Doesn't mean he wasn't bad.

Yep, Jordan really carried those scrubs when it counted. If his teammates hadn't finished the job for him he probably would've retired again right away.

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When I watched Anthony Edwards walking up and down the court all tired and dragging his feet, I wondered how anyone could compare him to MJ just based on the walk alone and inferior physique

Luka averaged 30 to get the Mavs a 3-0 lead and clinch this series

Accordingly, no one would care if Luka took his foot off the gas and averaged 24 on 37% in garbage time for the next 3 games.. this is especially true if his sidekick averaged 13 on 29% over the same period.

Kyrie IS the difference-maker - another narrative proven correct.

Specifically, the Cavs lost in 2015 and then Kyrie put them over the top in 2016.

Similarly, the 2018 Celtics would've easily made the Finals if Kyrie was healthy - Kyrie led them to a 22-4 record to start the season and was MVP for the first half of the year until he got hurt - this laid the foundation for that team.. Then Hayward returned in 2019, which stunted Tatum and Brown's growth... They saw 1-year drops across the board in 2019 (PER, BPM, VORP, WS/48).

Of course, the Nets were up 2-0 on Giannis in 2021 until Kyrie got hurt..

So this year proves Kyrie could've won titles in 2015 and 2021 if healthy, and he would've made the Finals in 2018.. He's a goat difference-maker and should've easily made top 75 over Lillard.

Classifying NBA finals close out games as “garbage time” is a new level of stupidity.

What about comparing 3 games in the critical part of the series to 3 games when the series is already won?

That's dumber than saying the games after a 3-0 lead is garbage time

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Thread Cliffs


For Lebron to win as 1st option, he needed a sidekick that made the Finals without him.

And if Kyrie wins the title and FMVP, then Lebron will have needed a FMVP sidekick to win... As it stands, Lebron already needed sidekicks that outplayed Dirk, Curry and Michael Jordan, I mean Ant..

Show me where Pippen outplayed an all-timer like Shaq, Barkley, Malone or Ewing - he was never expected to play at the top level and was never an elite producer or franchise player.. Can you imagine Kyrie being a 14 PPG bum outside the system??... Because that's what Pippen was - he was worse than Jeff Green in Houston just a few months after 3-peating with MJ.
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You actually need to win 4 games to win a series, not 3. Every single Finals game is critical. And the season is over afterward.

The idea that MJ (who his fans regard as the GOAT competitor and obsessed with winning) would not give effort in Games 4-6 of a Finals series and suck on purpose is utter insanity.

Damn I was sure the pressure was much lower when u lead 3-0 compare when it’s 0-0 or 3-3 .
Again winning 6 finals without ever reaching a 7 game it still not good enough while losing 3 games to win in 7 is considered better performance shrug .

I couldn't shoot threes to save my life until my 30's, but the exception was when I happened to be the best player on the floor - then I shot decently on threes - so I could go from having decent efficiency on threes against weak comp, to being not an option at all from 3-point land against guys my level or higher..

And that's what is going on with Ant and a lot of guys that seemingly have solid jumpers - Ant knows that he's the best athletic talent on the floor pretty much every night, and this fuels the confidence in his jumper - but as we've seen in the last 8 games or so, there's a level where his jumper becomes completely broke.. So I don't think he's truly a good shooter and certainly not a "knock-down" shooter.. Otoh, MJ was the goat 2-point jumpshooter that hit more jumpshots in 1987 than anyone ever hit in a season, and he also shot better on threes at today's volumes (3+ attempts).

Congrats on shooting well from 3 when playing against the under 12s D division girls team.

If Kyrie wins this year, it would confirm that he's the key that unlocks the winning formula for ball-domination - Lebron's ring quality would be reduced.

Hopefully, Kyrie will win FMVP so I can say that Lebron needed FMVP's at sidekick to win as 1st option.. Either way, he needed sidekicks that could make the Finals without him.

So even though it goes against all my narratives, but I hope the ball-dominator (Luka) beats the expert jumpshooter (Tatum).

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Ant was upset and swept by #13 SRS team despite 17 on 73 TS from Naz Reid, while MJ upset the #1 SRS team with 15 on 51 TS from Pippen

2024 Mavs............ #13 SRS
1989 Cavs............... #1 SRS

Except he wasn't swept.

the point remains:


89' Pippen..................... 15 on 51 TS
24' Naz Reid.................. 15 on 69 TS
24' KAT........................... 18 on 47 TS
24' Conley...................... 14 on 59 TS
24' McDaniels'............... 13 on 69 TS
24' Gobert...................... 13 on 67 TS


5 teammates are performing at "pippen-level", yet Ant is getting upset by #13 SRS, while MJ upset the #1 SRS.

This is a BAD mavs team based on every metric (#13 SRS) - MJ would average 40 against this weak team just like he did against the #1 SRS in 86' or 89', and many other teams.

Who's saying Ant is better than Jordan?

Dallas cannot mail this game in tonight - they can't give it away and think they'll win at home in Game 6.. It literally never works out for the team mailing it in... Giving a game away via blowout gives the other team confidence and doesn't wear them down.. The team giving the game away is worried about saving energy but they need to wear down the opposing team by playing hard, otherwise the opponent is fresh AND confident from the blowout..

TLDR: if Dallas gets blown out tonight (if they mail the game in), they will lose the series... Otoh, if tonight is a close game so both teams get worn down, then Dallas will win in 6 (or 5 if they win tonight)

Kyrie dragged Lebron to one championship, now dragging Luka to another. True goat on this flat earth.

He's the apparent key that unlocks otherwise losing ball-domination (Lebron, Luka)

Healthy Kyrie + another star = guaranteed Finals but he simply wasn't healthy in 15', 18', or 21'.

Everyone's trolling about it... And they're doing the whole thing where they say "let's compare Jordan's 1st-year team when he was 22 years old to the 4th-year team of Ant at 22 years old so we can say Ant was a better winner at 22 than MJ"

[x] Projection

Some people

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Massive double standard identified on FS1


KAT was completely DESTROYED by Broussard and Nick Wright for scoring less than 18 in half the playoff games thus far, except Pippen averaged less than 18 for entire title runs with worst-ever shooting splits for a playoff run of 15 games and 35 MPG (96' and 98').. (the clip where Nick Wright destroys KAT over 18 points is here).

In addition to averaging under 18 on 41% for the entire 96-98' Playoffs, Pippen had less than 18 points in half the games of the is 92' and 93' title runs.. Small forwards like X-Man, Dominique, Schrempf, and Juwan Howard destroyed Pippen, while KAT was credited with winning Game 7 against Denver and making Jokic work harder than normal.

So can you see how Pippen is praised because MJ dragged his weak production to titles, while KAT plays better than Pippen but is destroyed for it because Ant can't drag it to titles??... Pippen never played above a peak Iguodala or Larry Nance level, but the winning spotlight inflated him to all-time status and media accolade.. Ultimately, since no one benefitted from the winning spotlight more than Pippen, he's the most overrated player of all-time..

Cowherd says that Ant "just needs his Pippen", but he already has his Pippen because the "pippen" is the weak sidekick production that must be dragged to titles.. See Kobe, Curry or MJ for successful examples of this.
Reason for Editing:

What about 2022 when Kyrie & KD got swept by the Celtics?