I'm watching Heat v. Knicks right now, and man he's just silly good. If Jordan still ends up going down as the best basketball player ever -- and I'm not saying he will, but we can assume it for argument -- then doesn't Lebron go down as the most versatile? Like Magic, but with defense, yes?
LeBron is such a freak he gets under appreciated. He looks like a comic book super hero and people expect him to do what he does.
Speaking of the Knicks, I'm a fan and they're hard to watch. Phil Jackson has his work cut out for him. J.R. Smith is the NBA's version of Jordan McRae, never met a shot he didn't like, he hit 10 3's but shot 22 and 28 total today. The bench is awful, no one other than Shumpert scored off the bench. Jesus, fix this shit already. LeBron is amazing though.
Is Lebron somewhat a victim of his own hype? The guy was touted as the next big thing while still in high school.
The fact that he's, in my opinion, lived up to the hype is incredible. Usually people touted so highly get crushed by the accompanying ego.
It really is. Most people touted like he was, and at that age, don't actually turn out to be all time greats. He has.
Bird was every bit as versatile as either and a better shooter and rebounder. Dude was nasty at every phase.
There's a big difference in being a great passing forward and having the ability to play all five positions offensively. Bird is the former, LeBron is the latter.
Leave on can't play the post against a post defender. Bird pointed the offense when necessary. I'd say Bird was better at the top than LeBron is at the bottom. As shooters or rebounders, it isn't remotely close.
"brand"? Or better quality basketball? Because we've already gone over the latter claim in another thread. I can direct you there.
It was better quality basketball only in the very top teams. The league didn't have more talent back then and that's a #fact
Fundamentals and actual basketball players were the norm then. Guys may be more athletic top to bottom now. But the game and overall product is lacking.