Have you bought into Lebron HypeMachine???

[Witch-King]

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have both won the NBA 3 point contest before, but neither of them would ever say something like "I could win the NBA 3 point contest every season". Same with Nate Robinson - could you imagine him saying "I could win the NBA dunk contest every single year". I mean there is something to be said for showing a little humility...

[Roy Hobbs]

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have both won the NBA 3 point contest before, but neither of them would ever say something like "I could win the NBA 3 point contest every season". Same with Nate Robinson - could you imagine him saying "I could win the NBA dunk contest every single year". I mean there is something to be said for showing a little humility...

I remember Larry Bird once saying that he could get a triple double every night if he wanted to, but that's not what his team needed.  Lebron seems to be saying the same thing about scoring.  Sure, it's cocky, but it's also probably true.

[Witch-King]

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have both won the NBA 3 point contest before, but neither of them would ever say something like "I could win the NBA 3 point contest every season". Same with Nate Robinson - could you imagine him saying "I could win the NBA dunk contest every single year". I mean there is something to be said for showing a little humility...

I remember Larry Bird once saying that he could get a triple double every night if he wanted to, but that's not what his team needed.  Lebron seems to be saying the same thing about scoring.  Sure, it's cocky, but it's also probably true.

My original point was that there's no way he'd be able to win the scoring title at an efficiency were he would be the number 1 scoring option in almost every situation (ie like Michael Jordan, the person who originally made LeBron's jersey number 23 so famous/marketable), so there isn't much point in him scoring that often to begin with. He has had only 1 season where he scored above .500 from the field and his teammate Shaquille O'Neil has a much, much higher career field goal percentage than he does, a trend among bigs that take the majority of their shots closer to the basket than guards and small forwards.

[fairweatherfan]

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have both won the NBA 3 point contest before, but neither of them would ever say something like "I could win the NBA 3 point contest every season". Same with Nate Robinson - could you imagine him saying "I could win the NBA dunk contest every single year". I mean there is something to be said for showing a little humility...

I remember Larry Bird once saying that he could get a triple double every night if he wanted to, but that's not what his team needed.  Lebron seems to be saying the same thing about scoring.  Sure, it's cocky, but it's also probably true.

My original point was that there's no way he'd be able to win the scoring title at an efficiency were he would be the number 1 scoring option in almost every situation (ie like Michael Jordan, the person who originally made LeBron's jersey number 23 so famous/marketable), so there isn't much point in him scoring that often to begin with.

I think that's LeBron's point - he could do it, but it'd be a fool's game to try.

And I agree with Roy - Larry Bird was anything but humble.  So was Jordan.  And Pierce has declared himself the best player in the league and it's best shooter over the last couple seasons.  Nearly every great player has been at least a little bit of an arrogant jerk.  It's part of what makes them great.

[Witch-King]

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have both won the NBA 3 point contest before, but neither of them would ever say something like "I could win the NBA 3 point contest every season". Same with Nate Robinson - could you imagine him saying "I could win the NBA dunk contest every single year". I mean there is something to be said for showing a little humility...

I remember Larry Bird once saying that he could get a triple double every night if he wanted to, but that's not what his team needed.  Lebron seems to be saying the same thing about scoring.  Sure, it's cocky, but it's also probably true.

My original point was that there's no way he'd be able to win the scoring title at an efficiency were he would be the number 1 scoring option in almost every situation (ie like Michael Jordan, the person who originally made LeBron's jersey number 23 so famous/marketable), so there isn't much point in him scoring that often to begin with.

I think that's LeBron's point - he could do it, but it'd be a fool's game to try.

And I agree with Roy - Larry Bird was anything but humble.  So was Jordan.  And Pierce has declared himself the best player in the league and it's best shooter over the last couple seasons.  Nearly every great player has been at least a little bit of an arrogant jerk.  It's part of what makes them great.

Yes, however the difference between LeBron James and the guys that you mentioned is the fact that they have won rings and have found a way to market their 'personal brand' in a fashion that doesn't marginalize the rest of the league. I'll just put it this way, the Celtics first-round series vs the Chicago Bulls last season was considered by many to be one of the greatest NBA playoff series of all time, meanwhile the Cleveland Cavaliers first NBA Finals appearance ever in 2007 was the lowest rated NBA finals ever.

The NBA is a business and at the end of the day it just isn't cost-effective for someone like me to seriously root for LeBron James if I know that he isn't being marketed properly. That may mean that either he isn't being advertised to a big enough market for the league as a whole to be profitable or he is being over-hyped to the point where the quality of the basketball that I'm watching is being compromised. 

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/15/081215fa_fact_samuels

[freshinthehouse]

If he keeps this pace for the next 10 years and never wins a title, he's a lock for top 10 player of all time.

LeBron is unbelievable.  He's easily the best player today.  You guys are nutty if you can't see that.

The guy took an elderly Z, Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden and Sasha Pavlovic to the NBA finals, for god sakes. (oh... and he was 22 years old)

This is a joke, right?  Get a grip, fellas.  Bron is otherworldly. 

Agreed. I can't believe the jealousy in some of these posts.  These same guys would be doing backflips if we could get him on the C's.  But since he doesn't play for the C's, somehow he's overrated and doesn't care about winning.  Pretty incredible.

[housecall]

I never bought into the Lebron hype and we all were witnesses... Lebron is overhyped.

[Eja117]

Wait wait wait. There's a Lebron hype machine? When did this start?

[Celtics Fan]

I don't care about LBJ, beside he not coming to Beantown so who cares. Besides we own him in the playoffs.

[Change]

I thought this was the perfect time to this. Espn, AKA the Lebron personal hypemachine, is providing an avenue for Lebron to spit his BS to the public again.

LeBron James is planning to announce the team with which he will sign during a one-hour special on ESPN Thursday night, ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard has learned through independent sources.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5359255

Chris Broussard, Fail. Taking credit for the story, but he is ESPN.

[Q_FBE]

I'll never buy into any hype machines. I watch basketball on its own merits. And I still passionately root for the Celtics.