You mean after the shortest offseason of all time when he was still nursing an injury he got in the finals? The year that every team that made the conference finals in the bubble got struck massively with injuries and all flamed out early in the playoffs? That year?
pretty bad for the expectations coming off that insane year sure but he was still really good lol. Shooting dropped but insane defensive anchor and was still really good offensively
I think being injury prone is a mark against reliability. It’s unfair I know but what’s the point in being the greatest player on the planet if you can only play three games a season
That AND he is playing second fiddle to LeBron, not getting as much usage, and his team hasn't been great at finding him since 2020. Source: I watch every Lakers game oh my god my eyes
Eh, AD peaked at the right moment en route to a title. Then dealt with injuries that prevented any potential progression for two years.
But what separates Giannis from his other big men peers is his all time great motor, great ball handling/playmaking at his size and durability. Not everyone can be *the* freak amongst freaks.
I just wonder if you’re always dealing with injuries, even when you play it must affect how aggressive you go on both ends and seems to happen to AD - whereas Giannis’ great motor is partly down to the fact that he can trust his body. I’m sure mindset also plays a part, but I wonder how the physical and mental lines can blur.
I’m not sure i would have agreed with this a couple weeks ago but watching AD go off again. I really think it’s the truth. When he plays the way he wants to, it’s pretty unreal
AD is fresh off of being the first Laker since Shaq to put up 3 straight 30/15 games as he's led the Lakers to a 3-0 streak without Bron
When he's healthy he's not the best but is easily top 10. Not really his fault he's injury ponre
Then why doesn't everyone just have 30/15 every time they're defended by "bad" players?
Also Bagley only played 23 minutes and Dieng played 21. Don't just hate for the sake of it.
Players get praised for being able to apply their athleticism. Andrew Wiggins got more criticism for not being able to apply it than "praises" for having it.
I feel ya, fam. I entered high school with two goals. I wanted to be 6 ft tall and I wanted to be able to dunk a basketball. I drank milk every single damn day. I would watch sports and do calf raises at every single commercial break. I started high school as 5 ft 4 and could barely touch the net.
I will let you know by the time I graduated, I had managed to dunk...a tennis ball. You could put put me in cowboy boots and had me stand on my math book and I still wouldn't be close to 6 ft.
The moral of the story is there is no God. Happy thanksgiving.
Nobody says that because people like that don't survive in the league. If you're around long enough to be criticized that means people still have expectations from you
Yeah that's very true, good point. The way athletes get talked about (especially on reddit) when they put on weight really sucks. I still see Kelvin Benjamin jokes almost every day on r/nfl, and that dude hasn't played in like 4 years
It’s like saying Greg oden Derrick rose McGrady Brandon Roy are all busts and disappointing lol well no shit they went through near career ending injuries
Both are true. They are busts and disappointing, and they had career ending/altering injuries. I don’t get why it’s a bad thing, I mean I’m sure Greg Oden and Anthony Davis are disappointed about their injuries too
Kawhi was the best player in the league bar LeBron for multiple seasons? He won multiple titles and hardly disappointed, very nice basketball knowledge comparing AD with Kawhi.
Lack of effort could also be a reason. Self admittedly he doesn’t touch a basketball during the off season. That’s not how you progress at the highest level.
Barkley ruined a lot of NBA discourse. The AD hate like "street clothes", the triple single and bus rider terms came from Barkley and every discussion became even more braindead. You can't even criticize Barkley in this sub because "LOL BARKLEY IS FUNNY!!"
Don’t you think AD been a disappointment since 2020?
AD should have been in the MVP conversation the last 2 years. He is way underperforming his true potential. Giannis is what we thought AD would be
I feel like what Chuck means is that AD should be the leader and the best player on the Lakers, not Lebron.
AD is playing great now but it is still below his NOLA standard
100%. I think people underestimate or don’t remember how great AD was. Saying AD is the greatest prospect we had since LeBron until 2019 was totally reasonable thing to say.
I am glad AD playing well for 5 games, but he should be in that MVP conversation not just playing good based on his potential
He is the best players on the Lakers. I'm not sure why people still question this in 2022. His defense is so far ahead and people act like it isn't important.
Relevant:
>"Ryan \[Clark\] is paid for commentary," \[Mike\] Tomlin said. "I understand that, and I think our guys understand that. I mean, he's on ESPN every single day, and so it's his job to talk about what transpired and we realize how poorly we played on Sunday. So we don't dispute anything that somebody says from a commentary perspective, or dig too much into it."
I mean, he's not the best player in the league this year. That's not the same as scrub. The best version of AD is like the 5th-6th best player in the NBA.
People are forgetting how hyped AD was to almost LeBron levels as a prospect
Even the healthy version of him isn't the unironic GOAT level player some people thought he would be
AD hasn't looked physically right in years. I wonder how much of that is bad luck vs. him not taking his physical conditioning as seriously as someone like Giannis. Like Giannis was stick thin when he came into the league and now he's seemingly indestructible. AD has been more frail since winning the title.
AD openly declared that he hasn't changed his training regimen in the offseason, he clearly doesn't buy into the level of injury prevention that other players do.
I know AD had that really big growth spurt fairly late which some people have said is why he’s injury prone, and you look at his legs which look relatively skinny compared to his upper body. I saw an interview where AD said the only thing he did differently this off-season was give himself extra time to rest before getting back into training, and I was like damn could you add in some Pilates or something 😂
I think some guys are naturally just more durable than others, but they all have access to so many different resources to find out what works best for them. Like, to overcome his ankle issues Steph worked with a trainer who prioritised his core strength which has helped him, but I imagine if he got the wrong advice even if he still worked hard he wouldn’t have become more durable, like he is today. LeBron has obviously been Ironman for most of his career, but intentionally slimmed down in his thirties to take pressure off his joints.
In typical Chuck fashion he's bein inflammatory. But for most of their careers AD was the leader in the clubhouse between himself, Giannis, Embiid and Jokic. I think most see him as the lowest of those 4 now.
I don't think there's even an argument for AD over any of them right now unless you discount everything post-2020 EXCEPT for the last 3 games
Like you can say he's a much better defender than Jokic which is true but the fact is AD would have won 32 games with last year's Nuggets roster
Because they talked about it before, he doesn't really prepare in the off-season, don't touch a basketball for months when injured. He is extremely talented but lacks on the hard work side. Despite being so injury prone he never changed his training regiment which is a big nono.
He was never that hyped, he was hyped as a future superstar and with how good he got in 2015, people were predicting him to be a multi MVP in the future. That's about it.
Brow at his best is a hyper efficient volume scoring defensive maniac. Definitely GOAT level stuff if you keep it up for 10-15 years.
I just don’t get where all this hype came from. Dude was a great player on a trash team but I didn’t think he was a consensus top 5 player in the league. Maybe it was the Lakers stimulus. He had a great finals run where he could’ve easily won MVP until Bron went off the last few games though
The best version of AD has an argument for best player in the league.
2020 playoffs AD was unstoppable offensively and defensively. It wasn't until his injury in the finals he slowed down at all.
Chuck is hilarious, witty, entertaining. Seems like a good dude and we like his lack of filter and willingness to poke fun at himself.
When it comes to actual NBA discussion though he's wrong on a lot because he doesn't really keep up with the league lol
His hateboners for everyone becomes this sub's analysis, which is sad that not only is their analysis bad because it comes from Chuck, but it also means this sub's basketball analysis is so bad that they feel Chuck's opinion is more valuable than creating their own.
More and more I’m stating to not like Charles’ commentary. He needs to get out of his bubble and start talking with a different perspective. It was the same with Don Cherry and announcers that keep going on their tangents. Keep to the jokes, Charles, not the criticism ❤️
People don't understand (and Barley should), that how great you are perceived to be depends largely on the situation that you are drafted in.
If Kobe had been drafted by the Raptors, like T-Mac, and skipped over to Orlando only to see the star he was teaming with get what was tantamount to a career ending injury, he would have as many rings are T-Mac and nobody would be arguing whether he is in the top ten or not.
If Duncan and Garnett had swapped contexts, I promise you people would be talking about how Garnett is the G-POAT and Duncan is a close second.
That's just reality.
Tim Duncan's highest ppg was 25. He did it once, and never dropped as much as 24ppg in any other season.
AD dropped SIX straight seasons over 24ppg, 4 over 25ppg, 3 over 26ppg, and two over 28ppg.
Had he had David Robinson playing along side him during that time, or had prime Manu and Parker, he would have been able to make some noise.
But he didn't, and he's had injuries to deal with as well.
We've already seen how good AD is.
People are going to look back at his numbers and wonder why he isn't ranked higher.
And the first time he was given another All-NBA player to play with, he won a title.
The last couple of years have been injury plagued, which sucks, and if I'm being honest, LeBron has been taking more shots than he should be at this point. The offense should be run through AD, but LeBron is being a bit too ball dominant at this point in his career.
The last three games, he's shown what he can do when you run an offense through him: 3-0 with 37/17, 36/18, and 30/18.
He's as talented as anybody who ever played PF.
> People don’t understand (and Barley should), that how great you are perceived to be depends largely on the situation that you are drafted in.
This is true, but it goes the other way also. You can’t just assume someone in a bad situation would be historically successful in a better situation. Most great players were drafted by bad teams. That’s literally how the draft works.
Also, great players create great situations. Maybe not right away, but eventually. Luka turned the Mavs around. Dwight Howard turned around the magic. Chris Paul turned the hornets around.
I think when it comes to AD people assume he’s been in a worse situation than he has been. The last two seasons were were rough for sure, but he had some decent (not championship level, but not bad) teammates in NO, and in 7 years only made the playoffs twice.
Maybe give him two years to get used to the NBA, and take off his last year in NO where he was forcing his way out, and that’s still only 2/4 successful seasons. And that’s being generous. Most all time greats dominate right away.
> If Duncan and Garnett had swapped contexts, I promise you people would be talking about how Garnett is the G-POAT and Duncan is a close second.
> That’s just reality.
Nope. This is an opinion and not reality. You could make the argument and it’s an interesting hypothetical, but calling it reality is absolutely wrong.
> Tim Duncan’s highest ppg was 25. He did it once, and never dropped as much as 24ppg in any other season.
> AD dropped SIX straight seasons over 24ppg, 4 over 25ppg, 3 over 26ppg, and two over 28ppg.
Okay, but Duncan played on the slowest paced team in the slowest paced and most inefficient era in NBA history. So ppg isnt really the best metric to compare their overall ability. Scoring isn’t even considered Duncan’s best skill.
> People are going to look back at his numbers and wonder why he isn’t ranked higher.
And the answer will be that he didn’t do anything. Maybe because he’s injury prone, maybe because he’s just not as good as we think. Honestly, his career is going to look like Paul Pierce. Talented player on a perpetually mediocre team until he teamed up with other All-NBA players.
The problem is AD never led a team that was good for multiple seasons. I’m not even talking about championship good, just “make the playoffs” good. That’s literally an average nba team. 2021 was the first time in his career he’s ever been to the playoffs in back to back seasons. And they were the 7 seed. And he was injured over half of those games, so it’s hard to attribute making the playoffs to him anyway.
I mean, look at Jokic. Jokic hasn’t had a lot of help the last couples years with Murray hurt, and he’s still making the playoffs. You don’t even have to choose someone as good as Jokic. Marc Gasol made the playoffs every year in his prime. Damien Lillard makes the playoffs every year. Westbrook made the playoffs without Durant. AD has had less long-term success than all of those guys. You can make a case that he’s been injury prone, but Embiid is consistently making the playoffs while missing a similar amount of time.
You can say those people are in better situations, which might be true. But AD played with Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans. They’re not all-stars (except Jrue), but they aren’t random nobodies either. AD should be able to make the playoffs with them. I’m not even talking about championships. Just make the playoffs. I get the west was tough in AD’s early career, but if your excuse is everyone is too good, then how could you possibly be a generational player?
> Had he had David Robinson playing along side him during that time, or had prime Manu and Parker, he would have been able to make some noise.
Some noise? Definitely. 5 championships and the longest playoff streak of any major US sport ever? Zero chance. Would he become the de facto locker room leader over David Robinson in his first year? Doubt it.
Look at Harden, he hasn’t been to the finals since 2012 despite being completely dominant AND having teammates tailored to perfectly complement his style in Houston. You can’t just assume AD would be that successful when there’s literally someone better than him, who was in a good situation, that didn’t get it done. Championships are hard.
> We’ve already seen how good AD is.
Yea, he’s fantastic. But his talent hasn’t translated to accomplishments. You can’t just give him hypothetical accomplishments because his stats are good or because he passes the eye test.
> And the first time he was given another All-NBA player to play with, he won a title.
This is a weird argument because the All-NBA player is Lebron, who was obviously better than AD. This is like saying “look how good Pau Gasol is, as soon as he teamed up with Kobe he won a title”.
> LeBron has been taking more shots than he should be at this point. The offense should be run through AD, but LeBron is being a bit too ball dominant at this point in his career.
This is a fair criticism on the Lakers, but it just feels like another excuse for why AD’s team is underperforming.
> The last three games, he’s shown what he can do when you run an offense through him: 3-0 with 37/17, 36/18, and 30/18.
It’s been three games. It’s impressive, but until he strings together multiple winning seasons, he’s not in the kinds of all time conversations people seem to want to put him in.
> He’s as talented as anyone who ever played PF
Is he actually though? I don’t buy the bad situation argument. Injury prone, maybe. But if he’s a generational talent and plays 70+ games, he should easily make the playoffs.
He’s very good, but to me he’s not in the same conversation as the undisputed top-5 (no particular order): Duncan, Malone, Garnett, Nowitzki, and Barkley.
I think Duncan is better too... But I also think Pau Gasol is grossly underrated at the position (defensively especially), and that he'd have been seen entirely differently had he had more talent around him.
There's a lot of guys like that.
Mitch Richmond is one of the greatest shooting guard to ever lace them up, and he got stuck in Sac-Town, wasting away all his amazing years.
We give guys too much credit for being drafted into good situations and give guys in bad situations too little credit.
It's one of the reasons Jordan is held in such high esteem: He was drafted into a bad situation and still won 6 titles: Kobe got drafted on to a team with Shaq and still only won five in an era with only one other perennial contender to deal with.
man i already commented but i just have to keep doing it because I don't think AD is a super star, and the general perception upsets me because it takes away from true superstars.
on top of what i mentioned already, you have referred to lebron james as an "all-nba player". Anthony Davis wasn't given an all-nba player. he was given an all-time nbaplayer. in a category alone with michael jordan (possibly bill russell and kareem and wilt too, but that's it). so no we can't jsut call it "give him an all-nba player for the first time he gets a championship." it took someone in contention for goat for AD to get that ring.
looked it up, AD is at 60% assisted field goal percentage while giannis is at 43%. just watching highlights, AD is too reliant on guards dumping off to him after penetration, alley oops on pick and rolls, and put backs, for his points. that combined with great defensive abilities is fit for an all-time great number 2 that is fit to win rings (Those are skills very needed for a championship team). but those are not the marks of a superstar of this league. embiid and giannis and jokic are miles and miles above AD. the destiny of the lakers would be far different currently with any of those guys instead of AD.
Well you’re forgetting that 1.) ad plays in a much higher ppg era. 2.) td could have averaged 30 3.) ad is the most assisted baskets percentage off believe all time for anyone considered a star 4.) kg is no guarantee for rings in San Antonio. Intensity is overrated as an intangible. The calm, drama free demeanor of Tim Duncan seems to provide for longevity and is actually a much better intangible (ex. Dirk. Curry. Klay. Kerr as coach. Phil Jackson managing numerous personalities that get told they’re the greatest thing in the world since sliced bread. Etc. )
5.) it is known tmac had nowhere near the work ethic of Kobe. Kobes leadership style has its weaknesses but you know damn well he will get everyone focused on winning. Hard work + leadership are two intangibles tmac did not have. Kobe would have fated much better than tmac being drafted anywhere.
My very strong belief is that AD is a fraudulent superstar. The notion that he is one is pushed by a marketing machine and that he is on the lakers, as well as playing with lebron. No way he is top 75 over a few players. He’s an all time great number 2 though with skills needed for a championship team.
> People are going to look back at his numbers and wonder why he isn't ranked higher.
And that's why you don't listen to the opinions of people who just judge based on numbers. People looking at Andre Drummond's numbers would question why he wasn't All-NBA in 2018-2020.
It wasn’t a *bad* prediction but these are hard to get right. I told my friends that Draymond would be the next Magic Johnson, back when Draymond was in college. Overstated, yes, but he has been a pretty solid all-around player. I also stated that Corey Maguette would be a hall of famer and was the true next coming of Jordan. So, yeah.
I’m pretty much in agreement. But like I said, it’s a hard business. There aren’t many sure fire players out there, when one is talking top level all time greats.
> told my friends that Draymond would be the next Magic Johnson, back when he was in college
You went to his school or something? lol If not then that's quite a take and imo should be a dub for you. Obv he isn't Magic but he's had a hof career with little to no expectations
Charles has been slandering talented Power Forwards on TNT for what feels like my entire life. The dude sees everything through the lens of himself. He is funny, I like Chuck sometimes, but when he talks about a modern NBA big man (especially a PF with a championship) I'm not listening.
yes exactly. all this narrative bs ignores actual statistics
he’s had over 30 pts a game for the las three games
he’s had good rebound numbers for all but three of the games he played in
Less than [2 years ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/koq6qu/giannis_vs_ad_who_do_you_believe_is_better/) AD was still getting compared to Giannis. The fall off is crazy
Bro had a 2 month turnaround after winning a championship while playing injured in that run too and got a series of injuries because of it ever since. Finally he’s as healthy as he’s ever been since then and has been putting up monster stat lines. I don’t understand the narrative but it is what it is.
Chuck is getting a little too negative for me lately. Maybe it’s just me paying attention to the headline posts, but I thought the bullet proof vest joke about Ben was a little tasteless. I get the humor but I just don’t know about joking about gun violence with that situation. Call me sensitive if you want. The gun violence in America is simply out of control
“Guarantee you the Trailblazers beat the Lakers. They have no one they can stop Damian Lillard”
And they had no one that could stop AD or LeBron. No one could for 4 straight playoff series lmao. He can shit on AD all he wants but AD has a ring and he never will. And I like Chuck but he’s so salty. AD doesn’t trash talk anyone and just minds his own business, he’s one of the least problematic players in the league.
Individual accomplishments > team accomplishments for ranking players
There's a reason most people don't think Bill Russell is better than MJ and LeBron COMBINED
This is how you know Chuck has some of the worst takes, no one thought AD was going to be the best player in the league. What is he taking about? AD isn’t even playing bad either.
How is this such a poorly understood fact
You could have most every skill under the sun on both offense and defense but if your ballhandling/shot creation isn't on a certain level you're never going to be best in the world
I don't think so because he doesn't really have the self creation skillset to carry a team
He's an incredible play finisher and #2 but he'll always need that superstar/elite playmaker alongside him
I love Chuck as a personality but he has the weirdest basketball takes sometimes. His comment about Ja “not making his teammates better” was also just odd
Disappointing is a strong word, but yeah AD just never hit that extra stride outside of the 2020 Disney bubble to make you think he was a top 5 player.
AD still a superstar he’s an elite top 10 player in the league. IMO when AD healthy he’s the same tier as Jokic, Embiid and Giannis. As the 2nd option unlike those guys his numbers and usage aren’t as high. As well as all the injuries. When he plays he’s a superstar
Nah leave him be, he is playing good right now
He basically always plays good when healthy. I don’t really understand blaming or clowning players for injuries outside their control
AD does have his trademark passiveness from time to time and sometimes in long stretches, I don't think it's always health related
That, and his shooting went from good to dookie stank real quick after the chip.
I choose to believe you mean the microchip in the vaccine
Nah, he was pretty bad after their title year even when he was healthy.
You mean after the shortest offseason of all time when he was still nursing an injury he got in the finals? The year that every team that made the conference finals in the bubble got struck massively with injuries and all flamed out early in the playoffs? That year?
pretty bad for the expectations coming off that insane year sure but he was still really good lol. Shooting dropped but insane defensive anchor and was still really good offensively
Because he wasn’t really healthy, he was still playing through injuries.
Except, and this might be a surprise but it shouldn’t if you actually paid attention, he was not healthy. Good job.
Bro I hate this sub. This isn’t close to true
I think being injury prone is a mark against reliability. It’s unfair I know but what’s the point in being the greatest player on the planet if you can only play three games a season
That AND he is playing second fiddle to LeBron, not getting as much usage, and his team hasn't been great at finding him since 2020. Source: I watch every Lakers game oh my god my eyes
Eh, AD peaked at the right moment en route to a title. Then dealt with injuries that prevented any potential progression for two years. But what separates Giannis from his other big men peers is his all time great motor, great ball handling/playmaking at his size and durability. Not everyone can be *the* freak amongst freaks.
I just wonder if you’re always dealing with injuries, even when you play it must affect how aggressive you go on both ends and seems to happen to AD - whereas Giannis’ great motor is partly down to the fact that he can trust his body. I’m sure mindset also plays a part, but I wonder how the physical and mental lines can blur.
I’m not sure i would have agreed with this a couple weeks ago but watching AD go off again. I really think it’s the truth. When he plays the way he wants to, it’s pretty unreal
Bulls fans know. D Rose legit didn’t trust his body for like 4 years at one point. It was a weird time.
This is facts
Giannis lives up to his nickname. That hyperextended knee would have ended so many other player’s careers.
Lebron was the first Giannis
LeBron is above that level.
I agree. I was just saying we have seen the player he described in lbj
Shaq was the first Giannis.
They really don’t play anything a like and I’d still argue Shaqs 93-03 was better as of now.
AD is fresh off of being the first Laker since Shaq to put up 3 straight 30/15 games as he's led the Lakers to a 3-0 streak without Bron When he's healthy he's not the best but is easily top 10. Not really his fault he's injury ponre
He’s been playing the best player in the league the last few games, he can’t seem to win at this point.
You can't criticize him for doing what he's supposed to do. You can say it was against a bunch of midgets scrubs.
No he hasn't lol
He really showed Marvin Bagley and Gorgui Dieng who is boss
He's got 36/21/2/5/4 against Ayton/Suns with 3 min left and Lakers down 8. He's playing well. E: Ended with 37/21/2/5/5 and the loss
Then why doesn't everyone just have 30/15 every time they're defended by "bad" players? Also Bagley only played 23 minutes and Dieng played 21. Don't just hate for the sake of it.
AD has shit on pretty much every big star already so I don’t get what’s your point
You're not getting Wemby with our pick we aren't that bad you need to accept it
he’s a pelicans fan. he’s still salty about AD forcing himself out of that poverty franchise
Lakers fans unironically using poverty franchise while out sucking tanking teams
they at least got a ring out of the trade lol i can’t believe i’m defending the LAKERS
Lakers are a lot of things but we aren’t a poverty franchise
He showed Ayton too
I never got why a player gets blamed for being Injury Prone
Same reason they get praised for being athletic. It is what it is.
Players get praised for being able to apply their athleticism. Andrew Wiggins got more criticism for not being able to apply it than "praises" for having it.
Kinda disagree on that. No one looks at the naturally unathletic guys and says "you've disappointed everybody."
My dad did
Well you never had the makings of a varsity athlete
>you never had the makings of a varsity athlete What the hell is with you? Get your coat! We're leaving!
But I don’t have a coat?
Well then get moving god damn it
Coat? What about Rocco DiMeo's jaaacket?
Now you sound like my coaches
Small hands, that’s his problem
I feel ya, fam. I entered high school with two goals. I wanted to be 6 ft tall and I wanted to be able to dunk a basketball. I drank milk every single damn day. I would watch sports and do calf raises at every single commercial break. I started high school as 5 ft 4 and could barely touch the net. I will let you know by the time I graduated, I had managed to dunk...a tennis ball. You could put put me in cowboy boots and had me stand on my math book and I still wouldn't be close to 6 ft. The moral of the story is there is no God. Happy thanksgiving.
If it makes you feel better I am literally 5’11 and a half… Like no joke, doesn’t matter how close to 6’ I just am not that.
Hey man, I know if you keep working on your shot, you'll shoot free throws better than Shaq ever will. I believe in you.
Oof
It definitely happens to tall and/or black guys.
Nobody says that because people like that don't survive in the league. If you're around long enough to be criticized that means people still have expectations from you
We’re you not here when everyone was praying on Chet’s downfall lol? Everyone was saying one LeBron drive would take him out and, well lol
[удалено]
Yeah that's very true, good point. The way athletes get talked about (especially on reddit) when they put on weight really sucks. I still see Kelvin Benjamin jokes almost every day on r/nfl, and that dude hasn't played in like 4 years
It’s like saying Greg oden Derrick rose McGrady Brandon Roy are all busts and disappointing lol well no shit they went through near career ending injuries
Both are true. They are busts and disappointing, and they had career ending/altering injuries. I don’t get why it’s a bad thing, I mean I’m sure Greg Oden and Anthony Davis are disappointed about their injuries too
Kawhi the actual street clothes Leonard gets a pass
Choosing the clippers was part of the strategy
Laker fans love saying how no one cares about clippers in LA etc. So naturally they get more criticism. Can't have it both ways
Kawhi was the best player in the league bar LeBron for multiple seasons? He won multiple titles and hardly disappointed, very nice basketball knowledge comparing AD with Kawhi.
2 finals MVP and 2 DPOY as a non-lottery pick. If that’s a disappointment then everybody is.
Finals MVP does that for you
2x
GOAT PR
He is so quite and rarely plays these days that people forget he exists.
Lack of effort could also be a reason. Self admittedly he doesn’t touch a basketball during the off season. That’s not how you progress at the highest level.
His problems are deeper than his injuries.
Because there's a point where injury prone becomes less of a standard hazard of play and more of you not playing in a way that protects you body.
..when you have a lot of injuries it can look like some of that might be on the player and maybe a lack of preparation?
Chuck is an AD hater and now that everyone’s hate boner for him had calmed down people are finally seeing it
Barkley ruined a lot of NBA discourse. The AD hate like "street clothes", the triple single and bus rider terms came from Barkley and every discussion became even more braindead. You can't even criticize Barkley in this sub because "LOL BARKLEY IS FUNNY!!"
Damn, Chuck just like me
Turns out Chuck *is* a role model.
Upset that AD got a ring while he couldn't even with his attempted superteam move.
Chuck is also a very vocal Laker hater. We’re not the reason his fatass didn’t get a ring.
He seems to hate California as a whole
Understandable
Yes, we know, he says it every time. AD needs to win MVP for Chuck to change his script
Don’t you think AD been a disappointment since 2020? AD should have been in the MVP conversation the last 2 years. He is way underperforming his true potential. Giannis is what we thought AD would be
I feel like what Chuck means is that AD should be the leader and the best player on the Lakers, not Lebron. AD is playing great now but it is still below his NOLA standard
100%. I think people underestimate or don’t remember how great AD was. Saying AD is the greatest prospect we had since LeBron until 2019 was totally reasonable thing to say. I am glad AD playing well for 5 games, but he should be in that MVP conversation not just playing good based on his potential
He is the best players on the Lakers. I'm not sure why people still question this in 2022. His defense is so far ahead and people act like it isn't important.
Chuck does not have this same energy for Kawhi calls AD street clothes but AD has played more games than Kawhi since they both have been in LA
Has Chuck watched any basketball this season? He’s talking like AD is a scrub.
He admits he doesn't watch the games lol
Dude just talking to talk
Relevant: >"Ryan \[Clark\] is paid for commentary," \[Mike\] Tomlin said. "I understand that, and I think our guys understand that. I mean, he's on ESPN every single day, and so it's his job to talk about what transpired and we realize how poorly we played on Sunday. So we don't dispute anything that somebody says from a commentary perspective, or dig too much into it."
I mean, he's not the best player in the league this year. That's not the same as scrub. The best version of AD is like the 5th-6th best player in the NBA.
People are forgetting how hyped AD was to almost LeBron levels as a prospect Even the healthy version of him isn't the unironic GOAT level player some people thought he would be
Yeah, he's still an amazing player with a great career, but people were expecting him to be what Giannis is basically.
AD hasn't looked physically right in years. I wonder how much of that is bad luck vs. him not taking his physical conditioning as seriously as someone like Giannis. Like Giannis was stick thin when he came into the league and now he's seemingly indestructible. AD has been more frail since winning the title.
AD openly declared that he hasn't changed his training regimen in the offseason, he clearly doesn't buy into the level of injury prevention that other players do.
If that's true, that's really unfortunate
I know AD had that really big growth spurt fairly late which some people have said is why he’s injury prone, and you look at his legs which look relatively skinny compared to his upper body. I saw an interview where AD said the only thing he did differently this off-season was give himself extra time to rest before getting back into training, and I was like damn could you add in some Pilates or something 😂 I think some guys are naturally just more durable than others, but they all have access to so many different resources to find out what works best for them. Like, to overcome his ankle issues Steph worked with a trainer who prioritised his core strength which has helped him, but I imagine if he got the wrong advice even if he still worked hard he wouldn’t have become more durable, like he is today. LeBron has obviously been Ironman for most of his career, but intentionally slimmed down in his thirties to take pressure off his joints.
In typical Chuck fashion he's bein inflammatory. But for most of their careers AD was the leader in the clubhouse between himself, Giannis, Embiid and Jokic. I think most see him as the lowest of those 4 now.
I don't think there's even an argument for AD over any of them right now unless you discount everything post-2020 EXCEPT for the last 3 games Like you can say he's a much better defender than Jokic which is true but the fact is AD would have won 32 games with last year's Nuggets roster
Because they talked about it before, he doesn't really prepare in the off-season, don't touch a basketball for months when injured. He is extremely talented but lacks on the hard work side. Despite being so injury prone he never changed his training regiment which is a big nono.
Dude was a top 3 player in the bubble and won a chip
He was never that hyped, he was hyped as a future superstar and with how good he got in 2015, people were predicting him to be a multi MVP in the future. That's about it. Brow at his best is a hyper efficient volume scoring defensive maniac. Definitely GOAT level stuff if you keep it up for 10-15 years.
I just don’t get where all this hype came from. Dude was a great player on a trash team but I didn’t think he was a consensus top 5 player in the league. Maybe it was the Lakers stimulus. He had a great finals run where he could’ve easily won MVP until Bron went off the last few games though
The best version of AD has an argument for best player in the league. 2020 playoffs AD was unstoppable offensively and defensively. It wasn't until his injury in the finals he slowed down at all.
Did AD sleep with Chucks wife or something?
He’s averaging 25 right?
25.6/12/1.9 blocks/1.5 steals per game on 62% TS
That’s actually really fucking good. He’s playing his best ball since the year they won the chip.
AD is the type of guy who isn't at all flashy, but consistently makes plays and by the end of the game you're kind of surprised by the statline
25/12 on 55% FG
Lol Chuck doesn’t watch these games. He’s admitted as much. I think he just watches the replay packages and talks based on that & box scores.
The answer is no, Chuck probably watches less NBA basketball than the casual posters here
I know Chuck is an r/NBA darling, but I find his hateboner for AD to be actually pretty tedious.
Chuck is hilarious, witty, entertaining. Seems like a good dude and we like his lack of filter and willingness to poke fun at himself. When it comes to actual NBA discussion though he's wrong on a lot because he doesn't really keep up with the league lol
He also has some takes that reveal his horrible character. Vaccine distribution, Treyvon Martin, his hypocrisy towards LGTBQ people. Disgusting dude.
His hateboners for everyone becomes this sub's analysis, which is sad that not only is their analysis bad because it comes from Chuck, but it also means this sub's basketball analysis is so bad that they feel Chuck's opinion is more valuable than creating their own.
AD dropped 37/21/5/5 tonight but yet this is more upvoted then the thread talking about his performance Perfectly sums up this garbage fucking sub
More and more I’m stating to not like Charles’ commentary. He needs to get out of his bubble and start talking with a different perspective. It was the same with Don Cherry and announcers that keep going on their tangents. Keep to the jokes, Charles, not the criticism ❤️
Chuck literally watches no games man. That’s why so many of his takes are just bad.
Weird time to say this Chuck
Dude sounds like a hater
He's always had a problem with AD
Isn’t chuck the one who came up with the street clothes moniker?
*Astronaut gun emjoi*
Atleast he is consistent
And you should have a ring, Chuck. But expectations and reality are often worlds apart, sorry to break the news to ya big guy
I read this in Shaq's voice
"HEY, IT'S SHAQ!!!! THANKS FOR CALLING THE GENERAL!" Every fucking time I call my car insurance company lmao
https://youtu.be/1BYFbXJKJ8U
Did it save you money AND time?
Lol
People don't understand (and Barley should), that how great you are perceived to be depends largely on the situation that you are drafted in. If Kobe had been drafted by the Raptors, like T-Mac, and skipped over to Orlando only to see the star he was teaming with get what was tantamount to a career ending injury, he would have as many rings are T-Mac and nobody would be arguing whether he is in the top ten or not. If Duncan and Garnett had swapped contexts, I promise you people would be talking about how Garnett is the G-POAT and Duncan is a close second. That's just reality. Tim Duncan's highest ppg was 25. He did it once, and never dropped as much as 24ppg in any other season. AD dropped SIX straight seasons over 24ppg, 4 over 25ppg, 3 over 26ppg, and two over 28ppg. Had he had David Robinson playing along side him during that time, or had prime Manu and Parker, he would have been able to make some noise. But he didn't, and he's had injuries to deal with as well. We've already seen how good AD is. People are going to look back at his numbers and wonder why he isn't ranked higher. And the first time he was given another All-NBA player to play with, he won a title. The last couple of years have been injury plagued, which sucks, and if I'm being honest, LeBron has been taking more shots than he should be at this point. The offense should be run through AD, but LeBron is being a bit too ball dominant at this point in his career. The last three games, he's shown what he can do when you run an offense through him: 3-0 with 37/17, 36/18, and 30/18. He's as talented as anybody who ever played PF.
> People don’t understand (and Barley should), that how great you are perceived to be depends largely on the situation that you are drafted in. This is true, but it goes the other way also. You can’t just assume someone in a bad situation would be historically successful in a better situation. Most great players were drafted by bad teams. That’s literally how the draft works. Also, great players create great situations. Maybe not right away, but eventually. Luka turned the Mavs around. Dwight Howard turned around the magic. Chris Paul turned the hornets around. I think when it comes to AD people assume he’s been in a worse situation than he has been. The last two seasons were were rough for sure, but he had some decent (not championship level, but not bad) teammates in NO, and in 7 years only made the playoffs twice. Maybe give him two years to get used to the NBA, and take off his last year in NO where he was forcing his way out, and that’s still only 2/4 successful seasons. And that’s being generous. Most all time greats dominate right away. > If Duncan and Garnett had swapped contexts, I promise you people would be talking about how Garnett is the G-POAT and Duncan is a close second. > That’s just reality. Nope. This is an opinion and not reality. You could make the argument and it’s an interesting hypothetical, but calling it reality is absolutely wrong. > Tim Duncan’s highest ppg was 25. He did it once, and never dropped as much as 24ppg in any other season. > AD dropped SIX straight seasons over 24ppg, 4 over 25ppg, 3 over 26ppg, and two over 28ppg. Okay, but Duncan played on the slowest paced team in the slowest paced and most inefficient era in NBA history. So ppg isnt really the best metric to compare their overall ability. Scoring isn’t even considered Duncan’s best skill. > People are going to look back at his numbers and wonder why he isn’t ranked higher. And the answer will be that he didn’t do anything. Maybe because he’s injury prone, maybe because he’s just not as good as we think. Honestly, his career is going to look like Paul Pierce. Talented player on a perpetually mediocre team until he teamed up with other All-NBA players. The problem is AD never led a team that was good for multiple seasons. I’m not even talking about championship good, just “make the playoffs” good. That’s literally an average nba team. 2021 was the first time in his career he’s ever been to the playoffs in back to back seasons. And they were the 7 seed. And he was injured over half of those games, so it’s hard to attribute making the playoffs to him anyway. I mean, look at Jokic. Jokic hasn’t had a lot of help the last couples years with Murray hurt, and he’s still making the playoffs. You don’t even have to choose someone as good as Jokic. Marc Gasol made the playoffs every year in his prime. Damien Lillard makes the playoffs every year. Westbrook made the playoffs without Durant. AD has had less long-term success than all of those guys. You can make a case that he’s been injury prone, but Embiid is consistently making the playoffs while missing a similar amount of time. You can say those people are in better situations, which might be true. But AD played with Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans. They’re not all-stars (except Jrue), but they aren’t random nobodies either. AD should be able to make the playoffs with them. I’m not even talking about championships. Just make the playoffs. I get the west was tough in AD’s early career, but if your excuse is everyone is too good, then how could you possibly be a generational player? > Had he had David Robinson playing along side him during that time, or had prime Manu and Parker, he would have been able to make some noise. Some noise? Definitely. 5 championships and the longest playoff streak of any major US sport ever? Zero chance. Would he become the de facto locker room leader over David Robinson in his first year? Doubt it. Look at Harden, he hasn’t been to the finals since 2012 despite being completely dominant AND having teammates tailored to perfectly complement his style in Houston. You can’t just assume AD would be that successful when there’s literally someone better than him, who was in a good situation, that didn’t get it done. Championships are hard. > We’ve already seen how good AD is. Yea, he’s fantastic. But his talent hasn’t translated to accomplishments. You can’t just give him hypothetical accomplishments because his stats are good or because he passes the eye test. > And the first time he was given another All-NBA player to play with, he won a title. This is a weird argument because the All-NBA player is Lebron, who was obviously better than AD. This is like saying “look how good Pau Gasol is, as soon as he teamed up with Kobe he won a title”. > LeBron has been taking more shots than he should be at this point. The offense should be run through AD, but LeBron is being a bit too ball dominant at this point in his career. This is a fair criticism on the Lakers, but it just feels like another excuse for why AD’s team is underperforming. > The last three games, he’s shown what he can do when you run an offense through him: 3-0 with 37/17, 36/18, and 30/18. It’s been three games. It’s impressive, but until he strings together multiple winning seasons, he’s not in the kinds of all time conversations people seem to want to put him in. > He’s as talented as anyone who ever played PF Is he actually though? I don’t buy the bad situation argument. Injury prone, maybe. But if he’s a generational talent and plays 70+ games, he should easily make the playoffs. He’s very good, but to me he’s not in the same conversation as the undisputed top-5 (no particular order): Duncan, Malone, Garnett, Nowitzki, and Barkley.
Duncan was better than Garnett either way (not by too much but I think that’s still a definite imo) but I get your point
I think Duncan is better too... But I also think Pau Gasol is grossly underrated at the position (defensively especially), and that he'd have been seen entirely differently had he had more talent around him. There's a lot of guys like that. Mitch Richmond is one of the greatest shooting guard to ever lace them up, and he got stuck in Sac-Town, wasting away all his amazing years. We give guys too much credit for being drafted into good situations and give guys in bad situations too little credit. It's one of the reasons Jordan is held in such high esteem: He was drafted into a bad situation and still won 6 titles: Kobe got drafted on to a team with Shaq and still only won five in an era with only one other perennial contender to deal with.
Only 5? 🤡
man i already commented but i just have to keep doing it because I don't think AD is a super star, and the general perception upsets me because it takes away from true superstars. on top of what i mentioned already, you have referred to lebron james as an "all-nba player". Anthony Davis wasn't given an all-nba player. he was given an all-time nbaplayer. in a category alone with michael jordan (possibly bill russell and kareem and wilt too, but that's it). so no we can't jsut call it "give him an all-nba player for the first time he gets a championship." it took someone in contention for goat for AD to get that ring. looked it up, AD is at 60% assisted field goal percentage while giannis is at 43%. just watching highlights, AD is too reliant on guards dumping off to him after penetration, alley oops on pick and rolls, and put backs, for his points. that combined with great defensive abilities is fit for an all-time great number 2 that is fit to win rings (Those are skills very needed for a championship team). but those are not the marks of a superstar of this league. embiid and giannis and jokic are miles and miles above AD. the destiny of the lakers would be far different currently with any of those guys instead of AD.
Well you’re forgetting that 1.) ad plays in a much higher ppg era. 2.) td could have averaged 30 3.) ad is the most assisted baskets percentage off believe all time for anyone considered a star 4.) kg is no guarantee for rings in San Antonio. Intensity is overrated as an intangible. The calm, drama free demeanor of Tim Duncan seems to provide for longevity and is actually a much better intangible (ex. Dirk. Curry. Klay. Kerr as coach. Phil Jackson managing numerous personalities that get told they’re the greatest thing in the world since sliced bread. Etc. ) 5.) it is known tmac had nowhere near the work ethic of Kobe. Kobes leadership style has its weaknesses but you know damn well he will get everyone focused on winning. Hard work + leadership are two intangibles tmac did not have. Kobe would have fated much better than tmac being drafted anywhere. My very strong belief is that AD is a fraudulent superstar. The notion that he is one is pushed by a marketing machine and that he is on the lakers, as well as playing with lebron. No way he is top 75 over a few players. He’s an all time great number 2 though with skills needed for a championship team.
> People are going to look back at his numbers and wonder why he isn't ranked higher. And that's why you don't listen to the opinions of people who just judge based on numbers. People looking at Andre Drummond's numbers would question why he wasn't All-NBA in 2018-2020.
It wasn’t a *bad* prediction but these are hard to get right. I told my friends that Draymond would be the next Magic Johnson, back when Draymond was in college. Overstated, yes, but he has been a pretty solid all-around player. I also stated that Corey Maguette would be a hall of famer and was the true next coming of Jordan. So, yeah.
I think AD being in Giannis’ spot now is one thing because the talent was there but your takes are/were delusional then and now.
I’m pretty much in agreement. But like I said, it’s a hard business. There aren’t many sure fire players out there, when one is talking top level all time greats.
> told my friends that Draymond would be the next Magic Johnson, back when he was in college You went to his school or something? lol If not then that's quite a take and imo should be a dub for you. Obv he isn't Magic but he's had a hof career with little to no expectations
Nah, I saw him a lot being a fan of his rival. I fucking hated him, but respected his game.
Charles has been slandering talented Power Forwards on TNT for what feels like my entire life. The dude sees everything through the lens of himself. He is funny, I like Chuck sometimes, but when he talks about a modern NBA big man (especially a PF with a championship) I'm not listening.
“These big dudes today are dummies… too many jumpers”
He’s got more rings than you chuck!
Right… the measurement for everything. I guess Heinsohn is better than LeBron or MJ too.
AD has been playing great for a while now. By far better than LeBron all year. Barkley just talking to talk
By "a while" you mean the last 3 games?
yes exactly. all this narrative bs ignores actual statistics he’s had over 30 pts a game for the las three games he’s had good rebound numbers for all but three of the games he played in
He was p mid before lebron got hurt. Still probably better than lebron bc lebron sucked but still nowhere near his expectation
Less than [2 years ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/koq6qu/giannis_vs_ad_who_do_you_believe_is_better/) AD was still getting compared to Giannis. The fall off is crazy
It’s almost as if you can’t play your best when you’re injured. Crazy right? SMH…some of y’all hating just for the sake of hating.
Bro had a 2 month turnaround after winning a championship while playing injured in that run too and got a series of injuries because of it ever since. Finally he’s as healthy as he’s ever been since then and has been putting up monster stat lines. I don’t understand the narrative but it is what it is.
[удалено]
This is bullshit too lmfao. Imagine Giannis next to LeBron, KD, Steph, Luka.
Better as a second option just means you're not as good lol. I have no idea why that would be a compliment.
Tons of people are picking AD or saying it’s close. Did you even open the link?
The comments are blatantly split or almost even leaning AD this guy literally just didn’t click the link or made this shit up lol
Barkly is an expert on being a disappointment.
He's hurt often but not a bum lol
But it's not his fault that he is injury prone.
Shit the dude got injured, you really gonna blame a dude for getting injured?
What is chucks beef with him lmao. It’s weird at this point
Chuck is getting a little too negative for me lately. Maybe it’s just me paying attention to the headline posts, but I thought the bullet proof vest joke about Ben was a little tasteless. I get the humor but I just don’t know about joking about gun violence with that situation. Call me sensitive if you want. The gun violence in America is simply out of control
AD needa tell Barkley to get some knee pads I don’t know why he drags him down at every opportunity
Because Chuck hates the Lakers.
“Guarantee you the Trailblazers beat the Lakers. They have no one they can stop Damian Lillard” And they had no one that could stop AD or LeBron. No one could for 4 straight playoff series lmao. He can shit on AD all he wants but AD has a ring and he never will. And I like Chuck but he’s so salty. AD doesn’t trash talk anyone and just minds his own business, he’s one of the least problematic players in the league.
And what has MVP Harden, Jokic, and Westbrook got so far?
Individual accomplishments > team accomplishments for ranking players There's a reason most people don't think Bill Russell is better than MJ and LeBron COMBINED
This is when Chuck is lazy - not the good Chuck
This is how you know Chuck has some of the worst takes, no one thought AD was going to be the best player in the league. What is he taking about? AD isn’t even playing bad either.
Chuck is such a hater. Dude is ruining basketball discourse even more than it already is.
To a lesser extent, fellow Kentucky big man KAT has also really failed to live up to expectations.
Chuck reaching for those donuts on the top shelf
You need to be a ball handler to be the best in the league nowadays. AD will never be the best just based off his style of game
Yeah and this is the issue with the Lakers' construction in general IMO, not just AD They're built to win in the 1990s, not the 2020s
How is this such a poorly understood fact You could have most every skill under the sun on both offense and defense but if your ballhandling/shot creation isn't on a certain level you're never going to be best in the world
All it took was 3 good games in a row for y’all to show AD some love? Just last week people were saying he didn’t belong in the top 75 all time.
Come on chuck
There has never been a season in which AD was expected to be the best player in the NBA. Chuck is fucking trippin.
That’s not true. During his time in New Orleans AD was def talked about his potential to be the best in the league
If AD never had injury issues he probably would be. Pretty sure that's been the verdict for him for a while now.
I don't think so because he doesn't really have the self creation skillset to carry a team He's an incredible play finisher and #2 but he'll always need that superstar/elite playmaker alongside him
He would be top 3 but Giannis would still be better
No
I love Chuck as a personality but he has the weirdest basketball takes sometimes. His comment about Ja “not making his teammates better” was also just odd
Say this when he's playing bad. Not this year when he's playing some of the best ball of his life
He’s a few weeks late to say this. We all know he doesn’t watch ball and it shows. Lol still love Barkley
Disappointing is a strong word, but yeah AD just never hit that extra stride outside of the 2020 Disney bubble to make you think he was a top 5 player.
Barkley is just a a hater of AD period. Biased af
Imagine averaging 30 and 18 over the last 3 games just to be told you aren't doing enough
The TNT guys are unwatchable
Chuck hates AD more than anyone lol
AD still a superstar he’s an elite top 10 player in the league. IMO when AD healthy he’s the same tier as Jokic, Embiid and Giannis. As the 2nd option unlike those guys his numbers and usage aren’t as high. As well as all the injuries. When he plays he’s a superstar
Anthony Davis is absolutely not in the same tier as Giannis lmfao What is this 2020