Mileage obviously varies but, IMO, the only argument for saying that Curry's championships are "more impressive" than LeBron James' championships is that LeBron James never had to beat LeBron James to win any of his championships.
The only argument? Um, no, not by a long shot.
First off, the idea of LBJ not having to beat himself is a very ridiculous one. I mean, you could insert any all-time great name in that sentence. It’s meaningless. I mean, Steph Curry didn’t have to beat himself either, right? SMH.
Meanwhile Curry’s team has beaten LBJ‘s team in the Finals 3x. That’s 3x more than the other way around. And the KD argument doesn’t hold since Steph’s team beat LBJ once before he even got there and just won another title w/o him.
As for why Steph’s titles are more impressive?
Reason 1: Steph has 4 titles in essentially 11 full seasons. LBJ has 4 in 18 full seasons.
**Discounted 1 season each for playing less than 50 games.
4 in 11 >>> 4 in 18.
Reason 2: Steph Curry didn’t need to jump ship and join 2 other alpha players to finally win. And while LBJ was voted MVP of those 2 Heat Finals wins — he was not the closer and relied on Dwyane Wade the first couple seasons then Ray Allen saved his @$$ to avoid losing to the Spurs a 2nd time.
As Curry has proven, he didn’t need KD to win and has always been a closer with an assassin clutch gene at a level that LBJ has never had.
Even the one time LBJ made a clutch play in the biggest of games (the block on Iguodala, which was one of the greatest I’ve seen) he still needed Kyrie Irving to sink the clutch shot. And Draymond Green to be suspended for a crucial game.
All players have to rely on teammates at some point (it’s a team game) but LBJ has had to rely on others in the biggest moments more than any other supposed top 10-15 player that I can think of.
Reason 3: I completely discount the 2020 bubble postseason. I won’t list all the reasons why (there are many). But my stance on this is consistent as I feel the exact same way about the Dodgers title that same season (I’m a life long Dodgers fan) for similar reasons. I get that they count in the record books but they are anomalies achieved under drastically different circumstances than any other season during the era.
And we’ve seen on the whole that the Lakers w/ LeBron aren’t that good. They’ve missed the postseason twice in 4 seasons and lost in the 1st round once. The bubble season with numerous super star players out with injury was an anomaly and extreme exception.
It counts in the record books, but isn’t as impressive nor definitive as other titles won.
Reason 4: Curry‘s presence on the floor scares opponents and changes defenses in a way LBJ doesn’t. For all his athletic greatness, opponents don’t rue the ball in LBJ’s hands at the end of games as they did the likes of Jordan, Kobe, Bird, and now Steph.
Defenses are worried about LBJ creating for others more than him making the clutch shot. And they surely aren’t scared of LBJ 30-35 feet from the basket.
I can list more reasons, but I’ll stop there.
I'm also feeling hella cognitive dissonance in diminishing Kevin Durant's contribution to two of Curry's championships, while also elevating those championships above James' championships, in the exact same post.
You may be feeling it, but it ain’t real.
Take away the 2 titles that KD was part of and Steph has still got 2 as the undisputed alpha and closer. And not under any odd circumstances.
In my view, LBJ only has 1 legit title as the undisputed alpha and closer and that was the 2016 title over the Warriors when he led Cleveland. He still needed Kyrie to hit the big shot, but he was still the undisputed alpha of that team.
Even if I concede to the 2020 title being legit, that’s 2-2 with Steph being far younger and having played 7 less seasons.
Steph’s accomplishments in less time and greater impact on changing how the game is played is more impressive than anything LBJ has done.
Steph built his own dynasty and legacy while LBJ had to hop from org to org picking and choosing other star players to win with. And even then he had to rely on those other star players to bail him out far more than any other “transcendent“ player.
LBJ apologists seem to suffer from a bad case of amnesia. They seem to always forget how unclutch LBJ was prior to 2012-13. Passing up shots, cramping up in big games and bricking clutch free throws. He shriveled up like a prune against Boston in the ECF’s, against Dallas in the Finals and was about lose yet again against San Antonio after bricking the game-tying 3 in game 6 only to have Ray Allen drain one of the biggest shots in Finals history.
But, yeah, he’s as great as Jordan, Magic, Bird, etc. SMH.
He’s not even definitively greater than his contemporaries. Steph has already proven to be more impactful and a better closer, and KD also has an argument for being as good a player.
Again, no cognitive dissonance going on here except in your imagination.