Sticking Up For LeBron's "Help" 2nd Edition

So here we are again....LeBron loses and struggles in an NBA Finals or before the Finals and we are once again talking about his help....This, same time last year, I did a post about LeBron and his perceived lack of help. Today I thought it would be a good idea to look at LeBron's "help" again and see how it compares to the help of other superstars of today. He is 30 years old so we will compare his help to the three most famous champs of his generation at 30. That is looking at Duncan, Jordan, and Kobe and how LeBron stacks up. Well, not how LeBron stacks up, but how his "help" stacks up to their help.

Before we begin though, let's get some particulars out of the way. I believe as everyone else does that LeBron James is the most physically gifted player in the NBA and perhaps that the league has ever seen. I believe that he might be the best player in the game today, but I am not entirely convinced. I think that  he should be the most fun player to watch in the NBA for most. However, I am a certified LeBron James hater. I hate that he gets to take 5 steps without dribbling. I hate that he gets compared to Jordan and I hate that everyone always says that he does not have help. Those 3 things have turned me into a LeBron hater and I don't want to be. That being said, the one that drives me craziest is the "help" argument. Here is my most recent response to that.

Duncan @ 30

4 Championships

Teammate All-Star Appearances (up until they left the team the star was on)

David Robinson 10
Sean Elliot 2
Michael Finley 2
Glenn Robinson 2
Tony Parker 1
Steve Smith 1
Manu Ginobli 1
Total: 19 All-Star Appearances

So, Duncan has a total of 19 All-Star Appearances by his teammates during his career to this same point as LeBron. He also has 2 more championships mind you while competing against Shaq and Kobe's Lakers. Only 2 of Robinson's 10 All-Star Appearances occurred during Duncan's career and all the others except Parker and Manu were at the tail end of their careers when the Spurs picked them up. Sean Elliot had a serious kidney disease after that 1st championship and David Robinson had a bad back after that season that seriously limited him. Duncan's help is not near what some people thought it was. Even Parker and Ginobli were not considered stars until later in Duncan's tenure with the Spurs. A lot of their success can likely be attributed to sticking with San Antonio while Duncan had them so dominant.

Jordan @ 30

3 Championships

Teammate All-Star Game Appearances

George Gervin 14

Scottie Pippen 3

At age 30, Jordan had left the game of basketball to play baseball. The '93-'94 season he was playing baseball and thus was on hiatus from the game. This was right after he secured his 3rd championship. That season, three of his longtime teammates BJ Armstrong, Charles Oakley, and Horace Grant made the all-star team. However, they never made it before his age 30 season or before/during their time playing with Jordan. The only player to make an all-star appearance during a championship season that he played with that 1st title run was Scottie Pippen. That's it! Scottie Pippen's 3 all-star appearances was it! Hall of Famer George Gervin was with the Bulls for Jordan's rookie season and I included him for this reason, but he was well past his prime at that point. Even still that is only 17 all-star appearances for Jordan's teammates by age 30. It should also not be discounted that he actually left basketball in his prime to pursue baseball. He did that at a younger age than LeBron is currently.

Kobe @ 30

 4 Championships

Teammate All-Star Game Appearances

Karl Malone 14

Gary Payton 11

Shaq 11 (4 more after he left LA)

Mitch Richmond 6

Glen Rice 3

Eddie Jones 2

Pau Gasol 2

Dennis Rodman 2

Cedric Ceballos 1

Vlade Divac 1

Horace Grant 1

AC Green 1

Kobe is credited with having some of the best supporting casts ever. It is hard to argue that fact when you see 55 all-star appearances by his teammates compared to 19 for Duncan and 17 for MJ. While that is true, look at some of the awful crews he has dealt with as well. Seriously, go look at the '05-'06 Lakers here. That team is worse than any supporting cast Bron has ever had. These numbers are very inflated by one season of Gary Payton, 64 games of Mitch Richmond, 42 games of Karl Malone, 23 games of Dennis Rodman, 15 games of Vlade Divac, and 8 games of Cedric Ceballos. Eddie Jones also started over Kobe Bryant when he was with the Lakers so not sure how much help that was. Still, Kobe has had a lot of help, but how does it stack up with LeBron. 

LeBron @ 30

2 Championships

Teammate All-Star Game Appearances

Shaq 15

Ray Allen 10

Dwayne Wade 10

Chris Bosh 9

Shawn Marion 4

Ben Wallace 4

Kyrie Irving 3

Kevin Love 3

Zdrunas Ilgauskas 2
Antawn Jamison 2
Rashard Lewis 2
Jerry Stackhouse 2
Juwan Howard 1
Jamaal Magloire 1
Wally Szczerbiak 1
Mo Williams 1

So LeBron has the same amount (55 appearances) of all-star game appearances by teammates as Kobe Bryant, not even including Shaq for Lebron. That number is more than 30 higher than the total for either Duncan or Jordan. You add in Shaq's 15 appearances and it is an incredible 70 all-star game appearances for his teammates. If you take out Gervin's 14 appearances on Jordan's total, LeBron's teammates had 67 more all-star appearances than Jordan's at this point in their careers. This total comes with less championships than all of the aforementioned players. LeBron additionally played against much weaker competition than the others to even reach the conference finals each year and still has less titles. Sure, there were some guys towards the end of their careers, but that is the case with any of the players as previously discussed. This shouldn't even be a debate. LeBron has had plenty of "help." Maybe his apologists are the ones that truly need help.

Join me next week as I look at what other poor NBA Finals teams would look like without their best player.

-Noland