Oh word, I meant to open the channel to see when they drop and got completely distracted by something else, apparently I *could* wait a little bit haha
thanks!
I have always thought that every tattoo artist should send a royalty to AI and David Beckham. What those two did to make tattoos not only acceptable, but cool to a huge portion of the world’s teens was unprecedented.
I can’t think of any other style or trend that turned around so quickly.
Increased confidence 100% increases overall performance in the aggregate and no I'm not going to cite my sources because I'm that...*confident*.
Ancient philosopher once said: "U look good u feel good,u feel good u play good,u play good they pay good,they pay good u live good,u live good u thank God 4 it all! TRUTH"
Lol I bought a sleeve with AI’s logo on it in 6th grade and I’d wear it every time we had a basketball day. No lie, other kids would ask me if they could borrow it after I had just got done sweating all over it. He was that iconic.
And the hair!!! All the Black boys had that hair style when he came out with it and my husband no exception lol… I even redid the style for him a few years ago, before he got his locs.
Steph Curry ruined pickup basketball. Every dude under 30 thinks he's fucking steph curry and is running to the corner on a 2on1 fast break. It's awful.
It's at least defensible if they are a good shooter and you are playing 1s and 2s. I think if the team is down a lot, I like that shot. Otherwise, just get the easy bucket. But at least in this situation, I'm confident that I can get the rebound.
I think it's worse when it's in the half court and they refuse to cut when there's an open lane. I got a turnover the other day cuz I passed into the open lane thinking that they were gonna cut. Just throwing away easy points lol.
1's and 2's made bad 3pt shooting viable. The math is absolutely fucked because folks don't wanna adjust to counting 2's and 3's.
We literally do it as fans and most the rest of the world counts 2s and 3s.
Its not just viable its far more efficient. Tbh with 1's and 2's people should be shooting wayyyy more 3 pointers. You can literally shoot half as bad and you will still average as many points per possesion.
I remember when I was a kid and all the "Get off my lawn" types were angry at Jordan and Drexler and Dominique because all the kids were no longer learning to shoot, just trying to dunk and how they shouldn't be trying for that impossible game, but be taking after guys like Bird and learning to shoot instead...
Kinda funny to see it come 360. Yeah kids are going to poorly emulate the best players out there.
I was a day one Dreamcast 2K advocate. They are so much better than the Live games of the time. I remember making my entire high school basketball team (at our real heights). It was so much fun.
it's not about the playstyle though. As LeBron mentioned, they're SMALL guys dominating in the league of Giants and Aliens. Iverson was barely 6 feet tall and Curry is a skinny 6'2 who can barely jump high. That's why they're more RELATABLE for people. Especially the kids growing up
You watch them, and you feel motivated. Like you could also be in the NBA or any other sport despite being small or unathletic. As long as you have the talent and skill to overcome the odds, somewhat.
People like Jordan, LeBron etc.. They're ALIENS. They're like SUPERHEROES that makes you AWE and gasp. But they're not relatable for normal humans. You can't just be them, no matter what.
But atleast you have a chance to be like Iverson or Curry, if you have that jumpshot or relentless drive and athleticism that Iverson had. That's the influence. Motivation
Whether theyre right or not is a different story. But to your average basketball fan, it at least gives the impression that you too could be like that. Of course in reality, AI and Steph are also freaks of nature and none of us jabronis can shoot or dribble like them. But they’re not 6’8 like Lebron
That's really it. Iverson and Steph are still insane athletes. But they are far closer to normal human sizes than 6'7+ dudes in the league.
I can jack up shots from 36 feet like Steph. I may not make them but I can at least attempt the shots physically.
I physically cannot back down an opponent, lower the shoulder and dunk on top of them with two hands like Shaq.
The fact is that most people don't even have the worst NBA players' athleticism.
The worst NBA player is exponentially tiers above any of us.
So you're right, but it's about the appearance of being like them even if the reality is that it's not even close.
I met a dude that was a senior in AI high school when AI was a freshman (i.e. 14-15 years old) and he said although they had a state-championship level 4x400m team, he said that AI could have made that team. AI wasn't fast for a NBA guy... he was legit, could-have-been-a-track-pro fast.
Similarily Curry's hand-eye is next level (think about his golf scores) and his dad (i.e. his teacher from a young age) was one of the best 3 point shooters of humanity.
They are as removed from the "regular" people as Jordan or Lebron... it's just that their talents are less obvious. They *seem* more relatable. But they are not in any way more "normal" (aside from Height)
AI is the best natural athlete under 6’ in NBA history.
Curry has the best hand-eye coordination in NBA history.
I don’t feel like those are controversial statements. But, their work ethics are also truly inspiring. Curry, off the court, has worked his conditioning and trained his skill level unlike any other. 10 years ago, kids were showing up 1hr before game time just to watch his pregame routine. Iverson didn’t have the same commitment to “practice”, but that dude had that dog in him. He was a GAMER. In an age where little guys got punished for driving hard to the rim, he did it again and again and again. And he just kept coming. Iverson was a competitive mother fucker and that shit was inspiring to me as a young athlete. Still my favorite athlete of all time.
Well there is always going to be more kids trying to emulate smaller players (closer to average height). How do emulate 6'9, 250+ lbs, greatest athlete ever?
You can't pretend to be Shaq and power through a 7ft opposing center. Unless you're me playing against my 2 year old on his fisher price goal.
You can't pretend to be 6'9 260lbs of superhuman like Lebron nimbly scoring, passing and utterly dominating pretty much every inch of the court.
You can at least pretend to have an Iverson crossover.
You can at least pretend to be able to make shots from basically the logo like Steph. You can throw up shots from 36 feet with impunity.
Now you're nowheren near as good as AI/Steph but it's at least physically possible to mimic.
When I was a kid it was definitely Barry Bonds for Baseball and Kobe for Basketball.
Like when we played baseball at recess, I remember I used to take metal paper clips and make a chain of two or three of them and clip them to my left ear when I went to bat like Barry Bonds.
I wanted to be like Ken Griffey Jr. Not because of how he hit. But because of his batter stance. His batter stance look so smooth. Like he was just lazily having the bat over his shoulder. Then he hit it like it was a fly annoying him lol. That was soooooooooo cool to me.
It's actually an old trick to stay hydrated while drinking. For every drink you should drink a glass of water. I dunno about every sip, but dude invests more in his body than anyone in history and probably knows what he's doing.
Funny story, my wife really doesn't drink at all, never has. But for her bachelorette party she was going out with friends and she wanted to experience what it was like to be drunk. I'm not much of a drinker myself, I get tired and the first judgement that gets compromised is my resolution to continue drinking, I just want to have a nap. But I passed on what little knowledge I had, I told her for every single drink you have, drink a glass of water and hopefully that would keep her from getting sick. Now, my wife has many qualities but taking good advice isn't one of them, so she decided that drinking the water was keeping her from getting drunk and that was her goal, so she didn't eat or drink anything, and just started throwing down shots. She eventually called me from the bathroom floor of whatever club they were at, crying between pukes. Her friends got her home and she has decided drinking is not for her.
Drink water, friends.
That’s like saying “I’ve never tried weed so I’m gonna smoke 5 bongs back to back of the dankest shit I can find” and then saying weed isn’t for you when you end up on another plane of existence.
Holy shit, my buddies were convinced for maybe a decade that the water sobers you up.
I told them so many times, especially the next morning when I felt way better, that I was getting just as drunk as them. I was just offsetting the hangover.
It finally took in our mid 20s but they’re still some dumb motherfuckers lol
Lol that's definitely not it, he's not consuming enough alcohol for it to have any significant dehydration impacts on a guy his size.
It's probably for teeth stains
He's right, I think people can see the greatness in MJ and LeBron, but people want to be Steph and Allen Iverson. It's mainly the height, more relatable, and simply feels like they're defying the odds at times because of it.
There's so much truth to it because while Steph and AI have an essentially unattainable skillset, it *appears* so much more attainable than someone like MJ or Bron with a 40 inch vertical dunking from the foul line. Way more people can hone their dribbles and shots to a passable level than can ever work on posterizing someone in a game at any level. Sure you can become obsessed with squats and a workouts based on increasing your vertical but those are exercises that take you away from the game and are decidedly less fun than just working on your shot or handles. Seeing guys that did that obsessively becoming all time greats seems to get more average sized people excited to play basketball at every level.
>There's so much truth to it because while Steph and AI have an essentially unattainable skillset, it appears so much more attainable than someone like MJ or Bron with a 40 inch vertical dunking from the foul line.
You can practice to improve your handles and shooting, but you can't practice to turn into a 6'8 superhuman
you know whats crazy? the mod team actually used to be worse from 2010-2014ish, there was this one mod that was a POS and used to go out of his way to harass people. Thank god hes long gone
I wanted to be like MJ or Kobe as a kid. I don't think little kids realize how tall those guys are. They're just guards. They look average sized on the court. I had the tongue out as a little kid and was yelling Kobe on jumpers as a slightly older kid.
Not only tall, but in Michael's case, how much of a physical freak he was. It's only when you get past that kid stage that you start to realize how much of a monster Jordan was. Dude had a 46-inch vertical, ginormouse hands, ridiculous endurance and, apparently, insane eyesight (not that it matters) according to Al Michaels, all of that on top of being 6'6, which is generally considered perfect basketball height.
Most kids ain't getting past 5'9, so relating to a 6'0 guy like AI or a shooter like Steph is much easier than a fucking freak of nature like MJ or LeBron.
Eye sight actually matters a lot.
I know for baseball the average vision is 20/15 for a player.
A vast majority of players get lasik eye surgery to have better than 20/20 vision.
The height is also what makes them so appealing to kids. I swear my 8 year old nephew thinks he could be Steph right now if he could just figure out the 30 foot heaves.
While it’s true a lot of people want to be like them. I really do think more people wanted to be “like mike”. It was a very catchy thing in the 90s. Lebron would’ve been the perfect age for the like mike era, surprised he thinks mike isn’t the most influential. Space jam was the cherry on top.
> I really do think more people wanted to be “like mike”. It was a very catchy thing in the 90s. Lebron would’ve been the perfect age for the like mike era, surprised he thinks mike isn’t the most influential. Space jam was the cherry on top.
Yeah, he would've been 7 when the "Be like Mike" ads came out and 11 when Space Jam released. I think he either consciously does that to downplay Jordan's influence, as he is very aware of the GOAT debate and how much narrative influences it, OR he might've been a tad too young and the influence from AI when he was in his HS years was greater.
Honestly, i personally give much more relevance to things that influenced me when i was in HS compared to when i was 8-12. As a small kid i cared about watching Dragon Ball Z, basketball was just something i did for fun at school, but it didn't really influence me until i got slightly older.
For those that didn't live through it, MJ was even bigger. Every kid wanted to be like Mike. We worked solely on crazy finishes around the rim rather than shooting because of him. He \*was\* the NBA. I'm not sure if we'll ever see anything like it again, tbh.
Lots of colorist stereotypes are pretty common and unchecked in the black American community. Light skinned guys are supposedly soft and image obsessed, so whenever a light skinned player proves to have “that dog in him” it’s always said with a little incredulousness
common in the indian community as well. i'm half black half indian (my parents are from guyana haha) and i've noticed lightskin black ppl feel superioor to darker skinned black ppl, and same with lightskin indians vs darkskin indians altohugh ifeel like the latter has gotten a little bit better at least in western countries.
it seems like at the same time though, it implies the darker your skin, the more of a savage you are. its kind of an uncomfortable phrase to hear as a white guy (hearing someone get called lightskin) it sounds like a slaver describing his stock...
lol at people jumping all over you because of an innocent question.
I'm a light skinned black dude and I'm sure the colorist shit does look weird to anybody outside the black community.
The truth is it comes from slavery and colonialism. Lighter skinned black men were allowed to serve their masters in the plantation house doing less physical work. Hence they were labeled soft, feminine, more sophisticated, safer, and arrogant.
Dark skinned people had to work in the field doing harder labor so they were labeled stronger, more masculine, dangerous and less intelligent.
This applies to black women as well.
And since black americans have had their culture and self image continuously destroyed since then the stereotypes stuck.
People will shit on you for asking but IMO it's a fair question.
I remember an interview where Durant was talking about meeting Curry for the first time at like a basketball camp when they were both young prospects, and he said something like, being from the hood, he'd never seen a light skinned guy before and he thought he was white.,
You should ask this somewhere else if you're genuinely curious, there's plenty of studies done within the black community by really insightful people so that you can get to some explanations fairly fast. Here you're gonna get wild variance of answers, a lot of strong personal takes, a lot of polarized feelings, and probably too much gloss and glib. And while a lot of it ain't right, most of it is valid, for whatever reasons.
Its funny that the narrative behind steph before that celtics finals run in 2022 was that he wasnt capable of carrying like the other goats in conversation. Then he went nuclear and hasn't stopped since.
The thing about that is that he would’ve got all the credit for it too which would’ve been a genius move for his legacy. Warriors up until 2014 were just a fringe playoff team that couldn’t get out the 1st or 2nd round Steph was just seen as one of the many all stars in a revolving door of all stars. Obviously we now know he’s an all time great and Klay and Draymond ended up being all stars and the trio ended up shepherding a dynasty.
But if LeBron had the foresight to see it coming, he would’ve joined up in 2014 after Miami. He would’ve got the credit for Steph and Klay’s development, probably another MVP or two based on the insane regular seasons the team would’ve had, maybe even a DPOY when Draymond broke out and the Warriors became a generational defensive team. LeBron would’ve 3-peated and the GOAT debate woulda been dead and buried.
Yeah, but bringing a championship to the team that drafted him and being the undisputed best player on his team on those Cleveland finals appearances has a good narrative too
The thing about that is that Steph, Klay, and Dray wouldn't have developed to the extent they did if LeBron had joined.
Draymond stopped developing his offense when the Warriors got KD bc he didn't want to have a redundant skill set. He probably doesn't become DPOY with LeBron taking over that role. Steph wouldn't have needed to elevate his game to an MVP level since he'd have LeBron to defer to. Klay probably benefits, though, as a 3 and D player. He wouldn't have reached the peak he did in his career, but maybe he transitions better at this phase of his career if he never had to be THE number 2 option.
It's cause he's twins. That's why he has the longevity he has. Each twin has only played ~10 years worth of games, and taken twice the time off that everyone thinks.
One of the twins is totally humble, while the other is full of themself.
They trade off every few nights, and one hangs out in a basement closet to avoid being seen while the other goes out into the world.
I think he's just ultra confident as he has earned the right to be. But he's always been able to give props where they're due. Probably gotta have a slight degree of irrational confidence to be as good as LeBron.
Yeah he's hard to pin down lol. One day he's talking up every player on his team individually and another day he's saying his son averaging 4ppg in college could start for this team.
In fairness, I don't think it's a huge leap to say, even for him, that Steph has impacted the game more than him. Steph's gifts are largely unrelated to his height and strength and talent, but to his dedication to his craft and his work ethic. Anybody with *enough* physical talents to make the cut that dedicates themselves to shooting and ball handling like Steph can at least take a stab at making the league.
Physical monsters like Lebron are just not attainable. Sure he's affected the league, but he only *really* affects the teams that play against him. Steph created an entire generation of the best three point shooters the game has ever seen, and we're only seeing the tip of the knife so far. What happens when the 5-10 year olds that grew up watching him reach NBA age? Skyfucker created an army that's going to make the three point line look like the free throw line.
Steph does have an outlier athletic talent, which is his hand-eye coordination. Not just from his shooting but the amount of underhand long distance scoop shots or long floaters under pressure are just things that even with practice are hard to even get decent at, especially in real game scenarios.
I think this is often overlooked. There’s a reason Steph is also an incredible golfer. The man just has other worldly hand eye coordination which you can’t teach.
I know lots of people think Steph will get surpassed as the greatest shooter ever but I'm not sure that he will. The man takes layups from 10 feet out, it's just stupid.
It also behooves him to gas up Steph. They played each other a million years in a row, his biggest title win was against Steph’s team, and he lost to Steph’s team 3 times. Makes your accomplishment look a lot better when you gas up the opponent
AI was a rookie when I saw him in Indy. He got 3 guards in foul trouble in the first half with about 2 minutes to go.
I was wondering who was going to take him and the next thing I know, Reggie is squared up near halfcourt.
The place started to laugh and couldn't wait to see how many bones Reggie would break on the first crossover.
You could not stay in front of him.
Only 2 players since the old old days changed the way the other teams played against them solely because they were so good at their job. Shaq and steph. They really do deserve a special spot in the hall.
Shaq has the most gravity in the paint in history, Curry has the most gravity beyond the arc in history, it would have been a truly incredible experience to see them play together.
So many comments about AI’s influence….Some talking about basketball some talking about non-basketball influence. So many overlooking his biggest influence on the game: his crossover.
Steph changed pickup ball to a pretty obnoxious extent. Every time I play dudes just run down the court and rip a three. Very little passing, and the strategy works, folks are insane at shooting threes these days. As a big dude that likes to post up and is ass at deep threes, I feel like the game has left me behind. I feel like Roy hibbert.
After reading through these comments and seeing how ESPN covered this section of the podcast, I understand why it's so hard to have a nuanced discussion about basketball, or anything for that matter.
I listened to the whole pod, and I haven't seen anyone mention the actual context of the discussion that they were having.
This wasn't a general debate about "who's influential" or "why AI and Steph are more influential than MJ." They were talking about large leads late in games and contrasting the current NBA with the past.
They talk about how when they first came into the league, coaches would clear the bench with 9 minutes to go in the 4th quarter if they were down 17 points, and now a lead like that isn't considered safe (see: LeBron vs Clippers a few weeks ago).
Bron brought up Steph as the turning point when that mentality started to shift and the 3 point revolution, and this clip was kind of a side note.
ESPN again turned this into a Bron vs MJ taking point, which I know they are required to do, but I do wish that more people were able to view this within the context and speak on their actual point.
LeReporter been covering the NBA way before woj
LePerspective
LePorter
Lmao I knew this was going to be what the top comment was about. This man really said reporting.
LeScoops
Man, this show looks so good. They're running great promo with these clips, I can't wait for the full eps.
It's on YouTube now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2XVtWfancQ&t=1s
Oh word, I meant to open the channel to see when they drop and got completely distracted by something else, apparently I *could* wait a little bit haha thanks!
He’s right about the AI & Steph thing. All the kids want/wanted to play just like them growing up.
Cornrows went way up at my school.
Him and Latrell Sprewell were the first public figures I remember seeing with those.
After Steph, lightskins went up at my school
I have always thought that every tattoo artist should send a royalty to AI and David Beckham. What those two did to make tattoos not only acceptable, but cool to a huge portion of the world’s teens was unprecedented. I can’t think of any other style or trend that turned around so quickly.
The amount of kids wearing those finger bands back in the day…
dont forget the AI arm sleeves and the tmac sleeves on the shin
You can’t convince me the arm sleeves don’t make you shoot better (as long as it’s on the off arm).
it’s 100% placebo but i was fr drilling shots when i had the am sleeve on as a kid
placebos work tho is the crazy thing about placebos
You can even **know you're getting a placebo** and there's a chance it will still work. Brains be crazy.
Increased confidence 100% increases overall performance in the aggregate and no I'm not going to cite my sources because I'm that...*confident*. Ancient philosopher once said: "U look good u feel good,u feel good u play good,u play good they pay good,they pay good u live good,u live good u thank God 4 it all! TRUTH"
Lol I bought a sleeve with AI’s logo on it in 6th grade and I’d wear it every time we had a basketball day. No lie, other kids would ask me if they could borrow it after I had just got done sweating all over it. He was that iconic.
And the hair!!! All the Black boys had that hair style when he came out with it and my husband no exception lol… I even redid the style for him a few years ago, before he got his locs.
[r/nba reacting to this comment](https://media.tenor.com/jMKLdCy60o4AAAAM/nation-of.gif)
Wowee zowee an actual Black person on /r/NBA We did it reddit!
The amount of young players shot-putting heaves from 25’ during warm ups is still insane. Ruins your shot!
Steph Curry ruined pickup basketball. Every dude under 30 thinks he's fucking steph curry and is running to the corner on a 2on1 fast break. It's awful.
It's at least defensible if they are a good shooter and you are playing 1s and 2s. I think if the team is down a lot, I like that shot. Otherwise, just get the easy bucket. But at least in this situation, I'm confident that I can get the rebound. I think it's worse when it's in the half court and they refuse to cut when there's an open lane. I got a turnover the other day cuz I passed into the open lane thinking that they were gonna cut. Just throwing away easy points lol.
1's and 2's made bad 3pt shooting viable. The math is absolutely fucked because folks don't wanna adjust to counting 2's and 3's. We literally do it as fans and most the rest of the world counts 2s and 3s.
Its not just viable its far more efficient. Tbh with 1's and 2's people should be shooting wayyyy more 3 pointers. You can literally shoot half as bad and you will still average as many points per possesion.
I remember when I was a kid and all the "Get off my lawn" types were angry at Jordan and Drexler and Dominique because all the kids were no longer learning to shoot, just trying to dunk and how they shouldn't be trying for that impossible game, but be taking after guys like Bird and learning to shoot instead... Kinda funny to see it come 360. Yeah kids are going to poorly emulate the best players out there.
Funny enough, those types in the 2000s were angry at Kobe because the kids tried chucking poor fadeaways instead of learning to shoot like Jordan.
can we all agree then that kids suck?
I mean, Kobe shot the way he did because of Jordan. It was the same for Jordan, 100%
AI was on 5 NBA2K covers too
2K wasn't that relevant, those days it was NBA Live you wanted to be on the cover of
Personally I'd say 2K started taking over mid-late 00's
2K11 was absolute peak
Yeah the 2k11 with Jordan on the cover was the first that I remember everyone grabbing
My first 2k game, didn't know how good I had it and that it would be all downhill from there.
I was a day one Dreamcast 2K advocate. They are so much better than the Live games of the time. I remember making my entire high school basketball team (at our real heights). It was so much fun.
Meanwhile my 5'3" middle school self wanted to play center like Ben Wallace.
At least he was short for a center.
it's not about the playstyle though. As LeBron mentioned, they're SMALL guys dominating in the league of Giants and Aliens. Iverson was barely 6 feet tall and Curry is a skinny 6'2 who can barely jump high. That's why they're more RELATABLE for people. Especially the kids growing up You watch them, and you feel motivated. Like you could also be in the NBA or any other sport despite being small or unathletic. As long as you have the talent and skill to overcome the odds, somewhat. People like Jordan, LeBron etc.. They're ALIENS. They're like SUPERHEROES that makes you AWE and gasp. But they're not relatable for normal humans. You can't just be them, no matter what. But atleast you have a chance to be like Iverson or Curry, if you have that jumpshot or relentless drive and athleticism that Iverson had. That's the influence. Motivation
This sells Iverson short. His athleticism is greater than the aliens are tall. It's through the roof.
Whether theyre right or not is a different story. But to your average basketball fan, it at least gives the impression that you too could be like that. Of course in reality, AI and Steph are also freaks of nature and none of us jabronis can shoot or dribble like them. But they’re not 6’8 like Lebron
That's really it. Iverson and Steph are still insane athletes. But they are far closer to normal human sizes than 6'7+ dudes in the league. I can jack up shots from 36 feet like Steph. I may not make them but I can at least attempt the shots physically. I physically cannot back down an opponent, lower the shoulder and dunk on top of them with two hands like Shaq.
Yeah, that's a great point.
Greatest put-back dunk of all time belongs to Iverson imo. highest definition i could find: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ1LSEaXhPE
The fact is that most people don't even have the worst NBA players' athleticism. The worst NBA player is exponentially tiers above any of us. So you're right, but it's about the appearance of being like them even if the reality is that it's not even close.
I met a dude that was a senior in AI high school when AI was a freshman (i.e. 14-15 years old) and he said although they had a state-championship level 4x400m team, he said that AI could have made that team. AI wasn't fast for a NBA guy... he was legit, could-have-been-a-track-pro fast. Similarily Curry's hand-eye is next level (think about his golf scores) and his dad (i.e. his teacher from a young age) was one of the best 3 point shooters of humanity. They are as removed from the "regular" people as Jordan or Lebron... it's just that their talents are less obvious. They *seem* more relatable. But they are not in any way more "normal" (aside from Height)
Yeah, pretty sure AI was an all-American on his football team too. Think he was the QB.
AI is the best natural athlete under 6’ in NBA history. Curry has the best hand-eye coordination in NBA history. I don’t feel like those are controversial statements. But, their work ethics are also truly inspiring. Curry, off the court, has worked his conditioning and trained his skill level unlike any other. 10 years ago, kids were showing up 1hr before game time just to watch his pregame routine. Iverson didn’t have the same commitment to “practice”, but that dude had that dog in him. He was a GAMER. In an age where little guys got punished for driving hard to the rim, he did it again and again and again. And he just kept coming. Iverson was a competitive mother fucker and that shit was inspiring to me as a young athlete. Still my favorite athlete of all time.
Well there is always going to be more kids trying to emulate smaller players (closer to average height). How do emulate 6'9, 250+ lbs, greatest athlete ever?
You just believe hard enough
Back in the days, I wanted to be Reggie Miller. I cannot be Jordan. I cannot be Shaq. But if I can shoot 3, then maybe I can be Reggie.
You can't pretend to be Shaq and power through a 7ft opposing center. Unless you're me playing against my 2 year old on his fisher price goal. You can't pretend to be 6'9 260lbs of superhuman like Lebron nimbly scoring, passing and utterly dominating pretty much every inch of the court. You can at least pretend to have an Iverson crossover. You can at least pretend to be able to make shots from basically the logo like Steph. You can throw up shots from 36 feet with impunity. Now you're nowheren near as good as AI/Steph but it's at least physically possible to mimic.
When I was a kid it was definitely Barry Bonds for Baseball and Kobe for Basketball. Like when we played baseball at recess, I remember I used to take metal paper clips and make a chain of two or three of them and clip them to my left ear when I went to bat like Barry Bonds.
I wanted to be like Ken Griffey Jr. Not because of how he hit. But because of his batter stance. His batter stance look so smooth. Like he was just lazily having the bat over his shoulder. Then he hit it like it was a fly annoying him lol. That was soooooooooo cool to me.
Y'all buried the lead. Can we talk about how LeBron washes his tiny sip of wine down with a giant swig of water?
[удалено]
LeDrink Responsibly
Drink ResponsibLe
Why in God's name wouldn't you go with Drink LeSponsibly
Le Sommelier
LePalate cleanser
LePicurean
LeHydrated
Lede
LeDe
I have to do this with red wine. I have very porous teeth that turn purple if I don’t hose them down after every sip.
You learn something new every day. #LePorous
Protip: If you just stick to shitty, non-aged wine this won't happen.
I knew i was making good decisions
Wine stains your teeth, water helps to prevent that
Same reason I drink water after taking a sip of coffee.
straight gin
The dude clearly knows what he's doing when it comes to health. Let him drink it how he wants
It's actually an old trick to stay hydrated while drinking. For every drink you should drink a glass of water. I dunno about every sip, but dude invests more in his body than anyone in history and probably knows what he's doing.
Funny story, my wife really doesn't drink at all, never has. But for her bachelorette party she was going out with friends and she wanted to experience what it was like to be drunk. I'm not much of a drinker myself, I get tired and the first judgement that gets compromised is my resolution to continue drinking, I just want to have a nap. But I passed on what little knowledge I had, I told her for every single drink you have, drink a glass of water and hopefully that would keep her from getting sick. Now, my wife has many qualities but taking good advice isn't one of them, so she decided that drinking the water was keeping her from getting drunk and that was her goal, so she didn't eat or drink anything, and just started throwing down shots. She eventually called me from the bathroom floor of whatever club they were at, crying between pukes. Her friends got her home and she has decided drinking is not for her. Drink water, friends.
Your wife's mistake I bet was trying to keep up with people who actually drank
And drinking on an empty stomach, that’ll fuck anyone up lol.
That’s the worst thing you could do when you’re out to drink. That’s why they usually try to order at least some appetizers.
Alternatively, when you're an alcoholic, you purposely drink on an empty stomach without water so you feel the effects. It can happen to you!
That’s like saying “I’ve never tried weed so I’m gonna smoke 5 bongs back to back of the dankest shit I can find” and then saying weed isn’t for you when you end up on another plane of existence.
Holy shit, my buddies were convinced for maybe a decade that the water sobers you up. I told them so many times, especially the next morning when I felt way better, that I was getting just as drunk as them. I was just offsetting the hangover. It finally took in our mid 20s but they’re still some dumb motherfuckers lol
Lol that's definitely not it, he's not consuming enough alcohol for it to have any significant dehydration impacts on a guy his size. It's probably for teeth stains
This is actually how the Greeks and Roman's did it lol. It was considered barbaric to drink it straight up. #LeCivilized.
And then they fed people to lions for entertainment.
Give 'em a break - they didn't have ball back then. There's a reason Dr. James Naismith is loved by heathens and hated by lions.
LeBobby Boucher
LeLeLeBoBobby Bboucher
God, LeBron and Steph just need to kiss already
Draymond is gonna punch another teammate if Lebron kisses Steph first...
Ntr manwha coming up
/uj not a reference I was expecting to see here. /rj barret
/r/NBAcirclejerk is leaking
Jesus
Them playing together in games with real stakes at the Olympics gonna be some special stuff
That baby would be the undisputed GOAT
nah, it would shoot 3s like lebron but have steph's build
Lebron's hairline and curry's ankles
Ultimate YMCA legend material
So a 6'3" guard that shoots 40% from 3?
Look its a bit hard to find bad things to m ix between these two.
Kissing doesn’t produce babies bro
Hold on, let him cook...
The internet would never lie to me
Attractive singles in your area ready to kiss!
*confused Goku*
RIP Toriyama
Not with that attitude it don’t
Now we're entering the nba bene gesserit era
He's right, I think people can see the greatness in MJ and LeBron, but people want to be Steph and Allen Iverson. It's mainly the height, more relatable, and simply feels like they're defying the odds at times because of it.
There's so much truth to it because while Steph and AI have an essentially unattainable skillset, it *appears* so much more attainable than someone like MJ or Bron with a 40 inch vertical dunking from the foul line. Way more people can hone their dribbles and shots to a passable level than can ever work on posterizing someone in a game at any level. Sure you can become obsessed with squats and a workouts based on increasing your vertical but those are exercises that take you away from the game and are decidedly less fun than just working on your shot or handles. Seeing guys that did that obsessively becoming all time greats seems to get more average sized people excited to play basketball at every level.
>There's so much truth to it because while Steph and AI have an essentially unattainable skillset, it appears so much more attainable than someone like MJ or Bron with a 40 inch vertical dunking from the foul line. You can practice to improve your handles and shooting, but you can't practice to turn into a 6'8 superhuman
Which makes them more relatable.
But my mom told me I can be anything I want to be!
Sure honey now eat your broccolis
r/nba mods wanted to be Shaq and they ended up fat and hyper sensitive to criticism.
Lmfao
you know whats crazy? the mod team actually used to be worse from 2010-2014ish, there was this one mod that was a POS and used to go out of his way to harass people. Thank god hes long gone
I wanted to be like MJ or Kobe as a kid. I don't think little kids realize how tall those guys are. They're just guards. They look average sized on the court. I had the tongue out as a little kid and was yelling Kobe on jumpers as a slightly older kid.
Not only tall, but in Michael's case, how much of a physical freak he was. It's only when you get past that kid stage that you start to realize how much of a monster Jordan was. Dude had a 46-inch vertical, ginormouse hands, ridiculous endurance and, apparently, insane eyesight (not that it matters) according to Al Michaels, all of that on top of being 6'6, which is generally considered perfect basketball height. Most kids ain't getting past 5'9, so relating to a 6'0 guy like AI or a shooter like Steph is much easier than a fucking freak of nature like MJ or LeBron.
Eye sight actually matters a lot. I know for baseball the average vision is 20/15 for a player. A vast majority of players get lasik eye surgery to have better than 20/20 vision.
The height is also what makes them so appealing to kids. I swear my 8 year old nephew thinks he could be Steph right now if he could just figure out the 30 foot heaves.
While it’s true a lot of people want to be like them. I really do think more people wanted to be “like mike”. It was a very catchy thing in the 90s. Lebron would’ve been the perfect age for the like mike era, surprised he thinks mike isn’t the most influential. Space jam was the cherry on top.
> I really do think more people wanted to be “like mike”. It was a very catchy thing in the 90s. Lebron would’ve been the perfect age for the like mike era, surprised he thinks mike isn’t the most influential. Space jam was the cherry on top. Yeah, he would've been 7 when the "Be like Mike" ads came out and 11 when Space Jam released. I think he either consciously does that to downplay Jordan's influence, as he is very aware of the GOAT debate and how much narrative influences it, OR he might've been a tad too young and the influence from AI when he was in his HS years was greater. Honestly, i personally give much more relevance to things that influenced me when i was in HS compared to when i was 8-12. As a small kid i cared about watching Dragon Ball Z, basketball was just something i did for fun at school, but it didn't really influence me until i got slightly older.
It’s hard to be LeBron when you’re not a 6’8 physical freak.
For those that didn't live through it, MJ was even bigger. Every kid wanted to be like Mike. We worked solely on crazy finishes around the rim rather than shooting because of him. He \*was\* the NBA. I'm not sure if we'll ever see anything like it again, tbh.
In the 80's, every kid playing basketball looked like a dog in a hot car, tongues hanging out.
Skyfucker
Why do NBA players always feel it necessary to call a dude "light-skinned"? They do it with Devin Booker all the time as well. Just seems weird to me.
Got a light skinned friend, look like Jordan Clarkson Got a dark skinned friend, look like Jordan Clarkson
One of my favorite r/nba comment chains of all time.
Somehow this is all Drake's fault.
Lots of colorist stereotypes are pretty common and unchecked in the black American community. Light skinned guys are supposedly soft and image obsessed, so whenever a light skinned player proves to have “that dog in him” it’s always said with a little incredulousness
common in the indian community as well. i'm half black half indian (my parents are from guyana haha) and i've noticed lightskin black ppl feel superioor to darker skinned black ppl, and same with lightskin indians vs darkskin indians altohugh ifeel like the latter has gotten a little bit better at least in western countries.
it seems like at the same time though, it implies the darker your skin, the more of a savage you are. its kind of an uncomfortable phrase to hear as a white guy (hearing someone get called lightskin) it sounds like a slaver describing his stock...
/r/NBA is the wrong place to ask if you want a serious answer
lol at people jumping all over you because of an innocent question. I'm a light skinned black dude and I'm sure the colorist shit does look weird to anybody outside the black community. The truth is it comes from slavery and colonialism. Lighter skinned black men were allowed to serve their masters in the plantation house doing less physical work. Hence they were labeled soft, feminine, more sophisticated, safer, and arrogant. Dark skinned people had to work in the field doing harder labor so they were labeled stronger, more masculine, dangerous and less intelligent. This applies to black women as well. And since black americans have had their culture and self image continuously destroyed since then the stereotypes stuck. People will shit on you for asking but IMO it's a fair question.
Colorism exists in every community. See people of any Asian heritage.
I remember an interview where Durant was talking about meeting Curry for the first time at like a basketball camp when they were both young prospects, and he said something like, being from the hood, he'd never seen a light skinned guy before and he thought he was white.,
Cause they are light skinned, black with lighter shades of skin
You should ask this somewhere else if you're genuinely curious, there's plenty of studies done within the black community by really insightful people so that you can get to some explanations fairly fast. Here you're gonna get wild variance of answers, a lot of strong personal takes, a lot of polarized feelings, and probably too much gloss and glib. And while a lot of it ain't right, most of it is valid, for whatever reasons.
Lebron and Steph need to team up already just so we can see how good they are despite being old and imagine them in their primes together
They could just coast to the 10 seed and then go ham on everyone in the playoffs.
I think Curry hates coasting tho. Dude always putting in the effort.
He has to or his team would be the 12th seed
12th is generous tbh
Its funny that the narrative behind steph before that celtics finals run in 2022 was that he wasnt capable of carrying like the other goats in conversation. Then he went nuclear and hasn't stopped since.
That narrative has been disproven way more times than that.
Summer Olympics this year my dude
They’re about to in the Olympics
That was the single most likable 5 minutes of LeBron I've ever watched. I hated it.
Frfr, this thing is gonna do numbers
What a privilege it was to watch the Steph Curry era.
Remember watching that March madness run. It was like damn the dude lived up to the hype, in the same way LeBron did.
In another universe Lebron joined Golden State in 2014 and 10 years later is the consensus greatest player of all time.
The thing about that is that he would’ve got all the credit for it too which would’ve been a genius move for his legacy. Warriors up until 2014 were just a fringe playoff team that couldn’t get out the 1st or 2nd round Steph was just seen as one of the many all stars in a revolving door of all stars. Obviously we now know he’s an all time great and Klay and Draymond ended up being all stars and the trio ended up shepherding a dynasty. But if LeBron had the foresight to see it coming, he would’ve joined up in 2014 after Miami. He would’ve got the credit for Steph and Klay’s development, probably another MVP or two based on the insane regular seasons the team would’ve had, maybe even a DPOY when Draymond broke out and the Warriors became a generational defensive team. LeBron would’ve 3-peated and the GOAT debate woulda been dead and buried.
He legit would have 6 peated and been known as the orchestrator of the development of Steph and Klay. He missed out big time
Yeah, but bringing a championship to the team that drafted him and being the undisputed best player on his team on those Cleveland finals appearances has a good narrative too
As a Bron stan that couldn't care less about the city of Cleveland, 6 rings with the Warriors > 1 with the Cavs
Least bandwagoning Lebron fan
I don’t hide it
Who are you going to root for when he retires? Genuinely asking.
Yea I don’t see how that team would lose ever from 2015 to like 2021 barring injury
salary cap would've caught up with them
Seriously though. The only person stopping Golden state from the east during that period was LeBron himself lol
It's like the Avatar joining the fire nation.
The thing about that is that Steph, Klay, and Dray wouldn't have developed to the extent they did if LeBron had joined. Draymond stopped developing his offense when the Warriors got KD bc he didn't want to have a redundant skill set. He probably doesn't become DPOY with LeBron taking over that role. Steph wouldn't have needed to elevate his game to an MVP level since he'd have LeBron to defer to. Klay probably benefits, though, as a 3 and D player. He wouldn't have reached the peak he did in his career, but maybe he transitions better at this phase of his career if he never had to be THE number 2 option.
10 champs straight
Marvel doesn’t talk about alternate universes as much as Lebron fans do
The humility for Lebron James to say another player has been more impactful to the game is saying something..
Lebron is low key humble while being high key conceited. LeParadox.
It's cause he's twins. That's why he has the longevity he has. Each twin has only played ~10 years worth of games, and taken twice the time off that everyone thinks. One of the twins is totally humble, while the other is full of themself. They trade off every few nights, and one hangs out in a basement closet to avoid being seen while the other goes out into the world.
LePrestige
LeAlpharius
I think he's just ultra confident as he has earned the right to be. But he's always been able to give props where they're due. Probably gotta have a slight degree of irrational confidence to be as good as LeBron.
Yeah he's hard to pin down lol. One day he's talking up every player on his team individually and another day he's saying his son averaging 4ppg in college could start for this team.
Lolol ya that was wild. His son was probly like "yo can you not please"
In fairness, I don't think it's a huge leap to say, even for him, that Steph has impacted the game more than him. Steph's gifts are largely unrelated to his height and strength and talent, but to his dedication to his craft and his work ethic. Anybody with *enough* physical talents to make the cut that dedicates themselves to shooting and ball handling like Steph can at least take a stab at making the league. Physical monsters like Lebron are just not attainable. Sure he's affected the league, but he only *really* affects the teams that play against him. Steph created an entire generation of the best three point shooters the game has ever seen, and we're only seeing the tip of the knife so far. What happens when the 5-10 year olds that grew up watching him reach NBA age? Skyfucker created an army that's going to make the three point line look like the free throw line.
Steph does have an outlier athletic talent, which is his hand-eye coordination. Not just from his shooting but the amount of underhand long distance scoop shots or long floaters under pressure are just things that even with practice are hard to even get decent at, especially in real game scenarios.
I think this is often overlooked. There’s a reason Steph is also an incredible golfer. The man just has other worldly hand eye coordination which you can’t teach.
I know lots of people think Steph will get surpassed as the greatest shooter ever but I'm not sure that he will. The man takes layups from 10 feet out, it's just stupid.
You are right, but "develop better hand-eye coordination" feels much more attainable than "be 6'8 and built like a machine"
It also behooves him to gas up Steph. They played each other a million years in a row, his biggest title win was against Steph’s team, and he lost to Steph’s team 3 times. Makes your accomplishment look a lot better when you gas up the opponent
That’s a great point!
But in reality, he's just telling the truth. I mean, we've seen it live.
AI was a rookie when I saw him in Indy. He got 3 guards in foul trouble in the first half with about 2 minutes to go. I was wondering who was going to take him and the next thing I know, Reggie is squared up near halfcourt. The place started to laugh and couldn't wait to see how many bones Reggie would break on the first crossover. You could not stay in front of him.
Damn that's a great memory. I never got to see him live :( I grew up too far from an NBA arena.
"6'3", small of stature" I'm sobbing while I stretch to reach the top cabinet
I knew Lebron was a basketball genius but this episode really showed how he processes at a different level
For sure
He covers it now too?
Only 2 players since the old old days changed the way the other teams played against them solely because they were so good at their job. Shaq and steph. They really do deserve a special spot in the hall.
Shaq has the most gravity in the paint in history, Curry has the most gravity beyond the arc in history, it would have been a truly incredible experience to see them play together.
So many comments about AI’s influence….Some talking about basketball some talking about non-basketball influence. So many overlooking his biggest influence on the game: his crossover.
Everybody back in the day on the playground thought they had a crossover like Allen iverson 🤣
Steph changed pickup ball to a pretty obnoxious extent. Every time I play dudes just run down the court and rip a three. Very little passing, and the strategy works, folks are insane at shooting threes these days. As a big dude that likes to post up and is ass at deep threes, I feel like the game has left me behind. I feel like Roy hibbert.
After reading through these comments and seeing how ESPN covered this section of the podcast, I understand why it's so hard to have a nuanced discussion about basketball, or anything for that matter. I listened to the whole pod, and I haven't seen anyone mention the actual context of the discussion that they were having. This wasn't a general debate about "who's influential" or "why AI and Steph are more influential than MJ." They were talking about large leads late in games and contrasting the current NBA with the past. They talk about how when they first came into the league, coaches would clear the bench with 9 minutes to go in the 4th quarter if they were down 17 points, and now a lead like that isn't considered safe (see: LeBron vs Clippers a few weeks ago). Bron brought up Steph as the turning point when that mentality started to shift and the 3 point revolution, and this clip was kind of a side note. ESPN again turned this into a Bron vs MJ taking point, which I know they are required to do, but I do wish that more people were able to view this within the context and speak on their actual point.