First, let's get the question straight. The original question is not about who will be a better player. It's about if both were in the draft, who would you take at #1. If I'm not mistaken, you draft a player you think will upgrade your team the most. I think the choice is harder than a lot of people think. I initially went for James, then flip-flopped a few times. I still cannot be very sure. Also, I admit that I haven't seen James play, and have only seen Yao play on video clips. The rest is pretty much based on scouting reports which are reported by non-scout reporters (if you know what I mean ). I suspect the vast majority of posters here are like me too. But that doesn't stop us from arguing, right. What are BBSs for, after all? To give y'all a clearer picture, let me break the question down into smaller questions and see which of the two prospects has an edge over the other. Remember, these are all projections ("might" "more likely" kind of stuff). So don't get too carried away. 1. More points? Tied 2. More rebounds? Yao 3. More assists? James 4. More blocks? Yao 5. Better defensive presence? Yao (not very sure) 6. Make teammates better? Hard to say, each in different way 7. More clutch? Who knows 8. More NBA ready talent-wise? Tied 9. More physically fit in the NBA for his position? James 10. More potential? Who knows 11. Better size? Yao 12. More likely to have leadership on the floor? James 13. More driven to succeed? Tied 14. Contribute more to a guard oriented team like the Rox? Yao 15. Less likely to break the law (drug, drunk driving, wife beating, gun etc.)? Yao 16. Less obstacles to overcome (culture, language, red tapes, etc.)? James 17. Less likely to demand lots of money to the detriment of the team? Yao 18. Less ego? Yao 19. Less likely to have conflict with teammates? Yao OK, judge for yourself. You can add more questions to it. Not every question has the same weight. And not every edge is to the same degree. That's why they say "the draft is not an exact science."
Its not really a matter of who was better.... It boils down to the fact that we ( The Rockets) needed size in the front court. Outside of a trade, Ming was the best we could get for sure ( considering we had the 1st pick ). James may turn out to be a great talent and an all star player but Ming is a better fit unless Steve and/or Cat were gone ( via trade, free agency, etc). As good as James may be, he would take a while to develop. He is playing against teenagers and children. No matter how bad the competition is in the CBA, it is still better than ANY high school league. Ming may not be at his full level yet but he is futher along than ANY high school player.
As all other answers: just a guess. Based mostly on what people said about their personalities. Plus, Yao is 21 and is in a foreign culture, whereas James is 17 and is probably street smart.
I never said Lebron is a bust. But with all the informations presented here so far, some of us already said it with so much conviction that not only he is good, but he is the nex MJ. That is pure hype any way you look at it. I said it before and i ll say it again. He does have good potentials based on the informations presented here, but there is also much risk that one should not put all your bet on him. Picking him over Yao without any hesitation is poor judgement. Dont want to restate my reasons again, especially some of them are just common sense. For those of you who claimed have seen him play on TV before. Please tell what game did you actually see. His regular high school games, the workout at Cav, or just few highlight clips. What were the score anyway. Nobody here yet tell me stat on any particular game. We have much more informations on Yao, especially his stat in recent games. So our assessment on Yao is more certain than Lebron. I say it again, pick the player with the greatest potentials, least risks, and proven ability, and most important of all, pick the one YOUR team really need. Not a flashy baller who sell more shoes than winning games. Yao played pro balls and proved that he could dominate or at least a persistent contributor. Lebron never play pro ball, dont hype it up that those supposedly elite high school program he is in is better than CBA, and other European leagues.
When i say that i like james better than ming, i mean that i think james is the better player with more potential. As for who fits better on our team, and who we should take in a draft if both were available, probably ming. But if we needed a center and sg, then james would be my choice.
Do we have a law against drunk riding (a bicycle) in Texas? Just joking. I am sure Ming will drive a fancy car.
If we have to pick a center or sg, I pick Yao. It's much harder to get a great center than a great sg. Simpily there r more good or great sg out there than a great center. It is a fact. You cant dispute that.
#1rocketsfan, these r the reasons. Yao dont know how to drive. So at best he could only drunkcycledriving. Yao has no wife or girlfriend ( why? because the Chinese r pretty conservative. Parents dont like their kids to start dating early). Chinese citizens r not allowed to possess guns. As far as drug, I guess the Chinese choose green tea over drugs anytime.
This discussion was discussed to death in 2 threads. I just have one thing to add in this thread. ALWAYS, I repeat, ALWAYS draft for talent. Ask Jerry West. Listen, we need a C, but you always draft for talent. The Lakers did everything right to get Kobe Bryant, despite having Eddie Jones. Next year's draft is filled with C's, and the Fa market is pretty damn good too. Not to mention, Cato was decent last year, and has been working out. EVEN if we weren't going to keep Lebron, we could've drafted him, and traded him to the Bulls for Ming and their draft pick the following year. We could've traded him to Memphis for Ming and Battier maybe. But you always draft for talent.
BINGO! Im predicting Yao wont be as good as seem to think. Lebron will be the real deal. Drinks on me if Im wrong....
15. Less likely to break the law (drug, drunk driving, wife beating, gun etc.)? Yao Unbelievable. Now James is more likely to be a gun toting, malt liquor drinking, dope smoking man capable of assault. And this was determined by........???????????? We've come a long way baby. It's not that easy Easy.
One year later we'll be laughing at this kind of discussions, when King James breaks his right wrist again going up for a flashy dunk and Yao dominates the weak weak big=small men in the NBA.
All your responses prove my points. YOU cant just draft someone simpily because of talent. Different players playing different positions have different talents. There r other factors in choosing a player for your team. Dont want to reiterate my points here again and again. If that s so true. Let trade away MING and get Iverson. I m sure that Iverson has more talents, duh. Many of you pick Lebron over MIng with such ease that exactly prove my points again. I guess HYPING does help. I didnt become a MING supporter just like that. I did my research-- reading reports, looking at his stat, the level of competition he is at, level of his maturity, his intelligent responses to media questioning, his handling of the Chinese goverment, and the position we need in our team, etc. Boy, it s getting too long. I dont say anything like "I'll pick James without a doubt" one liner.
You tell them gotoloveit2. LeBron James is not the only HS baller who gets 29, 8 rebs and 6 assists a game. Amare Stoudamire averaged 29 pts, 15 rebs and 6.1 blocks as an HS senior. Guess how high Stoudamire went in this draft, No.9. Yep, comparable stats with Lebron James who's the Chosen One hyped up by the media to be the next undisputable No.1 pick. The James apologists will look at this and say:" This is not a good example, James is better in offensive skills than Amare who can only dunk and dominated the NBA pros as he did the Cavs with ease in a workout." First of all, James didn't dominate the Cavs player, that's just an impression that the media tries to generate by selective coverage.All he did against the Cavs was some flashy dunks and nice passes. No scores, no FG% reported. Yet the way it's been reported leaves one with the impression that James just whooped the Cavs as*. Second of all, James is not even in the same class when it comes to scoring compared to another HS baller DaJuan Wagner, who averaged 42.5 point as an HS junior, including 9 over 50 points games, and an explosion of one 100 points game. Guess what, James didn't even have one 50 points game yet. Kind of strange when the so called next Jordan, Magic and Kobe trio deity fail to come up a career high that's half of a No.6 pick. The James apologists will look at this and say:" This doesn't count, James is a much more better all around player while Wagner can only score." Oh really? Name one thing that Yao Ming can't do and James can: Nothing, in fact, Yao's stats in CBA are better than James in all categories except the assists, with a whopping advantage at 72% FG% and blocks. Name something that Yao Ming can do but James can't: Plenty. Blocking shots, unblockable skyhook, more rebounds, tough interior defense, dunk while being 5 inches above ground, passing higher out of double teams, setting great-wall like high post PNRs. Yao Ming is a far more complete player than LeBron James can ever be. The James apologists will look at this and say:" The stats doesn't count. The high school competition is better than the professional CBA. Although Ex NBA players play in CBA they are no where as good as the pure talents in US high schools. As to the things only Yao can do, well....hmmm....hmm..oh yeah maybe Lebron James can grow to 7-5 too! Who knows, sky is the limit for the King James!" Yeah right. If LeBron James can stop wearing his "King James" T-shirt, showing it to the reporters and claiming "it's a god send gift I found in my room.", or stop saying that he accepts college workout invitation because he can travel for free, or stop demanding free tickets as "my family ain't gonna pay 50 bucks for those." , then maybe, just maybe he can be better than Yao in this last aspect. Yao Ming is humble and hunger for the game, LeBron James is arrogant and hunger for not just the game, but egotistical satisfaction to the extent of borderline insanity and preferential treatment. Yao Ming goes about his personal life quietly, James goes everywhere with his posse in big Caddies. Big difference. And Houston Rockets have never win a ring led by a sg/sf. On the contrary... Yao Ming in a heartbeat.