^ ok i set myself up for that haha. I mean they were like 3rd(or maybe 4th) in west til Lebron got hurt last year, and thats after starting crappy. With davis, Caruso, and a decent howard I feel at least 50. I’ll say they finish 4th in west.

9/5/2019 9:23:25 PM

People like to shit on Lebron for some reason. Like you said, they were an above .500 team last year before the injuries started piling up. BARRING INJURY I see them as a top-4 team in the West and they could easily be the best team in their city if things go right. People just seem to forget about Lebron since he missed the Finals one single year.

9/5/2019 9:26:34 PM

Agreed to an extend. I think you might be overstating Lebron hate but overall accurate. I’d say clippers, houston, denver, lakers. Can easily see a battle for 3rd place in west between Denver, LA, and Portland. And honestly, maybe I am overestimating Houstons success.

[Edited on September 5, 2019 at 9:46 PM. Reason : Houston]

9/5/2019 9:45:26 PM

they were an average team last year, and traded away their entire team save James and Kuzma, essentially.

LeBron is still an offensive force, but i doubt he plays anywhere near 82 games next season. i'd say he plays ~65. I also question how well he will mesh with Davis. All in all, I don't see them winning more than 50 games. I would be a lot more bullish on them if AD would play center instead of PF. His unwillingness to log major minutes at the 5 means they won't be able to play their best players together as much, because i suspect it will be hard to play a center, AD, James and Kuzma all on the floor together for extended periods.

9/5/2019 9:47:17 PM

Golden State is the best team in the west

9/5/2019 10:03:57 PM

When Klay comes back, maybe they are the team with the best record in the west...sure.

9/5/2019 10:05:19 PM

KD is the soul of GSW in the past three years. When he leaves, they can't even beat any other CA teams.

9/6/2019 8:48:12 AM

Even though justin was 100% wrong about his delusional assertion that the Ws 'rushed' KD out before he was ready (see previous page for article he refused to acknowledge), I think he's correct about the Lakers not being able to gel as well as many assume. Nevertheless, he's ignoring the critical fact that Lebron is a total diva/control freak that's difficult to work with, which will ultimately hinder their success.

9/6/2019 12:19:16 PM

I thought that part about LeBron was common knowledge at this point

9/6/2019 12:27:31 PM

Oh right. Got you confused with TGL and other Lebron apologists. My bad. So hard to keep up with muh dubs haters.

BTW, I'm still predicting a ~6 seed for the Ws, and I think the Clipps are probably tops in the West.

9/6/2019 12:54:18 PM

MJ was a control freak diva as well, he didn't have much success either

9/6/2019 1:16:17 PM

He never lost an NBA championship to anyone, let alone the same team 3/4 tries. Maybe he comes across as more of a winner and less of a diva than Lebron because he was more consistent.

9/6/2019 1:20:29 PM

You seem very unbiased in your assessment of Lebron. 2017 must still sting.

9/6/2019 1:22:08 PM

Nah. Can't wait to not afford tickets to the Chase Center and spend an hour on BART/MUNI to get to it when it was an 8 min ride before for me.

9/6/2019 1:45:52 PM

It would be interesting to see the twitter hot takes about Jordan's "flu game," or what kind of criticism he'd get for not even making the Finals in 95, etc if he had played in the social media era.

9/6/2019 1:50:46 PM

Quote :

"He never lost an NBA championship to anyone, let alone the same team 3/4 tries. "

I would argue that LBJ never had a teammate as good as Scottie Pippen, not even Wade. Also he may not have lost the championship to anyone, he did lose 3 straight times in the playoffs (twice in a row in the conference finals) to the Pistons.

On the other hand, LeBron hasn't "retired" from the NBA after his father's murder because of his own unpaid gambling debts. Yet.

9/6/2019 2:04:41 PM

Jordan was also on the better team in the Finals the 6 times he got there

9/6/2019 5:47:51 PM

You can easily make the case that the second threepeat team core is the best in NBA history (even better than yer dubs), so yeah.

9/6/2019 7:21:37 PM

Team USA is having nightmare in China. We have a lot of work to do in the future. NBA is more and more international, which is not very healthy for native players.

9/12/2019 11:28:49 AM

Lakers seem to have some good options at the 5

10/6/2019 4:26:02 AM

Yes, they probably have 3 of the top 10 centers in the league. They have great potential of the new season.

10/6/2019 7:46:55 PM

Ugh Daryl Morey tweeted something about HK and now we have to see if the new owner caves to China pressure

10/6/2019 8:15:31 PM

Tacko Fall was amazing in his debut last night vs Hornets. As a black Yao Ming, he can become a dominant force. The Finals this year could be back to the classic Lakers vs Celtics match-up.

10/7/2019 8:11:07 AM

^^ the entire league caved because China has lots of money. It's the exact opposite situation of Enes Kanter and everybody knows it.

10/7/2019 11:28:29 AM

Yeah the NBA is not going to try and alienate the GIANT market that is China.

10/7/2019 11:58:57 AM

See the NBA and Donald Trump both have something in common, they have both kissed China's ass in the past week.

Its an October miracle.

10/7/2019 12:36:23 PM

Chinese market is in declining. China's economy has been bad since 2015.

10/7/2019 1:42:58 PM

Zion had some thunderous dunks last night in Atlanta. He's rising.

10/8/2019 10:58:46 AM

I love that Steve Kerr is getting dragged right now.

10/9/2019 12:55:39 PM

of course you do, hack

10/9/2019 1:10:22 PM

how dare he say he wants to know more about a very complex issue before speaking publicly on it

he’s being “dragged” by hucksters and charlatans who have no use for nuance

10/9/2019 1:22:13 PM

That dude is the definition of a limousine liberal. How much more information does he need to understand China's history of lack of civil rights, and HK's reluctance to be pulled into that?

He's being dragged for being a hypocrite. And I am here for it.

10/9/2019 1:31:36 PM

his dad was assassinated in 1984 for fucks sake

10/9/2019 1:41:55 PM

I’m also curious to hear how you think he’s being a hypocrite and why you’re excited to see him being “dragged” by the likes of Tucker Carlson and Clay Travis

10/9/2019 2:32:09 PM

He and the NBA are getting dragged by many more than Carlson and Travis. FTR, I don't even follow either of them, so I wouldn't know what they have said.

He's a hypocrite because he is ready to share his opinion on any social justice issue, but when it's an issue that might actually impact him, he pipes up.

Not sure what his dad's assassination has to do with it. Pretty random.

10/9/2019 3:26:29 PM

They aren't really protesting democracy. The protests were about an extradition law where people charged of crimes could be extradited to China. I don't completely understand the significance of that but its not as simple as "protesting human rights". China does bad things but so does our government.

Imagine the outcry if they condemned US police. If only we had an example of what kind of backlash there would be for supporting such a protest in our own country...

10/9/2019 3:34:40 PM

he shares his opinions on domestic social justice issues that he is more aware and informed on

there is a lot to the China issue and it’s his right to not issue a comment on it if he’s not as aware and informed on it

if your life has been impacted by your father being assassinated in an international incident, you’d probably be extremely cautious to speak out on other international incidents

it’s fine for the NBA to rightfully be called out on this, but not a coach, and especially not a coach with his background. it’s also ridiculous to “drag” a coach and call him a hypocrite because you think the coach is too liberal

[Edited on October 9, 2019 at 3:38 PM. Reason : .]

10/9/2019 3:38:02 PM

I’d rather hear Pops opinion on this China covfefe anyways

10/9/2019 4:07:36 PM

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27808516/president-donald-trump-critical-warriors-steve-kerr-spurs-gregg-popovich-response-china-controversy

Trump and HCH subscribe to the same newsletter

10/10/2019 1:56:33 AM

^Lol. AOC subscribing to that same newsletter? This really isn't a controversial issue. Don't know why yall are getting so bent out of shape, other than you hate seeing a Communist dictatorship getting called out.

https://www.newsweek.com/aoc-ted-cruz-co-sign-letter-blasting-nba-its-support-china-instead-american-values-1464296

10/10/2019 9:32:24 AM

don’t believe either of them singled out Kerr

10/10/2019 11:00:05 AM

Lakers and Nets still had a good time in Shanghai. Like nothing ever happened, lol

10/10/2019 12:51:47 PM

LeBron going to bat for money and space jam ticket sales

10/14/2019 11:20:14 PM

He’s going to be dragged harder than Steve Kerr in an ignorant HCH post

10/14/2019 11:45:32 PM

Man, I am loving seeing all these guys get dragged. The only thing better is when we have our next "controversy" they think we need their opinion on, and all of America will say in unison:

"Wouldn't be such a big deal if it happened in China though, right?"

10/14/2019 11:51:34 PM

^^^it is totally disgusting too

10/14/2019 11:53:12 PM

He just couldn't help himself, this issue was almost out of the news cycle and he had to ensure it lasted a few more days.

10/15/2019 9:10:17 AM

a smart conversation on Lebron’s comments from today’s High Noon:

https://twitter.com/HIGHNOONonESPN/status/1184207452935462914




[Edited on October 15, 2019 at 5:08 PM. Reason : .]

10/15/2019 5:05:19 PM

I can't believe Lebron would try to make money from a country whose government imprisons and shoots its own citizens.

10/16/2019 3:50:40 PM

Zion is sort of in the Kyrie Irving mode. He lifts Pelicans to the top standing in the region. When some stars like Lebron go to help him, they can bring championship to the city.

10/17/2019 11:38:42 AM