LeBron James

[King Taharqa]

Congrats to the King on his 2nd straight MVP. The Best Player On The Planet.

[Kevin Greene]

Nice work Lebron.

Any NBA Finals MVP trophies on your mantle?

[King Taharqa]

Nice work Lebron.

Any NBA Finals MVP trophies on your mantle?

Coming soon. Say Kobe, in 14 years of basketball how many times you been MVP of this league?

[tarheel32blue]

ALL HAIL THE KING.

35 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 50% from the field.

I thought he had a messed up elbow?

[carolinapanther4life]

What exactly is James a King of?

[tarheel32blue]

What exactly is James a King of?

The NBA currently and is the heir to the "greatest of all-time throne" for when he retires.

[King Taharqa]

ALL HAIL THE KING.

35 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 50% from the field.

I thought he had a messed up elbow?

THE BEST ON THE PLANET...KING

:coolgleamA:

[King Taharqa]

LeBron James is averaging 30.9 PPG vs. the Boston Celtics franchise in his career. Thats the highest average in history. Think about that for a second. Higher than MJ, higher than Wilt, higher than Kareem. Guys that were known for putting up HUGE numbers against one of the most storied franchises in NBA history built on blue collar defense. Including tonight's performance, LeBron is averaging 35 points per game vs. the Celtics this season.

[King Taharqa]

Forward Thinking: Celebrating LeBron's greatness

On the eve of LeBron’s MVP announcement, some of the greatest forwards in NBA history—Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Rick Barry, Billy Cunningham, Julius Erving, John Havlicek, Bernard King, Jerry Lucas, Kevin McHale, Scottie Pippen, Dolph Schayes and Dominique Wilkins celebrated LeBron’s greatness through qualities that all winning players/MVPs must have—leadership, physicality, basketball IQ, selflessness/sacrifice, competitive drive, versatility, dealing with pressure, will to dominate and the will to win.

LEADERSHIP

“I love his leadership. The one thing that I am so impressed with him is his focus on the team and that he is not a selfish player. That’s something that I’m very high on.” — Jerry Lucas

“LeBron has grown as a leader since his rookie year. He has a tremendous acumen of knowing exactly where all of the guys are on the floor and getting each of his teammates involved in the offense. His leadership skills are unparalleled and among the greatest who have ever played the game.” — Bernard King

“LeBron displays the type of leadership that Oscar Robertson had. When Oscar was with Cincinnati, he took over the game. If they needed him to play forward he did. If they needed him to stop a guy on defense, he did. Oscar controlled the game, the action of his team and LeBron seems to do that as well as anybody I’ve ever seen.

“LeBron reminds me of Oscar who controlled many facets of the game.” — Dolph Schayes

“He’s a great leader. The thing about him and Kobe is that they show up every night. He’s unselfish. He fits in the category of great players who make their teammates better.” — Rick Barry

“He grew into a great leader.” — John Havlicek

“He’s a true leader. The floor general on the basketball court. To be as young as he is and to have everybody on the team look up to him and really to look to feed off his energy is pretty amazing.

“What impresses me the most is that LeBron wants to be the leader. He demands it. Not a lot of guys want that responsibility.” — Dominique Wilkins

“He seems to be maturing into that leader that’s going to be able to throw it out there, say this is what we got to do and then be able to do it. You have to be able to back it up but sometimes you also have to be able to say it, too. I think he’s evolving into that.” — Kevin McHale

“The attitude he brings to the game is great leadership. Watching LeBron play, you never feel like you’re not getting a total effort. That’s something your leader must be able to bring to the game, set a standard for everybody else.

“It looks like that there’s a wonderful relationship between he and his teammates. The key is that he sets the tone for how the team is going to play and the type of effort that is going to be expected of everybody.” — Billy Cunningham

“LeBron is the consummate leader. He was given the reins and the ball from Day 1 even though the Cavs had veterans on the team when he arrived. It’s rare.

It’s comparable to Magic Johnson. Magic at 19, had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jamaal Wilkes, the guys who were the captains. Magic wasn’t the captain but he became the vocal leader in the playoffs.” — Julius Erving

BASKETBALL IQ

“His basketball IQ is on the level of Bird, Magic and Jordan and their basketball IQ was off the charts. He’s developed a killer instinct. You see a certain fierceness, something he’s developed the last few years. His IQ is one of the highest I’ve ever seen.” — Bernard King

“LeBron understands the game, he knows the game. He sees the game developing in front of him. And as a result, he takes advantage of it.” — Jerry Lucas

“Gaining perspective year by year, game by game where he will become a great player in analyzing what needs to be done.”—John Havlicek

“Phenomenal. He knows how to win and get things done. He’s observant and he knows what’s going on every second of the game and what is required to win.” — Dolph Schayes

“Fantastic. He has a great, natural feel for the game, which all of the great players really and truly have. I think he has a terrific IQ for the game of basketball.” — Rick Barry

“Off the scale. He’s so far ahead of the game. Even before the ball is taken out of bounds, he’s already anticipating what his attack is going to be. He already knows what the defense is going to do.

“He’so young but he’s seen a lot of things and he knows how to react to them plus he has great anticipation. He has a phenomenal mind for the game and that is on both ends of the court.” — Scottie Pippen

“He has an amazing basketball IQ. You look at what he does outside of his scoring. He makes everyone around him better. He’s a great passer, a very, very good rebounder. From that aspect, he’s got a great basketball mind.” — Dominique Wilkins

“It’s getting better. Sometimes there are too many people standing around, watching LeBron. I noticed him at times now getting his teammates involved in the situation, which I think is necessary because in the playoffs, teams are able to focus and have a game plan to limit the team.” — Billy Cunningham

“He’s at the top. LeBron has that gift. Like Elgin, Oscar, West, Russell, Bird, Magic, Michael. They know before a game starts that if the game plan presented on the board isn’t going to work to perfection, then they’ll tweak it.

“They’re ability to tweak it and tweak it quickly reflects a high basketball IQ. He has that gift.” — Julius Erving

“He’s understanding who he is, what his team does, what they need to do to win. I think he’s evolving into a real high-level guy. He understands what they have to do to win, the defensive rotations, the offensive sets. He’s really evolving into a real high-level category for him.” — Kevin McHale

VERSATILITY

“He’s not only the most versatile player in the game, he’s one of the most versatile players to ever play. I look to Magic when I think of versatility. Like Magic, LeBron has the rebounding, the passing and the scoring to elevate his team.” — Bernard King

“There’s not much he can’t do. There are other forwards that have shot the ball better. He’s a good shooter but not a great shooter. Sometimes he’s streaky but he can do so many other things that he can overcome that without a problem.

“We’re talking about one of the very, very, very top players who has ever lived.” — Jerry Lucas

“You can play him at any position—forward, guard or center—and he’ll be outstanding and probably would make All-NBA at each one.” — John Havlicek

“His post-up game is probably better than most but it’s not the best part of his game because he doesn’t post up too much. Playing at the small forward position, I give him an A+ while I give his post-up game an A. He can play all five positions, coach and sell tickets.” — Dolph Schayes

“He can dribble, he can pass, he can score. He probably could coach if they allowed him to.” — Rick Barry

“He’s the most versatile player in the NBA. Versatile as far as his mind, his knowledge, his ability to do things on the defensive end, to defend different positions. He can play four, five positions in a game.” — Scottie Pippen

“He’s a hybrid type of player that can play multiple positions. He can basically do whatever he wants. Depending on who the Cavs are playing against, LeBron can even play a little center.” —Dominique Wilkins

“You think of left, right, forward, back, up, down—he’s got the whole package. He’s a tenacious defender. He applies himself defensively, which is the biggest improvement in his game. A fierce shot blocker, who is not afraid to make the play and go for the steal.

“Offensively, he dictates to the defense how he’s going to be played. They don’t dictate to him. He dictates how you’re going to play me on a given night.

“If I have all the pieces working—inside-outside and my passing game, I’m unstoppable. That’s LeBron.” — Julius Erving

“He’s as versatile as it gets. He can play four out of the five spots—one, two, three, four. He probably could play five if he wanted to.

“What he’s becoming is just a more athletic version of Magic.” — Kevin McHale

“I think we’re seeing more and more versatility of LeBron when I watch him. I love to watch him when he gets in the low post because I think he creates more problems for teams.

“It just reminds me of coaching against Boston when [Larry] Bird was a perimeter player then all of a sudden he went to the low post. Now, what do you do? Do you double him? Do you let him go one on one? Because they’re such good passers and they make their teammates better. Whereas out on the open court, in a set offensive situation, you can take away something. You can force them to be a perimeter shooter or force them to the left, whatever it may be but when he gets to the low post with his quickness and size, either he’s bigger or he’s quicker or probably both whoever’s playing him and it just adds a great deal more pressure into the low post.” — Billy Cunningham

“LeBron James is the best basketball player in the world.” — Charles Barkley

“When I watch LeBron James, a lot of times I think he’s just out there teasing with the teams. He’s getting other people involved early. Now, he can make the shots. He’s awesome to watch.

“He’s one guy in the league that I think he’ll probably be better than all of us when it’s all said and done.” — Larry Bird

alot more....

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Anb81.2Qy5IxsQeuMW4mKvDJPKB4?slug=nba_com-lebron.mvp-20100501

[King Taharqa]

LeBron posing with his 2 MVP trophies. Plenty more to come!

[King Taharqa]

"I’m always humbled by anything I can do individually,” James said Sunday, “because I understand this is a team game and any time you’re singled out, that means you’ve done something special. It’s definitely humbling. … It’s great.”

The 6-foot-8, 270-pound forward threw himself into developing on both the individual and team fronts this season. He ranked second in the league in scoring (29.7) and averaged 7.3 rebounds, 8.6 assists (most ever by a forward, sixth-best in the NBA), 1.0 blocked shots and 1.6 steals (ninth). Fifteen times James led the Cavs across the board in points, rebounds and assists, and he was a league-high plus-650 in plus/minus rankings. Defensively, he became the bogeyman lurking over every opponent’s shoulder with a transition layup in mind. Offensively, James honed his shooting range and was accurate a career-best 50.3 percent of the time.

Collectively, the Cavaliers snagged the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive season, topping 60 victories both times. Cleveland has had the league’s best home record for two years, too, going 74-8 at Quicken Loans Arena. Confronted by—after largely lobbying for—a revamped roster from the squad that exited last spring’s postseason, James blended new faces and talents such as Shaquille O’Neal, Antawn Jamison, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon into a group that wasn’t exactly broken to begin with.

He then vowed to take all of the above to another level in this postseason, which doesn’t figure into MVP voting but speaks volumes about the guy who won. “When I said that it wasn’t about on the court,” James explained during the Chicago series, “it was more about preparation and mentally what was going on with the game. Every second, every minute. Stepping up my game on the court, I’ve done that a little bit.”

What’s left? Why of course, the hardware no player can possibly win by himself, yet the stuff that gets used constantly to define the game’s greatest stars, qualifying or eliminating them as the case may be. None of the other major sports holds its superstars as accountable for winning championships as the NBA. And none holds it against those who come up short quite as severely.

Russell, Jordan, Bird, Johnson, even Chamberlain, Erving, Robertson and West? They’re in. Barkley, Ewing, Malone, Stockton, Miller? Nope, they’re out. No NBA title, no chunky championship ring, so no rights or privileges in the lodge of the league’s very best, at least the way some people see it.

James included.

“The only reason I do what I do on the court is to compete for an NBA championship,” he told the Akron crowd. “I understand that, until I win that, I won’t go down as one of the greatest players to play this game. Individual accolades definitely come into account, but team is what it’s all about. That’s my only goal right now. I can’t name something that I haven’t done individually in my short career that’s bigger than an NBA championship. … This is the closest I’ve been to it right now with the team that we have, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

So O’Neal is in (four rings), Bryant is in (four as well) and even Dwyane Wade qualifies, if his stats and victory totals stay impressive over time. But James is out? Until he wins at least one title with the Cavs or someone else?

Doesn’t seem right, but there it is. And opinion from within ranges all over the map.

Were the Boston Celtics’ primary stars—Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen—any greater in July 2008 than they were in April 2008, before and after they broke through together for their first taste of real triumph? Would James rank any higher today in the pantheon of players—the MVMVPs, if you will—had Cleveland beaten San Antonio in the 2007 Finals? Will he be transformed somehow if the Cavs get there again this spring and win four games rather than three against some West opponent?

No, said Boston’s Allen. Yes, said Celtics coach Glenn (Doc) Rivers.

“That’s just a category they put you in,” Allen said earlier Sunday. “But nothing changes. It’s a prestige that you can carry for yourself. But as a matter of fact, a lot of people will forget as you move around the world and you go on in life. The enthusiasts might remember that you won a championship and every now and then you’ll bring your ring out and say, ‘I won it this year.’ And people will say, ‘Oh yeah, you did win it. Who was on your team?’ People forget and rightfully so.

“Sports can be fickle. If you polled this [Celtics] team and the Cleveland team or whoever else is playing in the postseason, and asked them, ‘Who won the championship in 1989?’ I’d know it was the Pistons but most of these guys are so much younger they wouldn’t know. It’s just something people use to make it easier to say who was great and who wasn’t.”

Said Rivers: “Once LeBron wins, yeah, he’ll be a greater player. Because he’ll understand the value of the little things. When you go back on our year that we won, you can go to five or six possessions in all those different series. The jump ball play with LeBron and Paul, where LeBron should have boxed him out, Paul dove on the floor, we got the ball. That may have been the single biggest play of the series, a loose ball we got.

“There was that one play where Eddie House got the ball where he always shoots it, but we talk about making ‘the next pass,’ and he did the right thing, throwing it to P.J. Brown wide open, and P.J. makes it. That’s that trust. When you win, you learn all those little things are important.”

It sounded like, as much as stamping a great player with validation as a winner, capturing a championship puts a superstar through a process that makes him, early or late, that much better. That much more savvy and aware.

“After the stamp, maybe you realize the value of the little things more,” Rivers said. “Or you appreciate them. Then you do them for the rest of your life.”

It’s a nuance thing, a six-of-one, half-a-dozen-of-the-other consideration. But then, the way he’s going, James wants all 12 anyway.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AhuGqBbeKn0Vc7YpTmIIt5OLvLYF?slug=nba_com-james.mvp-20100502

[theyhateme45]

LEADERSHIP

“I love his leadership. The one thing that I am so impressed with him is his focus on the team and that he is not a selfish player. That’s something that I’m very high on.” — Jerry Lucas

“LeBron has grown as a leader since his rookie year. He has a tremendous acumen of knowing exactly where all of the guys are on the floor and getting each of his teammates involved in the offense. His leadership skills are unparalleled and among the greatest who have ever played the game.” — Bernard King

“LeBron displays the type of leadership that Oscar Robertson had. When Oscar was with Cincinnati, he took over the game. If they needed him to play forward he did. If they needed him to stop a guy on defense, he did. Oscar controlled the game, the action of his team and LeBron seems to do that as well as anybody I’ve ever seen.

“LeBron reminds me of Oscar who controlled many facets of the game.” — Dolph Schayes

“He’s a great leader. The thing about him and Kobe is that they show up every night. He’s unselfish. He fits in the category of great players who make their teammates better.” — Rick Barry

“He grew into a great leader.” — John Havlicek

“He’s a true leader. The floor general on the basketball court. To be as young as he is and to have everybody on the team look up to him and really to look to feed off his energy is pretty amazing.

“What impresses me the most is that LeBron wants to be the leader. He demands it. Not a lot of guys want that responsibility.” — Dominique Wilkins

“He seems to be maturing into that leader that’s going to be able to throw it out there, say this is what we got to do and then be able to do it. You have to be able to back it up but sometimes you also have to be able to say it, too. I think he’s evolving into that.” — Kevin McHale

“The attitude he brings to the game is great leadership. Watching LeBron play, you never feel like you’re not getting a total effort. That’s something your leader must be able to bring to the game, set a standard for everybody else.

“It looks like that there’s a wonderful relationship between he and his teammates. The key is that he sets the tone for how the team is going to play and the type of effort that is going to be expected of everybody.” — Billy Cunningham

“LeBron is the consummate leader. He was given the reins and the ball from Day 1 even though the Cavs had veterans on the team when he arrived. It’s rare.

It’s comparable to Magic Johnson. Magic at 19, had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jamaal Wilkes, the guys who were the captains. Magic wasn’t the captain but he became the vocal leader in the playoffs.” — Julius Erving

:smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5:

After watching that celtics series, King James is not doing a good job of living up to some of these quotes.... It's funny just reading them after that series. Wow.

[King Taharqa]

:smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5:

After watching that celtics series, King James is not doing a good job of living up to some of these quotes.... It's funny just reading them after that series. Wow.

Nobody wins em all. The King didnt play well and wasnt himself the last 3 games, but those guys meant what they said about him, so I trust their judgement. And if there was ever a basketball player from this era who can and who has lived up to them its LeBron James. Alot of the criticism being thrown at The King right now, Jordan, Big O, Wilt, Kobe, Shaq, Kevin Garnett, Jerry West, Dr. J, etc all have faced at points in their careers. Can they carry a team to a ring? Par for the course. Its no different for LeBron. Doesnt change the fact he's the game's best player and biggest free agent in 2010. He's proven that. With great expectation, comes great responsibility. The King already understands that. With success and hype comes haters and a backlash. The King already understands that. I truly take him at his word that he wants to experience TEAM success in the playoffs and win a championship. I take him at his word that he will do anything to achieve that goal. He will put himself in the best position to do so this offseason, and it WILL happen by the time he hangs up his Nikes.

The King is 25 years old. There's still a lot of basketball left in the tank baby. The King will come back bigger, stronger, faster, and even more efficient than he was last year wherever he plays. Just like he did this season. There's still room for growth for this young man to become an even better player. He can work on his post game, he can continue to become a better free throw shooter, he can continue to expand his mid range game. Sky's the limit for the King.

[Porn Shop Clerk]

People forget he's just 25.