Is it possible we are watching the best to ever do it in Lebron James ?

[R-Star]

Originally Posted by yodurk

Can you show me video this happened? Miami's team defense did this, not Lebron. Lebron did his job which was to force Rose into the help defense effectively. And as someone said, this was not a full game of chasing Rose around. He could sit on Luol Deng for 3.5 quarters which frankly is a lot less work.

Great analysis of this myth is on-line if you google "Bulls Heat 4th quarter project".

As for Lebron...the OP is overstating a few things as others already pointed out, and he has a ways to go to catch Kobe Bryant on the greatness scale, let alone MJ.

I've stated before, the guy is the greatest natural talent I've ever seen, but he just isn't in MJ and Kobe's tier in terms of consistent competitive drive and work ethic. I can confidently say nobody can match MJ in that department. The guy was just otherworldly.

Originally Posted by DoctorLebronFan

Whatever bro. He can guard Rose and Dwight and anyone inbetween.

Saved everyone some time.

[hobojoe]

Originally Posted by ChosenFEW

I wasn't around to watch any of it but imagine guys like Elgin Baylor doing what he did back then now.


It really is a what have you done for me lately world.



But to answer your question, NO! Lebron doesn't do anything amazing but he does a lot of things very well. Package that with probably being the best athlete on the court at any given time and.....

Excuse me?

[ChosenFEW]

Is he a ray Allen shooter? Is he a Kevin love rebounder? Is he a Chris paul passer? You cant point to anything specific in lebrons game and say he is amazing, except for his athletic ability. . He is a jack of all trades though, and arguably the best athlete in all of sports. his sheer power and athletic ability bails him out of multiple situations. When you see him on the court it's like he's in 6th gear and everyone else is in 5th sometimes.


Skill set wise, Kobe in his prime was a better basketball player than Lebron right now.

[R-Star]

Originally Posted by ChosenFEW

Is he a ray Allen shooter? Is he a Kevin love rebounder? Is he a Chris paul passer? You cant point to anything specific in lebrons game and say he is amazing, except for his athletic ability. . He is a jack of all trades though, and arguably the best athlete in all of sports. his sheer power and athletic ability bails him out of multiple situations. When you see him on the court it's like he's in 6th gear and everyone else is in 5th sometimes.


Skill set wise, Kobe in his prime was a better basketball player than Lebron right now.

No one in the game puts together pure scoring ability, play making ability, rebounding and defensive ability together the way Lebron does.

Not even a prime Kobe. And that is what Lebron does amazingly.

[ChosenFEW]

......



I will admit that I am a closet laker fan when I'm not rooting for my team, so maybe I'm biased. Kobe is up there with Jordan for me. Lebron, not yet.

[seifer0406]

I'll say this, if we can send Lebron back on a time machine, he would be the best player or 1a/1b on the planet no matter what year we send him back to. I think the argument here is if he's above his peers the way that Wilt was or MJ was. I don't think he is. However on pure basketball ability alone there is no comparison in my opinion. He is by far the best basketball talent that we have ever seen.

[seifer0406]

So if OP's question is whether or not we are watching the best player to ever play basketball, meaning the best way that this sport has ever been played, then I would say yes.

[Luke]

Magic was still better at almost everything. He won't pass Johnson.

Same with Jordan.

[Dre]

Originally Posted by seifer0406

I'll say this, if we can send Lebron back on a time machine, he would be the best player or 1a/1b on the planet no matter what year we send him back to. I think the argument here is if he's above his peers the way that Wilt was or MJ was. I don't think he is. However on pure basketball ability alone there is no comparison in my opinion. He is by far the best basketball talent that we have ever seen.

How is he "by far" the best ever but without an MJ/Wilt gap between his current peers, none of which are GOAT candidates.

[R-Star]

Originally Posted by Luke

Magic was still better at almost everything. He won't pass Johnson.

Same with Jordan.

I'll say again, this is another example that you asked me for Luke.

[seifer0406]

Originally Posted by Dre

How is he "by far" the best ever but without an MJ/Wilt gap between his current peers, none of which are GOAT candidates.

I don't understand what you're asking. I thought I explained it already.

If we were to evaluate his basketball ability he's the best to ever play basketball. However he's not better than his peers like Wilt was better than his peers. Lebron couldn't do that because the rest of the guys are better basketball players too compare to Wilt's days. Not to take anything away from Wilt because to be that much better than everyone else is a great feat and a solid reason for goat discussions.

btw, I'm going to reiterate that I'm not saying Lebron is the goat. To me the goat is more than just comparing guys's abilities across eras. It's about comparing a player's dominance during his own era. In that sense Lebron isn't at MJ's level or a lot of other guys. He will get closer to them if he wins a few more rings but right now he's not there yet.

[Dre]

I just don't see how he's not by far better than his peers but by far the best player ever. Just seems like a clumsy choice of wording.

I see what you're saying though now that you explain it

[Mr. Hobbes]

Is it possible? Of course he's 25. Him vs MJ? Need more rings.

[seifer0406]

Originally Posted by Dre

I just don't see how he's not by far better than his peers but by far the best player ever. Just seems like a clumsy choice of wording.

I see what you're saying though now that you explain it

If we're playing a pick up game today and I can pick any player from any era, I would pick Derrick Rose over someone like Jerry West. But if we're listing the top players of all time theres no way I would put Rose over West.

Basketball isn't like track and field or swimming. Basketball greatness is relative to competition. In sprinting if you run a 9.6 you're better than someone who ran a 9.7.

[Da Grinch]

the thing is this Lebron is 27 still.

at 27 only really wilt had put a stamp on his legacy with all the records he set and all the rule changes to limit his impact. he later won 2 titles but it pales in comparison to the fact they had to change the rules because of him.

at 27 Jordan had won no titles 1 mvp, 1 dpoy 4 time scoring champ, but no where near the resume that people tout him for.

and a bunch of guys who had various degrees of their acclaimed greatness at 27.

at 27 if go by what they have done , no one picks jordan over james who people loved watching jordan but didn't believe anyone could win a title while dominating the ball to the point they could lead the league in scoring, or that his team would win 6 titles in 8 years.

he was a great scorer and defender , but he had leadership issues , he didn't trust his teammates and some of them weren't so enthralled with him either, this where he grew the most between 1990 and 1998, in great part during his retirement by his own admission