bird? lebron is way more athletic. passing/court vision should be about equal. bird had much more consistent jumper. not more range, but a better shot. bird came to a good team and contributed at PF immediately. had a good college basketball education.
magic? lebron is way more athletic. lebron's shot is already better. court vision has to go to magic, but probably just barely within a few years. magic's game sense and ability to run the point is way more advanced than lebrons right now. had a good college basketball education. contributed immediately in a big way to a good team.
jordan? jordan and lebron's athleticism as compared to other players of their time is probably equal. both are inconsistent and stupid at times as rookies but both can just posterize you on any given play. jordan's shot might have been a touch better, and his general game intensity was a little higher. lebrons' passing is way ahead of young jordans. jordan scored a lot of points on a bad team but they didn't win anything of consequence for several years.
it's pretty obvious that james does not match up properly for comparison to any of these players. none of them play the same style nor have his strengths and weaknesses.
he does however have elements of all 3 of them in his game, and that's why people are excited. he has bird's ability to come down and extract points from the offense by either scoring or dishing. he has jordan's ability to posterize you and demoralize you with his physical gifts. and he has magic's ability to do a beautiful full-court bounce pass to a streaking player who hasn't even arrived there yet.
throw some game management skills in there, some defense, and another scorer or two and you have a formidable presence, and not just in the east.
i think he's the prototype for a future nba superstar. if i made a little boy right now i'd start him on the lebron diet and the lebron training program!
raz .::.
magic? lebron is way more athletic. lebron's shot is already better. court vision has to go to magic, but probably just barely within a few years. magic's game sense and ability to run the point is way more advanced than lebrons right now. had a good college basketball education. contributed immediately in a big way to a good team.
jordan? jordan and lebron's athleticism as compared to other players of their time is probably equal. both are inconsistent and stupid at times as rookies but both can just posterize you on any given play. jordan's shot might have been a touch better, and his general game intensity was a little higher. lebrons' passing is way ahead of young jordans. jordan scored a lot of points on a bad team but they didn't win anything of consequence for several years.
it's pretty obvious that james does not match up properly for comparison to any of these players. none of them play the same style nor have his strengths and weaknesses.
he does however have elements of all 3 of them in his game, and that's why people are excited. he has bird's ability to come down and extract points from the offense by either scoring or dishing. he has jordan's ability to posterize you and demoralize you with his physical gifts. and he has magic's ability to do a beautiful full-court bounce pass to a streaking player who hasn't even arrived there yet.
throw some game management skills in there, some defense, and another scorer or two and you have a formidable presence, and not just in the east.
i think he's the prototype for a future nba superstar. if i made a little boy right now i'd start him on the lebron diet and the lebron training program!
raz .::.