He's a statistical anomaly. His size, speed, strength and co-ordination are incredibly rare.
What's amazing with Lebron is that he's managed to improve his game from being just a bulldozer who puts his head down and shoulder barrells his way to the free throw line. He's become a good shooter over time. Some of the enormous shots he's hit to carry those Heat teams were just sickening. He's become such a smart player, and in my eyes is the modern day version of Magic Johnson with his overall game. I will go there and say he's better than Magic Johnson, and about on the same level as Bird.
It annoys me when people say 'he teamed up to beat everyone when they used to do it fairly'. What a load of crap. Magic, Bird and Jordan's support casts were incredible. Wade has been about as good as Pippen for 2 of these 4 finals.
Look at Larry's supporting casts...how would Larry or MJ or Magic fare with team mates playing like this years Heat are?
I will honestly never forget game 6 in Boston in 2012 ECF. 45 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists and shot something like 20 of 26 field goal attempts. Their next best scorer was D Wade with 17 or 18 points.
Lebron is a legend, and is 100% in the same conversation as guys like Larry, Jordan, Magic etc..he's a generational player with a mix of skill, intelligence and consistent huge performances that turn franchise players into hall of famers.
Don't forget how good this Spurs team is either- it's up there with the great teams in NBA history. His sidekicks have let him down this season. I'd argue that none of these guys on his team have been anywhere near as effective as Pippen was for Jordan in the NBA finals.
I will say I think Lebron hasn't taken control on his own enough in these finals. He seems so focused on trying to beat the Spurs by getting everyone involved on the Heat that he's over looked opportunities to score and punish the Spurs. You can see Kwahi Leonard go under screens instead of over the top, and Lebron will have a wide open 12 foot jumpshot- something he needs to take and at least try and hit a few of to make them think about coming back over screens- yet he visibly goes into the jumpshot motion and stops and almost thinks out loudly 'they want me to shoot this, I'm not going to fall for that', and he dishes off to another player.
He needs to stop trying to get everyone else involved and just attack the basket and get to the line. Once he starts getting to the hole, that's when the defense will start collapsing on him and his team mates will get wide open looks. Something's just not there for the Heat this year and the Spurs have made Lebron over think things a little bit too much in my opinion. ( Which I have no doubt this was Popovich's aim in the first place).
Wade is cooked, Bosh has been mediocre and Chalmers and Ray Allen have been complete duds too. If Jordan's team mates had played this poorly he wouldn't beat this Spurs team either.
It's just surprising they're so fried because they had an easy run to the finals and yet they can barely make a rotation on defense.
But yeah I agree with the OP.
LBJ= Living Legend.
I want the Spurs to win because I love Popovich, but Lebron's team mates haven't done their jobs this season and there's only so much that one man can do against an offense like San Antonio's when it's firing on all cylinders.
Although I respect your views, I'm afraid that I have to disagree. Lebron is nowhere near Magic or Bird, and here's why. I personally hate the term 'supporting cast', which only started to appear when Jordan wasn't yet winning titles. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Isiah Thomas never had 'supporting casts', they had TEAMMATES. In fact, you could make the argument that, until his 1st mvp in 87, Magic was actually a part of LA's supporting cast, because it was Kareem's team. Jabbar was the go-to guy, not Magic, at least not for the first 7 years of Johnson's career, and then you also have to factor in Worthy, and he was a go-to guy as well. Yes, Magic had huge performances in many of the biggest moments (game 6 in 1980 comes to mind), but the offense didn't revolve around him, although it's impossible to fault the Lakers for centering their offense around the man who scored the most points in NBA History.
All I'm trying to say is that, while there were role players, as there are today, the idea of a supporting cast never existed prior to at least 1990. Jordan was a terrible teammate, and apparently, Magic wasn't the greatest one either, as they both belittled guys on their own teams, but it was Michael who first referred to Pippen and Grant etc as his 'supporting cast', just as Lebron did while he was in Cleveland, and I think it's a little insulting to the other guys. Larry Bird never called a member of his team a part of his 'supporting cast', not even Greg Kite. #33 was also a great teammate, certainly better than Jordan or Magic. He encouraged his guys and worked with them, and everyone who played with him became a better player, especially in terms of passing. That's not the case with Lebron or Jordan, the latter of whom could only win under a certain coach and system that was designed to get the other players involved offensively. What a joke. Isn't that the job of a great player, to use the defensive attention on him to get his teammates, or in this case, members of his supporting cast
, more involved via easy baskets and such?
Besides, in the case of Lebron, where was the leadership after they lost game 3? In 1984, Larry ripped himself and his teammates after getting blown out in game 3, and they responded. Lebron didn't seem to be too concerned after getting blown out on his home floor and thus relinquishing the home court advantage. It's not even close, imho, between Bird and James, but everyone has their own opinion and I respect that. Just my two cents.
Oh, and if you haven't already visited the thread entitled 'Calling All Music Lovers',
http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=70754.0, I'd encourage you to do so. Wait until you hear her sing!
Topic: An honest letter to everyone about LeBron James (Read 46909 times)