Yeah, I don't think anyone REALLY believes what jpake said--so it made sense to me that it was sarcasm real fast. Especially with the direction this thread went in.

But I think that most would agree LeBron probably could do what he said--and that doesn't mean there aren't other GREAT players and scorers in the league. But I'm not sure why people keep talking about players jacking up 40 shots a game and going for the scoring title that way. He didn't mean it like that. All those guys want to win before they want to win a scoring title--any guy that is that high in the league in points anyways. I'm sure there are some bench warmers that would love a scoring title lol. But I think LeBron said it with the assumption that players wouldn't be going for 40 shots a night and TRYING to win it. I think he could take his normal amount of shots and win it every year if he WANTED TO, like he said. Because if he was trying, he wouldn't put up many more shots--he'd just score more efficiently. Half of those jumpers would either turn into layups or FT's--and I better not get one idiot that wants to argue that LeBron can't get a lay up or FT's pretty much whenever he wants at this point. In fact I know most people agree with that because so many people bitch that he shoots too many jumpers. From my point of view, I look at the shooting percentage and the PPG and say keep on keepin on LeBron. But I mean, if he set a goal to average 35 a night for a season and he was going to try and achieve that goal--he'd do it. And 35 would win the scoring title every year--because like I said, players don't really care that much about it--it's bragging rights maybe but it doesn't mean a whole lot. No one is gunning for it--those guys scoring 25+ a night are interested in winning. The stats (clearly for guys like LeBron, Wade, Melo, Kobe) take care of themselves.

I think he could average 50pts a game if he wanted too, all while averaging a decent 4-5ast like some top scorers do.

Agreed. Not sure what the record would look like though and he certainly would have to put forth a different kind of effort and really TRY to do that. Which we all know is never going to happen.

So why cant he do it AND win like MJ? Thats what I dont get.

That's just not him. I've always seen his personality more like Magic than MJ. MJ knew he couldn't be stopped and trusted himself more than anybody else. Sometimes, I wish LBJ did that more, because I honestly don't think he could be stopped. Magic always had the personality of let me do what I can to keep us within striking distance, but when push comes to shove, I'm making the smart basketball play because I know you guys will knock it down like I would.

Yeah, first of all he's not MJ. The MJ comparisons are so misunderstood IMO. They're compared because people think that LeBron could have an MJ legacy. They think he's that good--but they aren't similar players. Kobe is FAR more like Jordan than LeBron. There really hasn't ever been another player in the league that you can compare LeBron to fairly. Magic would probably be the closest--but Magic was a different player too.

But he CAN win it and win. He never said he couldn't. LOL, why is everyone so caught up in this?

This is what he said: "I don't care about the scoring title, I could win the scoring title if I wanted to win the scoring title, but I don't care if I do or not. If it happens so be it, but I'm interested in doing what it takes to win rather than trying to pad my career stats."

Isn't that what he's "supposed" to say? The dude has been such a model citizen that people stretch to get a shot in on him to an extent that I've only seen in politics.

But guess what, he very well may win the scoring title and the NBA title this year.

And don't start with the comparisons to the 90's either. The 90's didn't have anywhere near the amount of HOF level SCORERS like it does today. Jordan is a big reason for that--he changed the way people look at basketball, every little kid wanted to be MJ. Now look at those guys that were little kids when he was playing. When Jordan was running the league, he was the alpha dog. These days, there is one on every good team--the league is so much deeper.

SQ_Crazies wrote: Yeah, first of all he's not MJ. The MJ comparisons are so misunderstood IMO. They're compared because people think that LeBron could have an MJ legacy. They think he's that good--but they aren't similar players. Kobe is FAR more like Jordan than LeBron. There really hasn't ever been another player in the league that you can compare LeBron to fairly. Magic would probably be the closest--but Magic was a different player too.

But he CAN win it and win. He never said he couldn't. LOL, why is everyone so caught up in this?

This is what he said: "I don't care about the scoring title, I could win the scoring title if I wanted to win the scoring title, but I don't care if I do or not. If it happens so be it, but I'm interested in doing what it takes to win rather than trying to pad my career stats."

Isn't that what he's "supposed" to say? The dude has been such a model citizen that people stretch to get a shot in on him to an extent that I've only seen in politics.

But guess what, he very well may win the scoring title and the NBA title this year.

And don't start with the comparisons to the 90's either. The 90's didn't have anywhere near the amount of HOF level SCORERS like it does today. Jordan is a big reason for that--he changed the way people look at basketball, every little kid wanted to be MJ. Now look at those guys that were little kids when he was playing. When Jordan was running the league, he was the alpha dog. These days, there is one on every good team--the league is so much deeper.

Or maybe it was that Jordan was that much better then everyone else.

2quik4u wrote: Or maybe it was that Jordan was that much better then everyone else.

Nope, I agree with SQ on this one. A player like Tyreke Evans would have TORE IT UP in the 90s because there weren't enough guys to compete with him on both an ability and athletic level.

Now, you have a MYRIAD of guys better than Evans. Lebron, Kobe, Durant, Wade, Carmelo, to name a few, as well as guys like Monta Ellis, Kevin Martin, Danny Granger, Dirk Nowitzki all guys who won't even be in the hall of fame because they played in the same era as the guys I previously mentioned.

I haven't even mentioned guys like Joe Johnson Brandon Roy Derrick Rose yet.


So rethink what you said, because SQ has a VERY good point.

I recently went through probably 1,000 NBA/MLB cards I owned when I was a kid. (Mid 1990's).

The best cards I could find were Moses Malone, Sleepy Floyd (my new alias), and Jayson Williams--the one who shot his limousine driver.

You should SEE some of the dudes who got a card. Wow. The book itself is an indictment on Jordan's legacy.

Jordan was that much better than 99% of the league in the 90's. He was certainly the best player of the 90's and I consider him the GOAT (for now), but it doesn't change the fact that the NBA was a one man show in the 90's.

I'm just saying, the competition for a scoring title wasn't nearly as deep a competition as it is today.

lhslep134 wrote:

2quik4u wrote: Or maybe it was that Jordan was that much better then everyone else.

Nope, I agree with SQ on this one. A player like Tyreke Evans would have TORE IT UP in the 90s because there weren't enough guys to compete with him on both an ability and athletic level.

Now, you have a MYRIAD of guys better than Evans. Lebron, Kobe, Durant, Wade, Carmelo, to name a few, as well as guys like Monta Ellis, Kevin Martin, Danny Granger, Dirk Nowitzki all guys who won't even be in the hall of fame because they played in the same era as the guys I previously mentioned.

I haven't even mentioned guys like Joe Johnson Brandon Roy Derrick Rose yet.


So rethink what you said, because SQ has a VERY good point.

Well for such high scoring players in the 00's why did one man lead it 40% of the time?

1999–00 Shaquille O'Neal
2000–01 Allen Iverson
2001–02 Allen Iverson
2002–03 Tracy McGrady
2003–04 Tracy McGrady
2004–05 Allen Iverson
2005–06 Kobe Bryant
2006–07 Kobe Bryant
2007–08 LeBron James
2008–09 Dwyane Wade

Sage wrote: 1999–00 Shaquille O'Neal
2000–01 Allen Iverson
2001–02 Allen Iverson
2002–03 Tracy McGrady
2003–04 Tracy McGrady
2004–05 Allen Iverson
2005–06 Kobe Bryant
2006–07 Kobe Bryant
2007–08 LeBron James
2008–09 Dwyane Wade

i went by total points not ppg

That's the list for the scoring title during the 00s.

Sage wrote: That's the list for the scoring title during the 00s.

yes I know, its calculated by ppg

wouldnt the one with the highest average, by definition, have the most points? since it's all divided by 82? or am i being an idiot? (entirely not out of the realm when dealing with numbers).

^^^

Being an idiot. I'm pretty sure they divide it by the Number of games you play, past a certain point of course.

It's not all divided by 82, PPG is divided by the number of games the player played.

Again, 2quick, I'm talking about the competition. It wasn't nearly as competitive. There weren't nearly as many elite scorers as there are now and as there were during the past decade.

Season Lg Player PTS Tm
2009-10 NBA LeBron James 2147 CLE
2008-09 NBA Dwyane Wade 2386 MIA
2007-08 NBA Kobe Bryant 2323 LAL
2006-07 NBA Kobe Bryant 2430 LAL
2005-06 NBA Kobe Bryant 2832 LAL
2004-05 NBA Allen Iverson 2302 PHI
2003-04 NBA Kevin Garnett 1987 MIN
2002-03 NBA Kobe Bryant 2461 LAL
2001-02 NBA Paul Pierce 2144 BOS
2000-01 NBA Jerry Stackhouse2380 DET

Ah yea. There it is.

Kobe is the most dominant scorer in his generation. This list makes sense.

It's given to PPG, not total points.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Basketball_Association_season_scoring_leaders

Although AI won it once and only played in 48 games, which is kind of lame.

SQ_Crazies wrote: It's given to PPG, not total points.

I realize this but if were talking about points scored why wouldn't we talk about totals?