I should probably fact check things I read. But this isn't the thread for that.

We should all be less like TWOG

The result might be the same this year but not next year or future years because we know that Tatum has the assisted skillset required to develop great ball movement and chemistry, while Luka's ball-dominance will quickly destroy the Celtics' chemistry.. Similar to the Nuggets last year, these Celtics look like they can just run it back - their chemistry is so great that the team looks unbeatable - Luka would destroy this and the team would be needing "more help" in no time.

So the point is that Tatum's skillset allows the development of great chemistry and a great team, while Luka's weaker brand of ball will always need a significant talent advantage to win - if Kyrie could've outplayed the Celtics' best player just like he outplayed the Warriors' best player in 2016, then I'm sure Luka would be sitting here with his first title and FMVP... But this isn't peak Kyrie like we saw in 16', 17' and the beginning of 18'... Some players have really short peaks and this is often the case for shorter, explosive guys like Kyrie - I'm impressed that Kyrie was still good enough in his 30's to make the Finals.

Ultimately, Kyrie's Finals appearance this year confirms that Lebron needed more help than MJ because we know that for Lebron to win as 1st option, he needed 2 perennial all-stars and a sidekick that made the Finals without him... Both of these things - 1) sidekicks making the Finals without him and 2) two star teammates - these are objective demonstrations of Lebron's superior help.. So thank you Kyrie for making the finals without Lebron and adding to the mountain of evidence that he's not on MJ's level.

30-point playoff games

Tatum............. 29 in 113 games
Brown............. 13 in 104 games
Pippen.............. 6 in 208 games


Pippen wasn't the kind of guy that could come out and start taking over like Tatum and Brown

Pippen was just a dunker and transition player or system player with low peak capability (not on scouting report according to Shaq) - his ceiling would be Shawn Marion or Iguoudala in today's game or Derrick Jones Jr would be above the floor.. Remember that Pippen was a 23-year old rookie that averaged 8 ppg, so he needed to land in the perfect spot to get all the development that he needed - he obviously did alongside the first DPOY/MVP in history.

It's remarkable that many media people think that if a player loses a series, it's because they didn't have their "pippen"... But Pippen was actually a low-producer and massive bed-wetter that never hit a big shot and was never a viable option in the clutch - he was the guy that was statistically-carried in every series - guys like "Pandemic P" or KAT's performance in these playoffs mirrors peak Pippen quite well.
.