Sticking Up For Lebron's "Help"

In the days that have passed since the 2014 NBA Championship we have learned a few things. We have learned many things about the Miami Heat. This offseason has already seen 4 players opt out of their contracts with the Heat. Those four players are Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, Udonis Haslem and of course Lebron James. Lebron opted out to see what the Heat would do to appease his appetite to get more help. The others opted out because it is what Lebron wanted. Why is everyone so quick to appease Lebron though and give him exactly what he wants?

Look I realize that Lebron James is the most physically gifted player in the NBA. I can even see some people calling him the best player in the NBA. However, this is not some selfless move to improve this team. This is selfish spoiled behavior. He wants everyone to take a pay cut but him and he wants a team full of all-stars. Face it, Lebron is ring chasing and he isn't Jordan. I would argue several others ahead of him, but I will stick with just Jordan right now. Lebron expects stars at every position and for us to still acknowledge him as the greatest ever. Sorry not buying it. His help isn't that bad and wasn't that bad and I will prove it to you.

The Miami Years
Let's start with Chris Bosh.

Bosh is a 9 time all-star having appeared in every game since 2006. He is widely acknoweldged as one of the best big men in the entire game. There is a reason that Bosh was chosen by Wade and Lebron to be in the Big 3. Chris Bosh is a guy that every team in the NBA wanted. Every team wanted him and every team would have given him a max deal. The Lakers were drooling over the possibility of adding Bosh. Every team still wants Bosh too. Every team might not give him a max deal anymore, but everybody wants him. Basketball reference has him as the 8th most likely current player to make the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame! His numbers are down after joining Miami and deferring to King James, but he is ranked as the 8th most likely in the sport to enter the Hall of Fame.

Dwayne Wade

Bosh is the 8th most likely according to Basketball Reference, but Wade is the 4th most likely. Dwayne Wade is only less likely than Kobe, Duncan, and Lebron. This guy has been amazing his entire career. Wade is a 10 time all-star appearing in every game since 2005. He has won three championships to Lebron's 2 (one of which was won with a similar supporting cast minus Bosh and Lebron). Additionally, Wade has won an All-Star Game MVP and a Finals MVP. This guy was considered the 2nd best player in the league to only Lebron when the big 3 was formed. I realize Wade has had injuries and lost a step, but that is just the last two seasons only. He still averaged 15+ points a game in the playoffs last season and 17.8 PPG this season. The guy can still play. He isn't a max player on the open market anymore, but he is quite good. Over the regular season for 2012-2013 he averaged 21.2 a game and now averages 19.0 per game. This guy is still a very capable starter. Let's not overreact and call him chopped liver.

Ray Allen
Do you know who #9 on that Hall of Fame probability list is?

That's right the 3rd player that Lebron has as a teammate on this squad alone among active players in Hall of Fame probability is Ray Allen. This is also the 3rd player that Lebron has higher than any of Duncan's teammates. Do not disrespect what Ray Allen was or what he still is.
When Ray Allen took a paycut to join the Miami Heat he is a guy that everyone wanted. Everyone would have paid Ray a lot more money to come in too. However, he chose Miami to give Lebron some help. Miami was thrilled to have Ray Allen when he hit the huge shot in Game 6 last year to extend the series, but act like he can't play anymore now that they lost. He is still scoring 10 a game and contributing on both ends. More than acceptable from a shooter off the bench with 26 minutes a game.
Sure his skills have diminished, but Ray Allen is another 10 time all-star. He's also a two time champion and the NBA's all-time leader in three point field goals. He has the greatest jump shot that I have ever seen. He is an absolute gift to the game of basketball.

Mario Chalmers
Mario Chalmers was seen as one of the best college basketball players when he came out and a gift to end up with the Miami Heat. He was still pretty effective this season finishing 13th in the league in steals. He also averaged 9.8 PPG this season which is far from awful.

More help
Chris Anderson finished 17th in blocks despite playing less than 20 minutes per game. In the postseason, Anderson's minutes dropped, but he was still 20th in blocks per game.
Udonis Haslem was a leftover from Miami's last championship.
Norris Cole was quite good at times.
Greg Oden was a guy several teams wanted included the San Antonio Spurs.
Rashard Lewis is a former max contract guy.
Michael Beasley is a former #2 pick that many people thought should have gone ahead of Derrick Rose.
Toney Douglas was buried on the bench, but has averaged 7.8 for his career. Pretty good for the last guy on the bench and he is still young.
and...

Shane Battier

Shane Battier is the most underrated of all of Lebron's help for the Miami Heat. Battier is widely recognized as one of the best defensive players of this era. He is a two time member of the All-NBA defensive team. One of those times was the season before he joined the Miami Heat. Battier was known as one of the few guys that could slow down Kobe Bryant and is a defensive specialist. He was there for both of Lebron's titles. Sure he has lost a step, but this guy is a quality player. Last season (2012-2013) Battier finished 5th in the NBA in 3 pt FG %. Battier is 52nd in NBA history in turnover percentage (he doesn't turn the ball over). His fire helped Miami capture those championships. He is just a competitior and a fighter. Let's not act like he is some old fart either. This guy is younger than Duncan. Battier was quite good during his time with the Heat.

The Cleveland Years
Zydrunas Illgauskas

This guy was the best teammate Lebron ever had. He wasn't the best player on any of Lebron's teams, but he was a great teammate. He always looked out from Lebron and even signed the vet minimum to follow Lebron to Miami. This guy meant the world to Cleveland. He played with them from 1996-2010. Illgauskas is the 7th player in Cavs history to have his jersey retired and Lebron was in attendance when it happened (the Heat had an off day). He also happens to be a two-time all-star. During the 04-05 season Illgauskas averaged 16.9 points and 8.6 rebounds. Over his career he averaged 14.5 points and 8.2 rebounds. This guy was a great center and one of the best in the Eastern Conference over his career in Cleveland. Do not forget that he left too when Lebron left and Cleveland tanked. It didn't have the same effect, but it had an effect.

Carlos Boozer

Carlos Boozer was only with LeBron for one season, but during that season, the Cavaliers didn't even make the playoffs. It wasn't Boozer's fault though, he averaged 15.5 points and 11.5 rebounds during that season in Cleveland. Sure, he left after that one season, but this is one of the best power forwards of this era and he played with Lebron. The king didn't make the playoffs with Boozer and Illgauskas protecting the rim and that should be acknowledged.

Drew Gooden

After losing Boozer, the Cavaliers picked up Drew Gooden to replace him. Now, Gooden was not the player Boozer was, but he was a very capable starter. This is a guy that is still in the league and averaged 11.7 PPG over his career. Cleveland had him in his prime. Gooden played with Lebron for 3 and a 1/2 seasons and averaged 12 points and 8.6 rebounds per game playing with Lebron. He was super durable during that time too only missing 3 games out of those seasons. His best season was in 2004-2005 when he averaged 14.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Most will not remember, but Gooden was actually quite good for the Cavs and was on the team that went to the 2007 NBA Finals.
Unfortunately, that ended when King James demanded help during the 2007-2008 season and really wanted Ben Wallace. Drew Gooden was sent with the next player on our list to acquire Big Ben to appease the King. The Cavaliers have not been back to the NBA Finals since.

Larry Hughes

Hughes was the other main piece that went to Chicago in order to acquire Ben Wallace. He averaged 14.1 PPG over a long successful career. Two of his 13 seasons in the NBA were spent with the Cleveland Cavaliers as a teammate of Lebron James. One of those two seasons is the year that Cleveland went to the NBA Finals. His time with Cleveland he had around his career average in scoring, but may have been slightly overpaid. Whether he was overpaid or not, he was an incredibly gifted basketball player. For the 2004-2005 season with the Washington Wizards before he signed with Cleveland, Larry Hughes led the NBA in steals per game and steal percentage. That performance in a contract year likely caused Cleveland to slightly overpay. He also averaged 22 points per game that last season in Washington and seemed to be one of the bright young stars in the NBA. This guy was really good at one point in time and the Cavaliers got some of his best years.

Daniel Gibson

My personal favorite player during the Lebron era in Cleveland was Daniel Gibson. He didn't have the longest NBA career, but he was a great teammate for Lebron. He also is the biggest reason the Cavaliers ever got into the NBA Finals. Gibson scored 31 points in that decisive Game 6 victory over the Pistons to send the Cavaliers into the Finals. Daniel Gibson was deadly from outside and a perfect complement to Lebron's game. Deadly shooters from outside complement his game well and that is just what Gibson was. During Lebron's last season in Cleveland, Daniel Gibson shot 47% from 3 point range. The season after Lebron left was Gibson's best when he averaged 11.6 PPG. However, shortly thereafter he flamed out eventually retiring after the 2012-2013 season.

Wally Szczerbiak

Wally Szczerbiak came over from Seattle at the same time that Ben Wallace came from Chicago. This part of the deal was the better part for the Cavs and should have set the team up for further success. At the time, Szczerbiak was averaging 13 points per game for the Sonics. It was slightly down from his career production (especially that in Minnesota), but he was having a terrific year. It seemed like the perfect marriage. He never did as well in Cleveland though failing to average 10 points per game during his time there before retiring a Cavalier. Blame what you will on Wally's fall from grace, but he was a really quality player coming into Cleveland. The 11 year vet made one all-star game and finished his career with the 64th best turnover percentage in NBA History.

Mo Williams

Following that season and the botched trade acquiring Ben Wallace, the Cavs picked up a great point guard in Mo Williams in the offseason. That guy gave this team an edge and is a guy that most consider the best to play with Lebron in Cleveland. This is also a guy that entered Cleveland in his prime and is still effective in the league. This past season with Portland, Mo Williams averaged 9.7 points per game. That first season in Cleveland was his best though as he averaged 17.8 per game and was named an all-star. He also shot 43% from 3 during that season. However, that first season the Cavaliers lost to the Magic in the Conference Finals despite being heavy favorites. The second best player on that Magic team was the same Rashard Lewis that is about the 8th best player on last year's Heat team.

Delonte West had a brilliant career in Cleveland as well. During that deciding game against Orlando, Delonte West had 22 points. He averaged 10.3 per game in Cleveland. That rose to 10.7 per game in the playoffs though when it counted and he was great in that season where the Cavaliers disappointed.
JJ Hickson was so promising during that season that he was considered untradeable. Lebron had to have him stay on the team, but was okay with trading anyone else besides Mo Williams. Hickson averaged 9.7 per game during his time with the Cavs.
Joe Smith was a former #1 overall pick that played with Lebron. Smith had a very solid NBA career himself.
He also had Shaq at one point.
And there is one more prime example of help that wasn't good enough...

Danny Green

Danny Green was not as good in Cleveland as he is right now. In fact, he wasn't good enough to play with Lebron and wasn't good enough to be on the team. Well now he is a starter for the NBA Champions, the San Antonio Spurs. This guy set the NBA Finals record for three pointers against Lebron James and the Miami Heat. He went toe to toe with the king and his team came out on top. Why?
I think it is because Tim Duncan makes the players around him better and embraces the help that he gets while Lebron simply whines about the lack of help he gets.

Is this list the greatest NBA players of all-time? No, this is not the best players in the history of the game, but you can win with these guys and they are all great help. If you give me these players today even as advanced as they are in age, I could go deep in the playoffs. Heck I might even win an NBA Championship. Look again real quick at players still producing at the NBA level..Some of these guys years after their primes when Lebron had them. I bolded the players I would go with on my 15 man.
PG Mario Chalmers
PG Mo Williams
PG Toney Douglas
G Norris Cole
SG Dwayne Wade
SG Ray Allen
SG/SF Danny Green
SF Mike Miller
F Rashard Lewis
F Shane Battier (I know he's retiring, but he is still fully capable of producing)
PF Drew Gooden
PF Carlos Boozer
PF Udonis Haslem
PF/C Chris Bosh
PF/C Chris Anderson
C Joel Anthony
C Ronny Turiaf

Look, if you want to argue anything about his game that is fine, but don't tell me that Lebron hasn't had any help!
Now, if you want to ask whether Lebron made any of these players games better, that is an interesting debate, but don't argue the help card. Lebron has had plenty of help. Time to stop making excuses for the King.

-Noland