Michael Cooper: LeBron Doesn't Make His Teammates Better

http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball-washington-wizards/talk/michael-cooper-lebron-doesnt-make-his-teammates-better?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo



Michael Cooper: LeBron doesn't make his teammates better
June 15, 2014, 11:30 pm





Michael Cooper played with Magic Johnson, against Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. Whether he's partial to those he knows best or not, the former Los Angeles Lakers guard doesn't rank LeBron James at the same level as the trio who helped define and grow the NBA's popularity in the 1980's and 90's.

The interesting part comes with Cooper's rationale as to why the Miami Heat star doesn't compare.

"I think obviously Michael Jordan was a spectacular player, but the best players to me [were] Bird and Magic at that era and particularly at that time when basketball was at its largest amount of growth," Cooper told CSNwashington on Sunday evening at the Verizon Center.

The longtime WNBA coach spoke after directing the Atlanta Dream to a win over the Washington Mystics - and before Miami's 104-87 loss in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The Heat lost the series 4-1 to the San Antonio Spurs with each defeat by at least 15 points.

"LeBron is definitely a good player and he has two championships under his belt. I think LeBron is the type of person who can definitely win you a championship, get you there, but the key to those other two players is they made other players around them better. I don't think LeBron is at that stage yet because if he was those two games [Games 3 and 4] he would have made [Mario] Chalmers a better player. He would have made [Chris] Bosh a better player."

The debate about where James, a two-time league champion and four-time regular season Most Valuable Player, ranks among the all-time best players intensified recently after he led Miami to the NBA Finals for the fourth straight year.

[RELATED: Winners & Losers: NBA Finals Edition]

James scored 31 points in the Game 5 blowout loss and averaged 28.2 for the series. As was the case throughout the finals, his teammates struggled offensively. No other Miami played scored more than 13 in the finale.

In games 3 and 4, Chalmers scored six points on 2 of 11 shooting. He was benched in Game 5. Bosh, a nine-time All-Star, scored 13 in Game 5 after a combined 21 points in the previous two games.

With the series loss, James fell to 2-3 in the NBA Finals.

Many in the historical comparison game bypass all others and ponder James versus Jordan, who is often considered the NBA's best player of all-time.

The 1987 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Cooper won five championships with the Lakers during his 12 NBA seasons.

"[LeBron] has to definitely be ranked up there with the best that ever played this game. But when you're talking and your breath doesn't include Magic or Bird or Elgin Baylor or some of the great ones, then you're not talking the right language to me."




bob


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At least as to Mario Chalmers, arguably Lebron has made him look better than he actually is.  Obviously Chalmers stunk in the finals but he has often played better than his talent.

Lebron may rank below Bird and Magic at making his teammates better but I sure wouldn't mind seeing him in a Celtic uniform with a chance to prove his detractors wrong.

If Lebron were ever to get a sniff at a Celtics uniform, I might seriously have to consider forgetting about pro basketball.  And his need to be featured is a major reason.  Many people (including, I believe, Lebron) think that, because he can dish out assists, Lebron is a team player.  That's actually a fairly minor part of strategizing about the many (often more subtle) ways to put teammates in positions to succeed.

If (I have to struggle to type these words) he were ever to become a Celtic, a serious element of Celtics tradition would go out the window.  Many (maybe most) Celtics fans would be all excited about the possibility of a Celtics having a league scoring champion.  Film for video cams would be sold out as fans clamored for more and more slams.  He would expect to be the center of attention.

I don't believe such a thing would ever happen.  But I wouldn't want him to be a Celtic even if they received him for free.

Sam

agreed Sam, hes a punk, could you imagine Russell or Wilt or Larry or Magic or Jordan trying to team up with another superstar to win? go ahead sign Carmelo

Cow, I really don't know enough about Lebron to understand whether or not he's a punk.  (In contrast, I find it easy to label Wade as a punk.)  I just don't like Lebron's approach to the game, and I don't like the forces that appear to drive him.

Sam

Sam I agree Wade is a bigger punk than Lebron, I have alot of friends that are hoop junkies, they all despise Wade.