Stephen A Smith Needs To Take His Own Advice And Stay Off The Weed
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I get it, times are tough for these talking head shows with no sports so the best way to generate any sort of buzz is to go back to the well and do a good old fashioned Michael Jordan comparison. It's about as predictable a move as it gets while we all search for something to talk about, but jesus christ what a terrible answer by Stephen A here. I mean the question was all of sports, not just basketball. How does his brain go to Kawhi Leonard? Uhhh Tom Brady exists. If you want to keep it to just basketball, the answer still isn't Kawhi which makes me think Stephen A has been hitting the bong big time during this hiatus. He tries to validate this claim by using style (????) as his main reason, which I'm sorry doesn't even make sense. His argument is that Kawhi is an assassin on one end and an elite defender on the other. Sure that may be true, but he's forgetting about the existence of someone pretty obvious
Does it make me absolutely sick that I have to defend LeBron here? Yes. But I am a slave to the truth and I'm sorry there's no way right now that Kawhi is having a better season than LeBron nor is he closer to MJ than LeBron. You think Jordan would ever do load management? I don't think so. LeBron's played in 60 of the Lakers 63 games in his 17th season. Now I will concede, Kawhi is slightly the better offensive player in clutch situations both in terms of points, FG%, and Ortg. At the same time as someone who has had to deal with going up against LeBron in huge playoff moments over the last 10 years, I fear him way more than Kawhi. When LeBron flips the switch and decides to try when it gets to nut cutting time he's the most dominant force in the league. Then when you factor in the defensive side as well? LeBron is actually having the better year!
Clutch time Drtg
Lebron: 98
Kawhi: 102
If you look at fourth quarter numbers not including clutch time, it tells the same story
LeBron: 103
Kawhi: 104
On the season LeBron has a better defensive real plus/minus (2.30 vs 1.9) and higher defensive shares (3.4 vs 3.0) as well. Remember, this was supposed to be where Kawhi separated himself based on his reputation. So, the idea that Kawhi is more of an assassin and better defender than LeBron honestly isn't that true in 2019-20.
If you take one offensive area where Kawhi thrives in, it's the midrange game. Just like MJ. Kawhi is virtually unstoppable in that area no matter who is guarding him. He shoots 44% from that zone this season on 5.5 attempts. LeBron in this same area shoots just 35%. So is Stephen A's argument that a worse defender but better midrange shooter this season makes Kawhi closer to MJ? What? Am I taking crazy pills?
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But I think we all know the real answer here is Tom Brady. The rings, the best to ever play his sport, the drive to be the best, the longevity, the dynasties, the clutch play, the list goes on and on. Going with any other answer simply does not make sense.