JR Smith Says 2016 Cavs Would Beat 2026 Knicks: “Who’s guarding LeBron James?”
I mean probably but the Knicks just won the championship, let them enjoy it. And the 2017 Warriors would smoke ‘em both, so what? Just let the Champs enjoy their win before you start lol
Bruh someone asked him, a member of the 2016 Cavs. What’s he supposed to say?
Literally while they’re all celebrating the 10 year anniversary they’re sending him a bunch of trolling Knicks stuff lmao
JR repped and rooted for the Knicks all playoffs, I dunno if pro-Knicks stuff is actually trolling him.
“Just relax. Please, just relax. You trying to cause fusion between me and the Knicks, stop it bro. Go get a hobby.”
- JR Smith, literally in this video not enjoying the Knicks comments he’s getting lol
You can’t expect this sub to read or watch posts before commenting their opinions, sorry, I don’t make the rules.
I always try to consider that fact when I see clips of people talking about something. To consider the context
2017 Cavs also beat every Champion except 2017 Warriors
Best team to not win a title imo
I feel like 16 warriors are the obvious choice
They went down 3-1 against OKC. They were more flawed than their historic record suggested.
2017 Cavs had the best player in the world at the time who was still a demon on both sides of the floor
I think it says more about how good that thunder team was considering they had just handily beaten a 67 win team. GS also had their unanimous mvp rushed back from injury and they still beat them
I still have a nightmare where 15 year old me is Clockwork Orange’d naked at school watching KD missing jump shots
As a Warrior’s fan the 2016 Cavs and Warrior’s were a very similar level. The 2017 Cavs were clearly a step above the 2016 Cavs (and therefore the ‘16 Warriors) it just so happened we got KD.
2018 rockets
cavs would have won the finals that year if they played us instead of golden state 🤣
Ain’t no time for that, the draft is next week, free agency the week after. NBA champs unfortunately get the least amount of shine between seasons, comments like JR Smith’s included or not
And the 95⁄96 bulls team…
And the Monstars…
If MJ didn’t share his PED’s with the rest of his team at halftime Monstars would have won for sure…
Imagine being some 5 dimensional monster being able to put 95-96 Bulls against 17 Warriors on a bo7…
That Warriors team moved the ball so well… And the 3’s! Ohhh the 3’s
No lmao
The only reason this convo is taking place is because Knicks fans are acting up
If they wamt to enjoy nit then they should just go and enjoy it without their fambase throwing shade to past champions. Saw a bunch of them claiming they could beat the steph +KD warriors, they’re fucking insane lol
>Let them enjoy it
Bro it’s Knicks fans asking these dumbass question for the most part. They are willingly signing up to be humiliated despite winning a chip for some reason
he’s not preventing anyone from enjoying it
Look, guys, I love OG, but 2016 Bron was on a fucking mission. Here’s the thing though, why do we have to put one team down when we can celebrate both. Let the Knicks have this, 2079 is a long ways away
They are just asking the guy and he answers, don’t think its that deep. Although yeah no one is guarding 2016 Bron, OG is amazing, but he ain’t doing shit. KAT would foul out in 12 minutes if he has to watch out for Lebron driving in to the rim. Wemby is great, he is gonna be great, but he ain’t prime Bron
2079 written out looks like the fakest year/ number of all time wtf
Any year after 2030 looks fake ngl
2026 looks fake to me still
Probably because the Knicks fans are asking JR, it’s not like he brought it up unprompted
Y’all up in arms, he responding to a comment. He valid to say that.
Either way, I’d never bet against prime Bron especially after watching him take down a historic team.
All I know is LeBron isn’t blowing a 29 point lead. His legacy would never recover lol
LeBron is not having multiple first quarter leads and blowing all of them. LeBron would’ve called the timeout himself lmao
Hell if we kept chris paul he wouldve subbed in for mitch after that bs
He would’ve physically fought the whole team and cussed them out to get their shit together
Some light reading for those claiming OG stops Lebron. Lebron then dad dicked these fools with some redditors as his supporting cast
https://raptorsrepublic.com/2018/01/13/the-lebron-stopper/
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23368049/og-anunoby-toronto-raptors-best-shot-containing-cleveland-cavaliers-lebron-james
I mean i agree that OG wouldn’t shut down prime Lebron, but you’re using rookie OG as an example which isnt fair. He’s gotten significantly better since his rookie season.
The fact that he went clutch shot for shot against Bron in game 3 that year is insane. Its not impressive that a top 2 player of all time “dad dicked” a rookie 23rd overall pick lmao
Like I don’t think current og would stop prime bron but he was definitely slow him down and if Brunson got hot along with kat shooting well we could win a couple of games
It was Bron and a bunch of jabronis though.
OG obviously better defender now but Lebron’s supporting cast was 10x stronger in 2016. Game 6-7 Lebron had prime Dray on him which is a better defender than OG
2016 LeBron was a basketball machine during that playoff run… nobody on that knicks team will crack top 20 ever all time nba players , respectfully.
Those cavs teams were all timers
I know it doesn’t seem like it because they only won one ring but they literally made 4 finals appearances in a row and the 4th is when LeBron was carrying a bum squad
The Cavs from 2015-17 are beating the dogshit out of every Eastern finals team that came since, and they would def have won more rings if they didn’t have to face the Nazi Germany Warriors
KD is such a punk for joining the warriors I still cannot believe he did that 10 years later man
Who gets their ass punked and then goes and joins the best team ever that just embarrassed him? (record wise)
We knew who was going to win the championship the first second of preseason no other team even had a shot not even close…
Yep it’d literally be like if Luka or wemby joined the thunder right now. Young hyper talented squad with mvp who just failed to repeat. Oop here comes a top 3 player in the league for free.
It’d be as if Thunder had gotten past the Spurs lost to the Knicks in the finals then added Wemby lol
It’s more like if Shai joined the Spurs this year.
He won and he got his. It is what it is. He wouldn’t trade it and he dont gaf.
They were beating the dogshit out of dogshit teams in the East.
Revisionist history is crazy
Top 20? How about top 50 lol
Fuck that, i hate that yall took the bait. Shits dumb, espn is dumb.
“Who’s guarding Brunson?” “Me, I’ll guard him” 😭
You don’t guard LeBron with one person, just like you don’t guard Brunson with one person. Team and scheme do the work, but OG will do as good a job slowing homey down as can be done.
Andre Iguodala won finals MVP because he locked LeBron up as much as possible, but Bron still averaged 35.8 ppg.
I think the point here is a fully healthy 2016 Cavs has multiple double problems. No one on the current Knicks roster could handle LeBron one on one and no one on the Knicks roster can handle peak kyrie one on one. Jalen Brunson has been amazing but he is no where near 2016 Steph. And shumpert did an amazing job handling both him and klay. If you put OG on LeBron then who the hell is guarding a healthy Kevin love. People really underestimate how truly great that team was, and that is why the 3-1 comeback in the finals might stay a record held for a really long time
When we talk about OG in LeBron contexts all I can remember is LeBron hitting that fuckass floater against them in 2018
That was the ridiculous cherry on top of the LeBronto years of pain. Thank fuck for Kawhi
That was with Bron basically playing 1-5 because Kyrie and love were hurt. With Kyrie and love on the court OG has no shot. Bron is gonna have 30 plus on elite efficiency.
Wasn’t that 2015
You do know bron hit one if his most famous game winners on OG right?
Yeah, rookie or near rookie OG. Not today’s OG
No disrespect but you could take today’s OG and teleport him in back in that moment- LeBron still hitting it. He’s not Fox taking his time with a layup.
Will never not be funny that he won and not Curry
I get it, but Iggy deserved it.
Curry was the better and more important player for the Warriors that series. Dominated the important games, 4th quarter of Game 5 was a Curry masterclass.
OG is suspended in this scenario.
35.8 points…on .398% shooting.
The great thing about winning a championship is that you can tell me to look at the banner when I say your championship team was not an all timer.
Obviously it would be a team effort but the best option the Knicks have would be OG clearly
He’s the only one with enough size and strength, Bridges is too small, same with Hart
I’d be more interested to see who guards Kyrie, Hart I guess?
Bridges is an amazing guard defender and would absolutely do a better job on Kyrie than Hart.
No one could guard Kyrie, let’s be honest. No one could guard LeBron either, obviously. That’s what made those teams so successful. The next issue the Knicks would have is if they put Towns on Kyrie or LeBron, who’s guarding Love and Thompson? Then JR Smith would have Brunson guarding him, I guess, and that’s a terrible matchup for Brunson. The 2016 Cavs were also spectacular on defense, so I don’t think they’d be too flustered with what the Knicks would present. If they could shut down both Klay and Steph, for the most part, Brunson wouldn’t be too much to handle.
guy dropped 57 on a 60 win spurs team with prime kawhi
We’ll never know
Yall thinking anyone could guard peak kyrie is willllddd recency bias. No one could guard him then. And these new players are not crazy better defenders than who was at their peak in that season. Miles bridges locking down kyrie?? Dude lol
People forget how great of a perimeter defender pre-injuries Klay was, too. Plus Iggy
Bridges did a great job on LeBron in 2021. Granted LeBron was banged up although Bridges was younger as well.
2021 LeBron is nothing like 2016 LeBron.
Bridges. Length.
Yeah I assume he and Hart
Bridges would probably be better for the reason you mentioned
Bridges is way too skinny. Lebron would easily dominate him.
Remember LeBronto? Guess who was guarding LeBron then: Siakam, OG, PJ Tucker, doesn’t matter. 2016 Cavs in 5.
I agree with him honestly
The difference maker is Kyrie, people seem to forget how legendary he was in that series
I’d go as far as to say that 2016 finals Kyrie was substantially better than 2026 finals Brunson, and that’s no diss to Brunson
Kyrie’s 2016 finals is probably the best finals series where a guy didn’t get FMVP.
Him and LeBron were flat out spectacular games 5-7. Never seen anything like it
2002 Kobe is up there
OG obviously
the same guy he hit a game winner against
The question was not “Who is shutting down James?” That doesn’t happen. It was “Who is guarding him?
Anunoby is as-equipped to do that as anyone in the league. Bridges could take turns as well.
I am not suggesting that New York wins. I am not suggesting that James won’t play great. Only that they have players to guard him.
“That doesn’t happen” this guy never heard of JJ Barea
JJ Barea guarded LeBron for about 4 possessions across that entire series.
OG was only a rookie 🥹
Vastly different OGs though. That was, what, sophomore og at best? This og is WAAAY better
2016 lebron still dogwalks him
You could give this og steroids bro is not guarding prime lebron wtf
He’s strong as fuck with a 7’3 wingspan he’s the only guy on the Knicks that could slow him down.
Just saying he’s vastly improved from his raptor days
Being big/strong and smart are two different things. Lebron is both, and peak LeBron would still cook OG today
Do you think OG is a dumb defender? 🤣
Insinuating OG is not a smart defender is quite a take.
OG is the one of the best options in the league right now to guard 2016 LeBron, although him being one of the best doesn’t mean it’s good, because there’s few/nearly none players in nba history that could stop 2016 LeBron
we’re really losing it to recency bias. this 2016 cavs team was an all time team. it had peak lebron and peak kyrie and also was a terrible matchup for the knicks.
There’s a lot more parity now for a reason. Team building was easier in the 10’s especially if you had Bron recruiting. The bad teams were realllly bad back then. The good teams were absolutely stacked.
It’s genuinely hard to think a lot of the recent elite teams are hanging with the peak Cavs juggernaut. None are touching Golden State.
The 26 Knicks are more akin to a lot of the teams that GS/CLE prevented from getting rings.
2016 Cavs are absolutely beating the Knicks what are we even talking about here?
2016 Bron would physically and mentally pick apart the 2026 Knicks it wouldnt even be funny.
Knicks are a championship team no doubt but they haven’t experienced V3 Lebron in the east .
Lets not act like these Knicks are some generational team lol. It was a great run but they don’t belong in any all time conversations
2018 Cavs vs 2016 Cavs?
2017 > 2016 > 2015 >>> 2018
2018 Bron was on another level but the team was ass
That graphic with the Warriors showing Steph Klay and KD, then the Cavs showing Bron, Tristan Thompson and Kyle Korver lmao.
In 2018 he averaged 34/9/9 in the playoffs. Kevin Love was his only teammate to score more than 10 points at 15ppg. A truly insane carry job
2016 cavs
I think Knick fans are thinking it’s 2026 Bron, then that would make a little more sense.
16 no question
There were 2 2018 Cavs teams
Semi washed East All Stars
LeBron and the kids
2018 Bron was the best bron ever
This is so lame
OG? I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it’s probably one of the best options in league history
Delly is putting the clamps on Brunson
I’m just happy AF the Knicks have a recent championship team to join this discourse over who would win vs these incredible teams
[deleted]
LeBronto
“Please stop”- OG
2016 Bron sends OG to the G league
Ogugua
Remember game 3 in 2018? Im sure OG remembers it. I bet he’d remember it till the end of his days lol.
He was a rookie, not that anyone could stop ‘16 bron but og is not ‘18 og
‘26 OG is not stopping ‘16 LeBron
Yes that is what I said
Ofc
Textbook example of why not to dive too deep into addressing trolls. A simple fuck off answers the question without giving ammunition for people who are clearly unserious.
16 James is the best basketball player I’ve ever seen.
This is the problem with the NBA and the discourse around it. Everything needs to be immediately compared. The Knicks can only play who is on the schedule and they beat everyone that was decisively. I for one don’t care who they hypothetically would or wouldn’t beat because guess what, they beat everyone this year and that’s all that matters.
Don’t matter. JR’s going to dribble out the clock lol
Bruh….can the Knicks just have their moment lol
The oldhead-ism for my generation has started…fuck my life
Who’s the little guy he’s talking about?
Kyrie.
Drunk asf 😂
High AF. Always has been.
Probably both here.
JR “I thought we were up” Smith 🤡
Kyrie played incredible too
what do you expect him to say 🤷🏻♂️ nothing to see here.
OG
OG will be guarding LeBron, JR. Next question
I mean. The 2016 Cavs beat one of the greatest teams of all time in the finals
Id probably take them too
2016 cavs had Barnes. 2026 knicks had Fox
The 2016 Warriors would beat the 2016 Cavs.
You didn’t even know the score dumbass 😂
He is probably right.
Its all schemes and team defense, these old heads arguments about 1on1s lol, but i do think cavs got this cuz kyrie and lebron were way too much, cluch aswell
Cavs won thanks to Draymond’s antics
But 1930s Celtics would beat 2016 Cavs
probably. Lebron in his prime was different.
No shame in that though
Jr starting to look like Scottie Pippen
Never has anyone gotten so much attention for being so mid
JR, no one cares
Old head NBA players are the fucking worst
It’s amazing how many other legacy teams are comparing themselves and how they would do to this year’s Knicks. It’s honestly a massive compliment to them.
Cavs would sweep the knicks lmao
Oh no! Guess we’ll have to take down the banner!
He’s not wrong. JR smith wouldn’t be there to self implode
Idk maybe whoever was guarding him in the 2017 series when he dribbled it out with a chance to win the game
What’s the matter JR did invite you to the parade Cross Marc
Hmm nah, I don’t think they have anyone who can guard towns
These hypothetical matchups are SO…Blah blah blah - 2026 NBA Champs NY Knicks
He’s loaded lol👍
I mean the 2026 Knicks couldn’t even beat the 2026 analytical Cavs!
I get it’s their ten year anniversary, but Knicks just won, no one should be talking about the champs from 10 years back, and it’s spammed.
The puff puff pass conversation I’d have with this dude. We would block the universe.
2017 GSW probably beats everyone. Let the Knicks bask in their glory. Shumpert out there celebrating with Knicks fans while JR being that grumpy old dude.
That bj pov is a power move 😂
Any championship team would beat these Knicks.
The Spurs was a shocker choke squad
Nah that’s just a straight up fabrication.
Folks upvoted this?
15-1 run to end the playoffs btw. High point differential ever btw.
I love how dedicated some of these Knicks haters are even after a chip
He’s drunk!!!
He’s not wrong.
Please… Stop. Old heads don’t have to do this.
What old heads?
The drama just keeps going eh?
All due respect Bron is going to be Bron, the real assignment is trying to stop Kai
Knicks gets blitzed unfortunately
Noone’s guarding 2015-18 LeBron James. He will lead the Points, Rebounds, Assists, Blocks and Steals in both teams.
These arguments are so stupid
I mean… he ain’t lying
Guys, stop trying to cause fusion.
New Knicks getting swept by old Cavs back in the day lol
And 2016 wouldve lost if Dray didn’t get suspended
I’m a Knicks fan and I’m on cloud 9 but shit, I don’t even know if I can answer that. Prime LeBron is something else…
This would be a good series. Kinda hard to pick against the team with 16’ Lebron on it
2016 Lebron is the best
If my uncle was my aunt JR
Arguing about different teams 10 years apart is such a pointless conversation
Noone needs to. Just lockdown everyone else and force lebum to win it all alone. He’s not clutch like that.
2016 Cavs Vs 2000 LA Lakers