On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, JJ Redick and Brian Windhorst recap the Denver Nuggets sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.
0:00 Nikola Jokic and LeBron Jamesā post-game comments
2:00 Key defensive plays from Aaron Gordon late in Game 4
4:00 Stephen A.ās verdict on the biggest culprit for the Lakers demise
7:00 Stephen A. expected more from DāAngelo Russell
8:00 Windhorst credits ābrilliantā Denver
9:00 Itās not all doom and gloom for the Lakers, right?
10:30 Stephen A. fires back at JJ and Brian!
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34 Comments
JJ is NOT a good analyst smh Darren Reddick?
This yāall king? He who cries and pouts? Sheesh
Denver is a better team overall, itās simple.
The lakers need a closer…thats Kyrie
JJ to smart for this show
denver completes a 4-0 sweep behind murray and jokic (who wins the mvp for this round), aaron gordon puts on one of his best games in the post season, kcp and mpj made some big time shots and whatās the first thing they ask about? ā¦ of course
JJ stay off the weeeeeeeeeddddd
Bet they wish they had Dwight now huh
NO CULPRIT JUST THE FACT THAT DENVER IS FAR BETTER!!
Not gonna lie JJ is not one of my favorites. Anyone who stands with this "everyone deserves a trophy " mentality is not for me. It's super duper lame and weak in my opinion š¢
Hey Stephen A, you don't have to yell 24/7
Now we get to hear about how Kyrie Irving is coming to the Lakers next year all summer š
If lebron could assemble a team of his choosing and make more adjustments at the deadline after his initial team doesnāt pan out. Man, that would be somethingšš§
ššš LeBron let Jamal Murray go curry mode LeBron and AD was trash this whole series
JJ the best!!!
JJ is literally sucking all the fun out of the show with his negative energy
I've now accepted that LeBron is the GOAT.
All-Time Leading Scorer
MVPs: 4
Finals MVPs: 4
Rings: 4
All-Star MVPs: 3
All-Star Appearances: 19
All-NBA First Team: 13
All-NBA Second Team: 3
All-NBA Third Team: 3
All-Defensive First Team: 5
All-Defensive Second Team: 1
ROY: 1
All-Rookie First Team: 1
Scoring titles: 1
Assist titles: 1
Gold medals: 2
Total = 70
Michael Jordan
MVPs: 5
Finals MVPs: 6
Rings: 6
All-Star MVPs: 3
All-Star Appearances: 14
All-NBA First Team: 10
All-NBA Second Team: 1
All-Defensive First Team: 9
DPOY: 1
ROY: 1
All-Rookie First Team: 1
Scoring titles: 10
Steals titles: 3
Gold medals: 2
Collegiate title: 1
Slam dunk titles: 2
Total = 81
Higher PPG: MJ
Higher APG: LeBron
Higher RPG: LeBron
Higher BPG: Tied
Higher SPG: MJ
Higher FG%: LeBron
Higher 3PT%: LeBron
Higher FT%: MJ
Higher PER: MJ
Higher Box Plus/Minus: MJ
MJ's total = 5
LeBron's total = 4
More game winners: MJ
More higher Game Scores: MJ
More greatest/iconic moments: MJ
More heart: MJĀ
More mentally tough: MJ
More clutch: MJĀ
More loyalty: MJ
More excitement: MJĀ
More charisma: MJĀ
More beauty to his game: MJĀ
More influential: MJ (he influenced Kobe)
Better leader: LeBronĀ
Higher basketball IQ: LeBronĀ
Bigger: LeBronĀ
Stronger: LeBronĀ
Faster/quicker: MJĀ
Higher vertical: MJ (hangtime is longer too)
More durable: MJ (11x over 80 games)
More skill: MJ
MJ's total = 17
LeBron's total = 4
MJ's final total = 103
LeBron's final total = 78
Yeah, LeBron is the "GOAT" with that lower number in all areas while playing way more. Because 78 beats 103! Less accolades in more time. The GOAT, alright. š¤£Ā
I can put Kareem's accolades here and MJ would still destroy him. I'm removing marketability which MJ has over LeBron. I'm removing childhood nostalgia. I can remove subjective aspects like excitement, charisma, and beauty. I didn't want to include the bronze medals LeBron got in 2004 and 2006 (FIBA) In the end, MJ still wins.Ā
MJ beats everyone in NBA history on actual INDIVIDUAL accolades. He was as skilled as Kobe but with more raw athletic talent than Kobe. You can add LeBron's 10 Finals appearances over MJ's 6 which is really a team accomplishment like rings won and MJ is still winning comfortably over anyone.
I'll give credit to LeBron for better longevity than MJ. Hence, better longevity stats. You can argue for that with Karl Malone over MJ and nobody believes Karl is superior to MJ. LeBron also has more playoff meltdowns and sweeps. More losses as the favorite. More missed playoffs. Great Game 4 by LeBron. Still not the GOAT.
MJ's greatness: HIGHER
LeBron's greatness: LONGERĀ
šµāŖ SECRETARIAT šµāŖ
MJ vs. LeBron debate is like a Secretariat vs. Kelso or Forego debate. Kelso won 5 Horse of the Year awards from 1960-1964. Forego who lost to Secretariat in the Derby but won 3 HOYs (1974-1976). Both were geldings, so they were able to race longer. But most pundits will tell you Sec was better and greater while having running in less races.
That's MJ. He's Secretariat. He's Man o' War. The two Big Reds only raced for 2 seasons and never had a 4YO season. He's Spectacular Bid. He's Dr. Fager. LeBron is more Kelso and Forego. More John Henry. His peak wasn't as high as Jordan's but he got to be great far longer. Hard to argue 13x being on the All-NBA First Team to MJ's 10.
Greatest
1. Secretariat
2. Man o' War (Babe Ruth of racehorses)
3. Citation
Fastest
1. Secretariat
2. Dr. Fager
3. Spectacular Bid
You can argue the most brilliant runner ever was Dr. Fager but he never raced at 12F or was put in the Jockey Club Gold Cup which was the premier final race for all ages before the Breeders' Cup Classic. You can defeat him using rabbits. Can make an argument for Spectacular Bid was as great as Secretariat. But Secretariat was that SEXY horse moving like a tremendous machine!
At their very, very best and when Secretariat felt like running because he did lose a few times when he shouldn't have like to Angle Light, Onion, and Prove Out, Secretariat would've smoked Dr. Fager and The Bid at 10F-12F with his 22-pound heart or 3x larger than a normal thoroughbred. He would've dusted Man o' War, Citation, Native Dancer, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed too. The only weakness to Sec was his lack of grit. He wasn't a fighter like Seattle Slew was.
ššš
Happy 50 years, Secretariat (21-16-3-1). You were the greatest athlete to ever walk this Earth. Then Wilt Chamberlain.
MJ is still the GOAT and that would never change in my mind whether LeBron wins another 2 rings. LeBron is the Hank Aaron of NBA greats. Got to play so long. But he's not as transcendent as Babe Ruth (Man o' War) or Michael Jordan (Secretariat). LeBron is the Kelso/Forego of NBA greats. More Forego because he was 17-hands. Kelso looked like a little skinny deer.
Hats off to the Nuggets, they played phenomenal basketball.
GIVE ME KOBE.
Bruh stephen a annoyingš
Still 0 credit for the Nuggets and they SWEPT themā¦it is unreal.
I don't really understand salary cap too well. If Lebron was to say next season instead of 44 million he just settled for 30 million. Would that give the Lakers 14 million more to spend in the summer? Or do the Lakers have to pay out his assigned contract. I wonder if Lebron would do that for a better chance at a ring, considering his net worth is over a Billion.
Here come the excuses for Lebron
So Lebron didnāt play terrible in multiple games huh
Even Ref playing as 6th man for the Lakers, they could not win a single game. Let's just move on.
Bro can you guys stop talking about the LAKERS š¤¦āāļø
Stephen A never said who the biggest culprit was, yet JJ actually said a whole team the culprit and answered the question. Crazy.
Biggest culprit for the Lakers demise was Nikola Jokic, the best player in the world.
The culprit is the Los Angeles Lakers inability to shoot the basketball. They had double-digit leads more than once and because they can't shoot, they lost those leads and lost those games. It's a make or miss league. Denver made their shots, the Lakers missed. Denver is a much better shooting team.
JJ at the end š
Everyone, adjust the video play speed down to 0.25 and watch Jokicās feet when he has the ball. Ever seen anyone take more steps between dribbles?
Happy DāAngelo Russell got the playoff reps. Wish he was a bit better mentally. Also, maybe you shouldnāt have traded Westbrook and Pat Bev. I donāt like the mid season team scrub for A brand new team. People we say it works, but yet only for a short amount of time. Most teams donāt have info footage on these teams, and when they get it in the playoffs, they figure it out. That said, if this is it ā¦ they really did treat this guy like a King the entire time. Kinda weird to me. They made Kobe earn it. Jordan had to earn it. āQuick Bron is losing, rebuild his team on the double.ā If im Pat and Russ, drinks on me tonight.
Denver wins it all in 6, I'll give Miami two at home
the Lebron dickriding from Windhorst is absolutely insane
Lakers needed a big body to put on Jokic, aka a McGee or Dwight Howard type player