and lebron's PER is even higher this year. eventually, lebron WILL get a scottie pippen-type of star next to him and he will start winning. but it won't surprise me if he wins with jamison/mo will/broken down shaq as his supporting cast. people have to recognize lebron does so much with an above average roster. if you take kobe off the lakers, the lakers will still be a top 4 team in the west. if you take out dwight howard, they'll still easily make the playoff in the east. lebron will win championships. it's a question of how many. he is the only player who can challenge michael jordan as the GOAT. why? lebron WILL have the MVPs, scoring titles, individual accolades to challenge MJ (kobe only has 1 MVP and 2 scoring titles-lebron will already have 2 MVPs after this year). it's going to be hard for him to get 6 rings, but even if lebron wins just 2-3 rings, he'll be considered a vastly better player than kobe. his stats blow kobe out of the water all across the board.
Usually I don't agree with you, but regarding LeBron James, almost everything you said is true. I'm too lazy to get into it, but as someone has already stated, I don't believe the league has seen anyone like LeBron. This guy is absolutely ridiculous. We are talking about 30/8/8 on a nightly basis on very efficient scoring. He's a threat for 40+/10+/10+ every game. Hopefully he doesn't lose his athleticism too soon because, as we all know, he relies on that heavily and he's a joy to watch. And obviously he does receive calls, but which superstar doesn't? Kobe stans are actually complaining about refs/media favoring LeBron. How ironic is that? That's just how great LeBron is. Even the dumbest Kobe fan can sense it. I think, assuming he keeps this up, he has a chance to be the greatest. He really hasn't had a talented cast. It's not even fair how bad his team usually is, and how great he makes them. Look at the 2007 Cavaliers roster that made the NBA Finals. Yes, a sweep, but if you're an intelligent person, you know very well that they overachieved by definition. As it is right now, LeBron's cast is the most talented he's had, they're old and in the latter parts of their career(s). It's really a wash and a cheapshot at LeBron when people say his cast is the best in the league. Pair LeBron up with the younger and even more talented squad of Gasol, Bynum, Artest, Odom, and Phil Jackson, and I think you can challenge 72-10. I really do. Overall and simply put, LeBron is a guaranteed 2nd round in the eastern conference. IMO, Cavs roster owe LeBron money. Don't laugh at me, but I actually feel like LeBron can score 50 on any night if he really wanted to :grin:
Jordan didn't get to the finals till 91 which was his 8th season. Lebron did it in his what 4th with his 2nd best player being who? Not to mention, jordan played mostly in the era when every team scored 110 or better. I don't have to knock jordan to bring lbj up. I love both players and think both players are great despite the hate lbj gets on this board. Go look at those teams he had and look at how he performed in the playoffs with rag tag players. Not only that, now his defense is catching up with the rest of his game. He is a great defender and I'm not talking about just the break away blocks or steals. He's a focused defender and don't take plays off. To say he can be stopped because he doesn't have a title is just plain ignorant.
Actually Lebron can be compared to Jordan. They're both arrogant, classless, self centered, ego driven players. With that said, both are/were still dang good bball players.
I wonder how many posters in here have actually seen Jordan play live. It seems like a lot of guys are going off of you tube clips and stats. Side note, the reason why I'm curious is because there was a debate about this a while ago. One poster kept saying how Lebron is the future and how Jordan couldn't hold his jock strap. He went on and on about how how he had grew up watching Jordan and how he remembered such and such game. Another poster asked him how old he was and the guy basically ended up being about two when Jordan retired for good.
my guess is that 10% of the posters who claim LBJ is on MJ's level were actually old enough to watch NBA basketball when MJ played for the Bulls.
I've watched jordan from nc to the bulls to the wizards. I think jordan is probably the greatest ever if not at least top 5. I think lbj if he doesn't incur a major,major injury, he will kncok someone out the top 5. I can't promise he will win titles, but i think his numbers and accmplishments in the end will be incredible.
I couldn't agree more LJ23 is great but he is different from MJ the reason why they compare him to MJ is for business Media like this stuff but if you see objectively these players, you can see that only Kobe and Wade have the skills that MJ had they are the only players who can make incredible plays in the clutch and have a lot of moves LJ23 is too physical Wade and KB can score in front of 4 defenders in an unbelievable way i just don't care about the media, look how they make too much noise to get Lebron to NY!!! what this has to do with basket ball??? The guy is playing great in Cleveland and is well surrounded and got to the finals already! for the media and business, they dont see it this way they want to see LJ in NY exactly as KB24 is in LA! so to conclude, to me the best ever in the last decade after MJ of course are: 1) Kobe Bryant 24 so far 2) Dwayne Wade 3) Lebron James 4) Melo Kevin Durant is on his way and i see him in less than 3 years compared to Jordan fairly
Really? We didn't know that! With indications from the earlier parts of your post, I almost thought this was totally a place for something other than basketball discussion.
Lebron has to surpass Kobe before he can be considered a comparison to Jordan... he's a great player but winning championships is everything... only time will tell though
Can we get at least one ring for his finger before we even begin to entertain this question? If you want to talk regular season accolades and statistics, sure, Lebron can easily be compared to Jordan.
So Karl Malone and Charles Barkley can't be compared to other big men with rings? John Stockton can't be compared to other Point Guards with rings?
I forgot which coach said this on the Olympic 2008 team, but essentially he said that Lebron James has a very legit post game and the reason that you don't see him post up in the NBA is because the offense isn't run that way where he has to be playing out of the high post. This kinda makes sense when you are forced to put sideshow bob and hickson on the floor with lebron. The 4-5 positions can't spread the floor enough to get lebron good looks in the post and if anything, will cause even more congestion in the paint I think it was nate mcmillan or someone who said that...can't find the article
LerBon should make haste and buy the Cavs if he ever wants to be considered on the same page as Jordan. Do it! Do it now!
to separate physical abilities and basketball skills is nonsense. All the fancy basketball skills are meaningless without the body. dwight howard is a freaking athletic guy, and that's about it. lbj is much more than that.
