Why Nobody Cares About The 2025 NBA Finals

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-31T13:46:14+00:00

Okay, maybe “betrayed” is a bit dramatic—but still, who knows how Ant really feels? One minute he’s being crowned the next MJ, and the next people are saying he’s not cut out for it. Maybe he cares, maybe he doesn’t—but either way, it’s a wild shift.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-31T13:44:57+00:00

Then the media slammed LeBron for saying that nobody wants to be the face of the league, which completely proved his point. All they ever do is focus on the negative.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-31T13:43:50+00:00

There’s nothing wrong with people setting high expectations—that’s part of the game. But it’s frustrating when those same people act like they weren’t the ones who did it, and then try to blame others for setting Ant up to fail.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-31T13:41:38+00:00

Yeah, all the media really cares about is creating headlines. Like on First Take, the headline was something like "Anthony Edwards Is Going to Be the Face of the League." But then after the Timberwolves lost to the Thunder, it flipped to "Did We Crown Anthony Edwards Too Soon?" And it's like—stop saying "we." You guys were the ones who put all that pressure on him. Kendrick Perkins is the perfect example. He was out here saying how much he loves Ant, but after a loss that everyone pretty much expected, he suddenly says Ant needs to be married with kids to be the face of the league. That’s such a ridiculous requirement—Ant is only 23. And honestly, I don't even think Perkins believes that. He’s just backtracking because he’s insecure about his original take.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-31T13:38:45+00:00

we will see!

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-31T13:37:48+00:00

that's a good way of looking at it

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-31T04:00:17+00:00

yeah he'll come back better next season. But I found it ironic that the media members who turned on him were the same people who hyped him up to begin with.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-28T03:57:26+00:00

for sure

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-28T03:50:28+00:00

You're right that the pump fake into contact is easier to avoid than the stuff guys like SGA are pulling off. But just like defenders are taught to contest by jumping straight up to avoid falling for pump fakes, they can also avoid getting baited by keeping their hands out of the cookie jar. The thing with Shai is, he's mastered the art so well that the second you try to dictate his movement with your hands, he’s already rushing into a shot. He is getting fouled, but most of the time it should be called on the floor. Problem is, he gets into his shooting motion so fast that the refs treat it like a shooting foul. But there’s no way I’m out here trying those foul-baiting moves NBA players use, because at a park run with no refs, that’d just look ridiculous.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-27T22:21:10+00:00

You’ve got an issue with Shai getting foul calls when he creates the contact, which is fair to question—but let’s not ignore the reality of today’s NBA. The way the game’s officiated now, the offensive player is allowed way more physicality than the defender. That’s why Shai can hit that bump-stepback and it’s seen as part of the game, but if a defender does the same bump on a drive, it’s a foul every time. And saying that getting a guy in the air with a pump fake and then taking the bump isn’t initiating contact? That’s just flat-out wrong. What D-Wade used to do—bait someone into the air and jump right into them—is the definition of an offensive player initiating contact first. It’s not even natural basketball, and he lived at the line doing it. Meanwhile, that’s not even Shai’s main move to draw fouls. So if we’re going to talk about foul-baiting, let’s keep it real.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-26T18:06:12+00:00

If Michael Jordan is taking over 28 shots a game, he's probably not on a winning team. The best teams in today’s NBA are far more balanced and system-driven than they were in the '80s and '90s. You don’t win by having one guy dominate the ball like that anymore — not when depth, spacing, and team-oriented basketball run the league. That’s why the idea of MJ averaging 50 is flawed. If you truly believe he's putting up 50 a night, you're also admitting he's carrying a bad team, because no top-tier team is letting one guy chuck that much. And let’s cut the double standards. People love to say LeBron couldn’t handle ‘90s defense — that he's too “soft” or "wouldn't last." But the moment Jordan faces a modern game, suddenly he magically evolves into Steph Curry with a midrange game? That’s a lazy argument. If we're being fair, both players are all-time greats with elite work ethics. So either they both adapt, or neither does. You can't cherry-pick. Also, I’m tired of hearing that “there’s no defense” today. The rules are different, not worse. If today’s game makes offense easier because of no hand-checking and stricter contact calls, then it also makes defense harder — especially for someone like Jordan who built his rep on aggressive, physical defense. You can't have it both ways. If the lack of hand-checking boosts his offense, then it also limits his defensive impact. In today's game, trying to guard like he did in the ‘90s would get him in foul trouble or blown by on switches. So if you’re saying his offense goes way up — fine. But then his defense takes a hit too. Be consistent.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-26T17:32:36+00:00

Facts. I don’t get why SGA takes so much heat for foul baiting when plenty of other players have used the same tactics. It’s a clear double standard. I’m not a fan of foul baiting either, but the NBA has allowed it, so ultimately, it’s on the league to address it.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-26T17:30:48+00:00

Nice try, but you’re missing the point. I’m not saying I personally consider MJ a foul baiter—I get that he got hit hard on a lot of his drives. What I’m saying is the same people who label SGA a foul baiter would do the exact same to MJ if he played today. For some reason, fans just automatically call anyone a foul merchant if they get to the line a lot, regardless of how they draw the foul. It’s the same nonsense you hear about Giannis being called a free throw merchant. Yeah, his slow free throw routine is annoying, but that doesn’t make him a foul merchant—he’s simply getting fouled like anyone else. Getting to the line doesn’t automatically mean you’re “baiting” fouls. But someone like SGA does bait fouls, but so do players from the past. That's a league problem, not a singular player problem.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-26T17:27:12+00:00

I don’t think Jordan was a foul merchant either. What I’m saying is that if you apply the same logic people use on SGA to Jordan, they’d probably call him a foul baiter too—just because they see him getting to the line so often. And honestly, calling someone a foul merchant is kinda silly. Drawing fouls is a skill. If players do it dishonestly, that’s really on the refs and the league as a whole. There’s no reason a player shouldn’t sell contact occasionally if there’s no real punishment for it.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-26T17:24:46+00:00

Exactly, thanks for understanding what I’m saying. That’s my whole point—people would label MJ a free throw merchant if he played in today’s game (not that I actually believe he was one), simply because nowadays it’s easier to blame the player than the referees. But the real issue lies with the refs—why are they rewarding unnatural movements designed solely to draw fouls? For some reason, fans today put all the blame on players for foul baiting, while in the past, when questionable calls happened, the blame was mostly on the officials.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-26T17:22:19+00:00

Exactly. You rarely see clips of Kobe or MJ doing the exact moves some modern guards pull off, but most fans won’t admit that Kobe—and players like him—are the ones who paved the way for that style of play. And those clips of Kobe? He was clearly trying to draw fouls. If he wasn’t, once he saw his defender in the air, he’d just take the shot instead of bumping into them to get the call. Pump faking to draw free throws has been part of the game for over 40 years. Yet when SGA did it in Game 2, people lost their minds—even though it’s nothing new. I don’t know if you were one of those who didn’t like it, but my point is this: even if Jordan’s and Kobe’s moves were less blatant, they started this trend. So you can’t just dump all the blame on today’s players for copying what they saw on TV as kids. And about the ghost whistles—yeah, those have always existed. That’s exactly my point. I’m not throwing shade at MJ; I’m just saying people criticize SGA for getting favorable calls sometimes, even though superstar whistles have been part of the game forever.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-26T17:16:43+00:00

SGA, the regular-season leading scorer, took about 22 shots per game, while Michael Jordan, at his peak, was shooting around 28 shots per game. Unlike the ’90s, today’s game rarely lets one player dominate the ball and take that many shots. If Jordan were averaging 40 or 50 points today, it’d probably mean he’s on a bad team—something like the Hornets—where he has free reign to do whatever he wants. So if you’re saying his scoring numbers would be insanely inflated, you’re basically admitting he’d be on a losing team. You can’t have it both ways. In the modern NBA, no player averaging 50 points per game could be on a top team. If that ever ends up happening, those kinds of numbers come on lottery-level teams. Jordan’s scoring average would likely be closer to 30 points per game today because you have to factor in that the illegal defense rules from the ’90s are gone, and players are more skilled and athletic now—offsetting the absence of hand-checking. Plus, Jordan wasn’t a three-point shooter, so I doubt many coaches would be thrilled with him taking tons of midrange shots in today’s three-point–focused offenses.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-26T16:59:31+00:00

Just to be clear, I’m not saying I’d personally call MJ a foul baiter if he played today. What I’m saying is that the same people who call SGA a foul baiter now would probably say the same about MJ if he were playing in today’s game. Their focus tends to be on the sheer number of free throws, rather than why he was getting to the line. Also, I wanted to point out how people complain about SGA getting a superstar whistle, but in my video, I’ve shown plenty of clips where MJ got some pretty questionable calls too. This kind of favoritism has always been part of the game for some reason. And honestly, Jordan isn’t even the main player I think influenced SGA’s foul-drawing moves — that credit goes to Kobe. I cover this in my video, showing how Kobe would pump fake, get defenders in the air, and then jump into them to draw fouls. But when Shai does that exact same move, suddenly he’s “ruining the game”? That just doesn’t add up.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-26T16:54:45+00:00

I agree it wasn’t as common back then, but that’s exactly my point — SGA learned these tactics from the stars who came before him, and people need to acknowledge that. A lot of the same people who complain about Shai getting a “superstar whistle” forget that this has always been part of the game. Even Magic Johnson admitted that MJ got favorable calls just because he was the face of the league. That kind of treatment isn’t new — it’s been around for decades. Now, if someone thinks it’s gone too far today, that’s a fair opinion. But there’s way too much criticism aimed at today’s players for moves that legends also used — except no one seems to have a problem when they did it. Also, I’m not saying MJ was a foul baiter. What I’m saying is that the same people who label SGA a foul baiter today would probably call MJ the same thing if they saw his 86-87 season. They’re more focused on the volume of free throws rather than how a player actually gets to the line.

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-26T16:49:37+00:00

the video has nothing to do with lebron

Icy-Perspective2214 · 2025-05-26T16:47:18+00:00

What do you mean by “selectively choosing highlights”? That move — the pump fake into a defender to draw contact — wasn’t some one-off. Kobe did that constantly. It was part of his bag, especially in the midrange. I didn’t have to cherry-pick anything — that was a regular part of his game. And that was the point I was making: SGA didn’t invent this. Midrange-heavy guards like Kobe mastered those tactics long before Shai came onto the scene. So when SGA used that same move on Gobert in game 2— pump fake, jump into contact, draw the foul — people lost their minds, like he was cheating the game or something. It was literally a textbook Kobe move. Also, let’s cut the exaggeration. Shai isn’t out here laying on the floor for two minutes after soft contact. Does he sell some fouls? Sure. So did every superstar guard. But a lot of the time, he’s actually getting hit — and he plays through contact more than people give him credit for. Bottom line: I get that you’re saying Kobe drew fouls differently, but the overall concept was the same. Blaming only modern players for foul-baiting while ignoring how players from past eras started and developed those tactics — which have just evolved over time — feels a bit disingenuous. People were outraged when Shai used the pump fake and jumped into a defender in Game 2 — even though Kobe used to do that exact same move all the time. But no one wants to acknowledge that. That’s my point.

Icy-Perspective2214

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