Or, how about his 2nd full season in '86-87, the year before Pippen came, when Jordan just put up a measly 37.1 ppg for the season? That was just his highest scoring season of his career. He clearly only excelled because of Pippen.
Magic averaged way more assists, better FG (although LeBron's is on an upward trend) and FT%.Maybe I haven't watched enough this year, but he is not Pippen on the defensive end. Physical skills he is out of this world, but he just hasn't earned the right to be compared with some of the all-time greats yet.
Bird mentally>>> LeBron mentally. Bob Knight, "mental toughness is to physical toughness as 4 is to 1." You are correct the LeBron's ceiling is as high as anyone ever.
Most people have him pegged as a TE, and I think he could have been amazing as a TE. I think there are some possibilities on the defensive side as well.
Today, from Bill Simmons at grantland.com 2. Do you realize that LeBron is having one of the greatest statistical seasons of all time? I always thought Jordan's 1988-89 season (32.5 PPG, 8.0 APG, 8.0 RPG, 2.9 SPG, 53.8 percent FG, 85 percent FT, 31.1 PER) was the most impressive statistical season by a modern perimeter player … and yet, here's LeBron averaging 29.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 55 percent shooting and a 33.38 PER (highest ever) during a condensed schedule. It's impossible. How can someone have their greatest season during THIS season? There have been games when LeBron backs down a smaller defender into the paint, uses one of the low-post moves he allegedly learned from Hakeem this summer — really just a drop step and a jump hook, but whatever — and makes it look so simple that you're sitting there thinking, "My God, he could rule everything that's holy if he kept doing that." Does that mean I changed my mind and now believe he's coming through in the final 20 seconds of a nationally televised game? NO!!!!!!!! Are you crazy? After watching him choke in person yet again against the Clippers recently — it's getting to the point that Miami should just hire Bill Murray, Chris Elliott and Andie MacDowell to sit on its bench — I drove home wondering if we're witnessing the single weirdest professional sports career since Wilt Chamberlain. The seven best regular-season players of all time from a "grinding out the same game night after night after night for years on end" are Wilt, Kareem, Oscar, Michael, Mailman, Kobe and LeBron in some order. He's staying on that list no matter what happens. But there's another one that matters even more: The four most-gifted basketball players of all time are Wilt, Magic, LeBron and Michael in some order. Two of them got better when it mattered; two of them got worse. These are the facts until (or unless) LeBron James chooses to change them. To be continued.