Jesse Matson

it’s nerf or nothing

[@FaithWorks @FaithworksX]

The real list. This comes with a guarantee that I can back each one of these selections with more Players, Coaches, GM's, and in game Announcers agreeing with me than you can for whoever you think was better any given year. Good luck and Godspeed...

[Ball Don't Stop @balldontstop]

Here's 5 straight mins of players who played against Michael, LeBron and Kobe telling you that Kobe is a top two player of all-time 🤷🏽‍♂️ Really the only opinions that matter. Don't fall for the casual and stat nerd bait lists.

[Kevin @Rudge_K]

Javy Baez walk off but it’s Moneyball

[NBA Strife ツ @strifeomg]

In the ENTIRE history of the NBA there's only been 1 player who's accomplished all 7 of these things in the same season: 🧐

NBA Championship
NBA Finals MVP
Season MVP
1st Team All-NBA
1st Team All-Defensive
Scoring Title
Lead the Playoffs in Scoring

And he did it 4-times, Michael Jordan. 🐐

[NBA Strife ツ @strifeomg]

LeBron James has played 718 more games than Michael Jordan but still trails by:

2 less Championships
2 less Finals MVPs
1 less MVP
9 less Scoring Titles
3 less Steals Titles
3 less All-Defensive Teams
And never winning DPOY

It's always been about efficiency, not longevity. 🐐

[Get Up @GetUpESPN]

This stat on LeBron in the clutch 😯

[Crazy Stats @NBAcrazystats]

Michael Jordan is the only player in league history to win MVP, Scoring Title, 1st Team All-Defensive selection, NBA Championship, and Finals MVP in the same year. He did it four times (1990-91, 1991-92, 1995-96, and 1997-98).

[THE RED RANGER @THEREDRANGER3]

The most beautiful thing you will see today.

#GoBlue

[NHL @NHL]

The holder of the record for the most shootout goals in NHL history with 53.

Patrick Kane 🎬

[AirJordans23 @AirJordans2323]

THIS Y'ALLS KANG??????

LMAOOOOOO.

[Bussin' With The Boys @BussinWTB]

"Why don't people watch the NBA anymore?"

[The Ballfather @StevenKelsey13]

Nasty work done by Michael Jordan 🤷‍♂️

[Terrence ✨️ @KingTerrbear]

I've watched this a very unhealthy amount of times.

[💫 @tigersslab]

gotham is relying on one man to save us all

[FOX Sports: MLB @MLBONFOX]

Kerry Carpenter's go-ahead home run but Moneyball

[Harrison Glaser @NYJetsTFMedia]

"The entire focus of all 3 defenses we've played has been taking Garrett Wilson away. It's been Mel Kipers worst nightmare. A lot of Cover 2."- Aaron Rodgers

💀💀💀

#Jets

[Andre @TheSevenSermons]

13 year olds on social media: “Kobe wasn’t even the best player of the 2000s decade”🥴

Meanwhile…

@SportingNews
2000s player of the decade award: Kobe Bryant

@TNT
2000s player of the decade award: Kobe Bryant

Dime Magazine
2000s player of the decade award: Kobe Bryant

@NBAonTNT (fan poll)
2000s player of the decade: Kobe Bryant

@Ranker (fan poll)
2000s player of the decade: Kobe Bryant

@BleacherReport
2000s player of the decade: Kobe Bryant

@Complex
2000s player of the decade: Kobe Bryant

@FadeawayWorld
2000s player of the decade: Kobe Bryant

Plus literally EVERY PLAYER/COACH/GM from the 2000s era: says Kobe Bryant was the clear best.

[NBA Strife ツ @strifeomg]

LeBron James was almost got left off the 2008 Olympic Team because of his immaturity issues in earlier Olympic trials 👀

From Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski to managing director Jerry Colangelo to NBA elders, the issue of James’ immaturity and downright disrespectfulness had become a consuming topic on the march to the Olympics. The course of history could’ve changed dramatically, because there was a real risk that James wouldn’t be brought to Beijing based on fears his monumental talents weren’t worth the daily grind of dealing with him.

When the mandate had been to gather these immense egos and get the NBA’s greatest players to fit into a program, no one had a more difficult time meshing into the framework than James. Other players made it a point to learn the names of staffers and modestly go about their business without barking orders and brash demands.

No one could stand James as a 19-year-old in the 2004 Athens Olympics, nor the 2006 World Championships. Officials feared James could become the instigator of everything they wanted to rid themselves for the ’08 Olympics. For as gifted as James was, Krzyzewski and Colangelo subscribed to a belief that with Kobe Bryant joining the national team in 2007, they could win a gold medal in ’08 with or without LeBron James. Behind the scenes, officials had taken to calling James’ inner circle, “The Enablers.” No one ever told him to grow up. No one ever challenged him. And yet, James was still a powerful pull for his teammates, and everyone had to agree they could no longer let his bossy and belittling act go unchecked. These weren’t the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Team USA wasn’t beholden to him.

After the NBA witnessed the behavior of James and his business manager Maverick Carter during the 2007 All-Star Weekend, the commissioner’s office sent word to USA Basketball the league wouldn’t force James on them for the Olympics. Before Team USA gathered for the 2007 Tournament of the Americas in Las Vegas, an unmistakable message had been delivered to James through Nike: Unless you change, we’re serious about leaving you home.

“Legacies were on the line,” one league official said, “and they weren’t going to let LeBron [expletive] it up for everyone in China.”

Through Nike, James ultimately heeded the message and became more tolerable to coaches, teammates and staff. Team USA assigned Jason Kidd(notes) to babysit him at the Tournament of the Americas in 2007, to try to teach him something the Cavaliers never had a veteran to do: professionalism. 🤔