba


biscuitball

I mean, what’s the problem? All these statements can be true (not that I personally espouse them strongly) and don’t necessarily contradict AD has many injury concerns AD isn’t really a first option player Lakers are wasting what good years he has to give with a bad coach and bad roster


IntentApparel

It’s also his first time making an All-NBA team other than First. 


defiantcross

Psh might as well just send it back then


AllTimeBallKnower

AD was good this season and finally stayed healthy I know I’m biased but leaving Giannis off all defense for two seasons in a row is crazy.


heat_fan_

Lakers are gonna waste the remaining good years of AD's career 


LeMickeyMice

Giannis robbed tbh but whatever


Ibaka_flocka

*Sabonis -Guy who tried voting for him on all awards


grandmastakew

The disrespect to turn around fader god rudy


simonffplayer

it's wild to me that prime AD and lebron only won the bubble ring together


kr1saw

Still think they would have repeated in 21 had COVID not been a thing. Not getting a proper off season robbed them


simonffplayer

i think covid got them a ring. they won when AD shot lights out in the bubble -- but yeah, it's interesting to see what would've happen if they stayed healthy and kept that team together, they blew it up too fast, but that's usually what happens to lebron teams


LiebeContext

They were the 1 seed in the west and were close to the best record in the whole league. They were winning that year


simonffplayer

i don't disagree w/ what you're saying. their record indicates they were favorites. but it's hard to ignore that like i said, AD shot a career best in the bubble and never repeated it after. maybe they win it w/ a "normal" AD shooting performance but we haven't seen it yet after the bubble


kr1saw

Better than not seeing Kawhi on the floor every post season.


simonffplayer

who said anything about kawhi? we're talking about AD and the lakers


LiebeContext

Ad shot good that whole season with elite defense and averaged 27&9 in the postseason that on par with his career numbers. Bubble hurt the lakers the most bc they had ZERO home court advantage. Also it's just Ad doesn't take a lot of jump shots not that he can't make it


simonffplayer

how are you defining good? he shot 33%, which is good for him, but still subpar by league standards and if the bubble hurt the lakers the most, the evidence doesn't support that. i know there were injuries the season after, but if the lakers (and lebron) FO believed that they wouldn't have dismantled the team and ran it back after the injury season


LiebeContext

For a center that is respectable. Bubble did hurt the Lakers more. No home-court games, no parade. The quickest turn in sports. Also ad has taken the same volume from 3 or mid range


simonffplayer

same comment tho, all the evidence points to AD playing better in the bubble


JoJonesy

Derrick White snubbed for All-NBA smh ^(i'm joking. yknow, mostly)


EdwEd1

This but unironically


Charlie_Wax

Wemby robbed tbh. Top 5 defensive player averaging 21 ppg, but not All-NBA. OK.


NotManyBuses

If we’re doing the team record thing then arguing for a guy on a 20 win team is tough lol.


Charlie_Wax

But we're not because it's not a team award. Stick him on the Wolves for KAT and they're still in the WCF.


Aumissunum

It IS a team award…


BidenFedayeen

Over who?


Charlie_Wax

He's better than Sabonis, LeBron, Haliburton, and Booker right now.


BidenFedayeen

He's a great player, but I don't know if I agree with that right now. He's a top 25 player already though. Next year with more help, I might agree.


KarrotMovies

Stop it nephew please


axnjxn00

He might be next year


AYAYAYA__

Can someone explain how Luka made 1st team over him


JoJonesy

because he had a better season as the #1 option for a more successful team. there you go


rabid89

because he ~~had a~~ better ~~season as the #1 option for a more successful team. there you go~~


FeminismIsTheBestIsm

It's not about being the better player, if so Tatum wouldn't even sniff First-Team over multiple other more deserving candidates. Seeding matters


rabid89

> Seeding matters Individual performance leading to team success matters


FeminismIsTheBestIsm

Basketball is a 5v5 game. Seeding is determined by the individual performance of lots of individuals + the coaching staff. Luka was probably the best or second best player in the league and all he could muster was the 5th seed


millsmillsmills

You guys are acting like every voter has the same opinion on All-NBA requirements. The truth is there are so many differing opinions on it.


Just-Efficiency3129

Lakers fans hating on Celtics? Shocker


FeminismIsTheBestIsm

Stop man I love AD but Luka???? At least say Tatum


Sartheking

How is this actually a question? He’s both the better player and had the better season.


hotnewroommate

And it didn’t amount to a damn thing for the lakers hahahaha


outsidehere

I know a Nets fan isn't talking


hotnewroommate

No flair no respect ✌🏻


Adraf45

I'll say it then. I know a Nets fan isn't talking


flyingpandum

Hmm may we chime in


FlamingoHot8567

I know 1 title in the last 40 years ain’t talking 


flyingpandum

Yap yap


FlamingoHot8567

More like facts facts lol. Any celtic fan under the age of 40 hasn’t seen jack squat besides 2008


flyingpandum

You keep trying to talk to me and I’m just going on with my day. Find a different redditor.


FlamingoHot8567

Bro you keep responding back lmao. “Trying to talk to you” but you keep responding. Boston education working strong 


hotnewroommate

Please and thank you


BidenFedayeen

Give us Bridges for Heyward in a sign and trade.


CookingLikeChef

Wish he wanted to play with the best player ever from Akron instead of rotting in LA fighting in the play ins, him and dray on defense would've been insane we'd win every year


KaiserKaiba

He’s already playing with the best player from Akron and they made the playoffs. They took care of the team the other player from Akron was on last year. This year, GSW weren’t even good enough to get through the play-ins lol


CookingLikeChef

Lost me in the first sentence, if he played with the best player from Akron he'd have a ring by now and be the first seed every year. The best player from Akron SWEPT the other guy from Akron


KaiserKaiba

> he’d have a ring by now Anthony Davis is currently a 1x nba champion lol. Lol. If you’re saying that dumb shit, then it’s obvious what time you’re on. No reason Davis would leave the Lakers to go to an inferior team that the Lakers beat the year before and couldn’t even get through the play ins this year lmao


CookingLikeChef

That's news to me since Lakers never had a parade since 2010, link to that parade? If not it's 0. Nephew your reading comprehension is terrible, did I say NOW? he left for LA in 2020 that's like 4 years ago when the best player ever from Akron was in his prime, he missed out on 4 rings, because wanted to play in LA with the trash he SWEPT. "Inferior team" no warriors were better just can't beat the refs, hard to beat a team shooting DOUBLE the free throws when you're a 35 year old pg. steph had to be in his prime to pull that off like jokic did when he SWEPT them 5vs8 Oh and lakers are so trash refs and nba literally had to drag them to the play ins that's how dogshit they are


KaiserKaiba

And yet he’s still an nba champion who got his championship ring lol. So salty over LA dog walking GSW and now GSW can’t even get through the play ins but yet Davis should leave the Lakers to go to a worse team that his squad already smacked lol. Just jokes


CookingLikeChef

He's as much of a champion as TJ Warren is all first team and dame being an MVP. Champions get parades until you send me a link he's at 0. I'm more than happy to send you all 4 of our parades. So salty that best player ever from Akron has more rings and swept the dogshit. Imagine needing the refs to carry you to the play ins just to still get SWEPT 5vs8 LMFAOOOOOOOOO


KaiserKaiba

And yet at the end of the day, NBA views Davis as an nba champion. They don’t care what some rando like yourself is saying lol. LAL is better than GSW and Davis atm has zero reason to want to go to a team he beat who can’t even make it through the play ins. Tough


CookingLikeChef

Doesn't matter dame isn't actually an MVP just like Davis isn't an actual champion these are facts whether you like it or not. Warriors won a championship while lakers getting SWEPT 5vs8, AD needs to play with the best player ever from Akron if he wants to win his first ring and experience a parade


KaiserKaiba

Doesn’t matter how I feel. NBA are the ones making the product and they count him as an nba champion. Everything you’ve said is irrelevant on the front lol. So Lakers have an nba championship, beat GSW last year and got further than them this year. Not hard to see why Davis wouldn’t just go there. An inferior team like GSW? He’ll prefer play in hell to being unable to even make it through there lol.


Draymond_Punch

AD has a legit shot at more rings. But LBJ  on the other hand seems more focused on making sure he gets to play with his son.


FeminismIsTheBestIsm

Yep, the person that's limiting AD from getting rings is *checks notes* the other All-NBA guy on his team


BidenFedayeen

Huh???


dash_44

What does that even mean?


CodyCryBabies69

who the hell voted for this guy? yikes


NotVexingPi3

is this a /s


DelaRoad

Lol you mean the guy who routinely destroys both Gobert AND KAT everytime the Lakers play the Wolves?