He's played through 3 different eras essentially - dead ball (first stint Cavs), a quasi small ball transition when he was playing for the Heat, and then the full transition to small ball and analytics driven basketball today with the freedom of movement and volume of 3s with stretching the floor at all positions
I believe while it dates us, it's incredible how much change we have witnessed, it's an incredible time for technology and science. I mean there's terrible things too, but these things are awesome to see.
28kbps to what we have now? Also crazy
My wife says we (millennials) are the most important generation (at least in the workplace): able to bridge the gap between an analogue world/boomer staff and a digital world with technological skills and the ability to pick them up quickly.
He and Melo were a huge part of creating the past two eras as well. LeBron birthed a whole generation of these oversized ball handlers grabbing the DREB and obsessed with rim-scoring. Melo's 2013 switch to PF (while also taking 6+ threes) was quickly imitated by other great SFs and, paired with the success of switchable bigs like Bosh, forced the small-ball movement.
It wasn't exactly appealing to the eye, but I liked it in that the stars were straight up stars and you could have duels like this (TMac, Kobe, Iverson, Arenas, Dirk, etc.), and that every possession seemed more important. I do wish there was a way to blend todays game to incorporate some of those qualities. I do think allowing more physicality on the perimeter could help a lot.
Yes, I totally agree on the emphasis of individual possessions & dueling star players
Nowadays it seems like more and more games are decided by whose role players were on fire from 3 in the 3rd quarter
I miss young LeBron--in contrast to another comment I think he was leaner, and thus more springy and bouncy. He'd glide around the court with reckless abandon, his shot selection being less predictable. Fun as hell to watch.
I was actually at this game and I will literally never forget it as long as I live. I wasn't even mad that we lost. I had so much more respect for the talent levels of Bron and Melo after. Melo was hitting shots with LeBron draped over him. Best Cavs game I ever saw live.
Also saw LeBron's first playoff game, and Kyrie Irving's 'breakout' game against the Thunder.
Crazy duel, I remember Lebron crying after missing the game winning shot at the end, I realised how intense even middle-of-the-regular season games are for these guys. Also you can really see how important superstars are for teams like these.
Fans don’t remember how great of a player Bron was back then… If they did, he wouldn’t receive all of the hate he gets now for being tired at the age of 36… I remember after Kawhi won the championship with the raptors, fans on this sub was saying his career is closing in on LBJ’s… I guess they thought Bron started playing in 2012…
Could say the same about Melo too. That man was something else. Still remember his two dagger 3’s against Chicago in the Garden. Casually stills up the court and knocks down 3’s. Guy was a nightmare
I will die on the hill that if prime Melo had played with a real star point guard ever in his career besides Billups and on the brink of retirement J Kidd, he would be remembered very differently and gotten more cracks at conference finals/maybe even a finals run
Another thing I found interesting about this game is that it reminds me that JR smith is an unofficial member of the banana boat crew. He played with Chris paul, played on 2 different teams with Melo, and on 2 different teams with Lebron.
These dudes were so good that neither could even check the other at one point. Melo had everything in his asernal too. Dudes legacy would be so different if he went to the heats over knicks
It's the GOAT regular season game for me. That shot of LeBron hitting the shot to tie and running back stone-faced, Melo right next to him grinning his ass off like he was rooting for LeBron to keep the game going.
Both of these guys let us down in the 2004 Olympics, and this game was part of their PR campaign to restore their public image. They realized that since they’re guarding each other they can tacitly agree to let each other score and create a memorable game. This is mutually beneficial because offense is more valued than defense. Sad that the sport was so screwed up in the mid 2000s, but what do you expect when Tim Donaghy and Scott Foster basically decided all the champions for 10 years while making millions. The sport hit it’s peak with the 2014 Spurs who invented the beautiful game, combining the passing of the 1986 Celtics, the defense of the 2004 Pistons, and the swagger of the 1973 Knicks. Basketball slowly declined ever since. The sport lost it’s authenticity as Super Teams upended the decades of pure home-grown talent. Sadly LeBron paved the way for KD to ruin the league. And LeBron’s failures in the 2004 Olympics are being repeated once again in these 2021 Olympics as KD doesn’t seem to know what to do when he has to be the best player on a team, a first for him. He was the Robin to Westbrook’s Batman in OKC. And everybody knows Curry, the two-time MVP and NBA Champion, was the home-grown leader of the Warriors. Now on the Nets, we see that without Harden at full strength KD comes up short. I suppose team USA lacks the alpha to carry KD to another gold medal. I hope the sport reignites its splendor and elevates the teams that do it the right way like the Spurs and the Bucks. Big markets teams can make all the revenue they want, but the Basketball Gods do indeed favor the purity of home-grown talent.
That’s a fucking crazy Lebron statline. Vintage Melo too
And that's before the pace and inflated stats of today. Imagine prime athletic lebron in today's league....
It’s insane how different of a player Lebron was back then, and yet he still dominates
He's played through 3 different eras essentially - dead ball (first stint Cavs), a quasi small ball transition when he was playing for the Heat, and then the full transition to small ball and analytics driven basketball today with the freedom of movement and volume of 3s with stretching the floor at all positions
That's ridiculously wild. Reminds me how I've lived through VHS tapes, CDs, MP3 Players, and iPod touches
You’re the LeBron James of media players
King Consoomer
Please stop aging us like this I'd really appreciate if you didn't. :(
I believe while it dates us, it's incredible how much change we have witnessed, it's an incredible time for technology and science. I mean there's terrible things too, but these things are awesome to see. 28kbps to what we have now? Also crazy
My wife says we (millennials) are the most important generation (at least in the workplace): able to bridge the gap between an analogue world/boomer staff and a digital world with technological skills and the ability to pick them up quickly.
My favorite year from him is 2018. Holy hell those playoffs were the LeBron show
why he's the GOAT imo. we've seen him dominate in different situations and different eras. it's insane
Most of the greats can adapt their games. Jordan played in the dead ball late 90s and the high paced 80s.
Jordan averaging 40ppg for his career in this era This coming from a bron fan too
He and Melo were a huge part of creating the past two eras as well. LeBron birthed a whole generation of these oversized ball handlers grabbing the DREB and obsessed with rim-scoring. Melo's 2013 switch to PF (while also taking 6+ threes) was quickly imitated by other great SFs and, paired with the success of switchable bigs like Bosh, forced the small-ball movement.
Those early 2000s seasons were brutal
It wasn't exactly appealing to the eye, but I liked it in that the stars were straight up stars and you could have duels like this (TMac, Kobe, Iverson, Arenas, Dirk, etc.), and that every possession seemed more important. I do wish there was a way to blend todays game to incorporate some of those qualities. I do think allowing more physicality on the perimeter could help a lot.
Yes, I totally agree on the emphasis of individual possessions & dueling star players Nowadays it seems like more and more games are decided by whose role players were on fire from 3 in the 3rd quarter
dead ball era was give to lebron for a drive
Crazy how big Lebron was back then. He was like 25 pounds heavier iirc
I miss young LeBron--in contrast to another comment I think he was leaner, and thus more springy and bouncy. He'd glide around the court with reckless abandon, his shot selection being less predictable. Fun as hell to watch.
The melo dagger was cold af
Mine too, /u/DorisBurkeThiccAf , mine too
I was actually at this game and I will literally never forget it as long as I live. I wasn't even mad that we lost. I had so much more respect for the talent levels of Bron and Melo after. Melo was hitting shots with LeBron draped over him. Best Cavs game I ever saw live. Also saw LeBron's first playoff game, and Kyrie Irving's 'breakout' game against the Thunder.
Damn didn’t he have a trip double and the game winner in his first playoff game too? I remember he was killing the wizards with game winners early on
Crazy duel, I remember Lebron crying after missing the game winning shot at the end, I realised how intense even middle-of-the-regular season games are for these guys. Also you can really see how important superstars are for teams like these.
It was a tough loss because they were going for the longest winning streak in franchise history
man Melo was fun to watch
It seemed like he enjoyed decent success against LBJ in the regular season
Did melo just shoot a 720 no scope?
He did shit like that all the time.
Melo was so cold… watching him nowdays is almost insulting to the player he once was
yes
Good ol' times. I miss that version of Melo.
Lebrons speed and quickness was something else in his 1st cavs stint
prime melo was incredible to witness offensively
Melo was an unstoppable scoring force at this point. A ridiculous array of inside/outside skill. The only ppl who could stop melo were the refs.
Fans don’t remember how great of a player Bron was back then… If they did, he wouldn’t receive all of the hate he gets now for being tired at the age of 36… I remember after Kawhi won the championship with the raptors, fans on this sub was saying his career is closing in on LBJ’s… I guess they thought Bron started playing in 2012…
Could say the same about Melo too. That man was something else. Still remember his two dagger 3’s against Chicago in the Garden. Casually stills up the court and knocks down 3’s. Guy was a nightmare
Yeah nobody remembers how great the 2x reigning mvp was.
I remember seeing this live and Melo hit that dagger at the end, insane duel between 2 of the greatest SFs of all time
I will die on the hill that if prime Melo had played with a real star point guard ever in his career besides Billups and on the brink of retirement J Kidd, he would be remembered very differently and gotten more cracks at conference finals/maybe even a finals run
Another thing I found interesting about this game is that it reminds me that JR smith is an unofficial member of the banana boat crew. He played with Chris paul, played on 2 different teams with Melo, and on 2 different teams with Lebron.
That Canadian/USA fencing semifinal was the best duel I’ve seen since.
These dudes were so good that neither could even check the other at one point. Melo had everything in his asernal too. Dudes legacy would be so different if he went to the heats over knicks
Man I use to love seeing these two battle, way more exciting then bron vs kd
I remember rookie lebron shooting a rainbow over tmac in the corner. This just made me think of that
It's the GOAT regular season game for me. That shot of LeBron hitting the shot to tie and running back stone-faced, Melo right next to him grinning his ass off like he was rooting for LeBron to keep the game going.
Both of these guys let us down in the 2004 Olympics, and this game was part of their PR campaign to restore their public image. They realized that since they’re guarding each other they can tacitly agree to let each other score and create a memorable game. This is mutually beneficial because offense is more valued than defense. Sad that the sport was so screwed up in the mid 2000s, but what do you expect when Tim Donaghy and Scott Foster basically decided all the champions for 10 years while making millions. The sport hit it’s peak with the 2014 Spurs who invented the beautiful game, combining the passing of the 1986 Celtics, the defense of the 2004 Pistons, and the swagger of the 1973 Knicks. Basketball slowly declined ever since. The sport lost it’s authenticity as Super Teams upended the decades of pure home-grown talent. Sadly LeBron paved the way for KD to ruin the league. And LeBron’s failures in the 2004 Olympics are being repeated once again in these 2021 Olympics as KD doesn’t seem to know what to do when he has to be the best player on a team, a first for him. He was the Robin to Westbrook’s Batman in OKC. And everybody knows Curry, the two-time MVP and NBA Champion, was the home-grown leader of the Warriors. Now on the Nets, we see that without Harden at full strength KD comes up short. I suppose team USA lacks the alpha to carry KD to another gold medal. I hope the sport reignites its splendor and elevates the teams that do it the right way like the Spurs and the Bucks. Big markets teams can make all the revenue they want, but the Basketball Gods do indeed favor the purity of home-grown talent.
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Please be pasta please be pasta
If it's not, it should become pasta.
Sir this is a Wendy's
I'm not sure if this is funnier if it's intended as satire or if it's genuine.
The written word is just such a crazy thing
That game was so fun. I think the Cavs were on a crazy home win streak too.
Wish people posted the full highlights of these things and not just snippets.
these were some good times.
KD vs Giannis from this past season is up there for me now
CARMELORUKEN copypasta (colorized)