Not that more evidence is needed, but here is the most recent entry in a long line of instances where LeBron has shown himself to be little more than an emotional midget who has no heart. Essentially, Lebron is locked up one on one with Kobe in the final seconds of the All-Star game, and has six seconds to put up the potential game-winner. Instead, Lebron opts a cross-court pass which is easily stolen, and the game is essentially over. Immediately afterwards, Kobe screams, "Shoot the [uck fay]ing ball!" only inches away from LeBron's face, who just smiles and walks away looking upward, ostensibly, believing that his balls may be somewhere amongst the rafters. When asked about it afterwards, LeBron remarked, "Yeah - I wish I had that one back." Yeah, riiiiiiiiiiiiight. World Wide Wes had better get himself a new best friend, because an embarrassing break-down seems to be more a question of "when" and not "if". Good article, with video of the incident here: Given chance to win NBA's 2012 All-Star game, LeBron James takes a pass - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
I get it. he's a physical freak and has unmatched vision/passing ability/etc for his size. I guess the question is if the years of ass kissing have gone to his head to teh extent that he feels like he doesn't need to do more than he has done.
The years of ass kissing has went to his head without a doubt. He could do things no one has ever done at his size if he wanted to.
If he felt like he had done all he needed to do, his post game wouldn't have completely transformed from last year to this one. He shouldn't be compared to Jordan or anything, but other than that, how the hell is he "too hyped?" He's the best player in the league, easily, and most of the questions about him will disappear the second he wins a ring (ala Peyton Manning). People all like to act like they're the only ones that see that he's not clutch and that everyone else and the media is just sucking his [penis], but literally everyone has those same criticisms of him.
if he put the same effort kobe put into the game he'd currently be unstopable. the fact that he decided to work on his post game this late in his career speaks volumes.
That's true, but my point is that everyone knows that. A retarded second-grader could see that. So why does everyone act like they're the only ones in on the "secret" that LeBron is "overhyped?" I think seeing the league's best player get substantially better, at this point in his career, is something to be commended as much as questioned. But with pretty much everything he does from now on, someone will ask why he didn't do it earlier.
i agree he is probably, if anything, underrated at this point. missed potential many times translates to "overrated" in many people's minds.
I'm not sure I'd consider him "easily" the best player in the league. Part of being the best player in the League is having the qualities that, as you point out, everyone believes LeBron does not have.
depends how you define best player. first guy you'd pick if you had to win one game or series? probably not. first guy you'd pick for a season? i'd say so.
Lebron isn't the best the player in the game. He's the most talented, but not the best. Kobe and D-Wade have the desire and fire that BronBron lacks. If he had half the fire that MJ had, it would be ridiculous.
The way he's playing this year, I would. People will be reluctant to agree until he wins a ring, which is fair, but he's having one of the best seasons by any player ever and I'm of the opinion that the rings will be coming in short order.
I'm not sure if you're directly saying this or just implying it, but there is noooooo way that D-Wade is better than BronBron.
I think the competition is closer than you think. As I said, Lebron is the most talented (and it's not even remotely close). He just can't piece it together to make himself great. I still take Kobe over anyone in the league and I'd take Wade over Lebron. I'd also take Kevin Durant. Not sure that there's anyone else.
Jordan's 88-89 season can make a strong case for being the best ever. I just know that several of the widely circulated efficiency ratings (not sure how they're calculated) have LeBron on pace to break the record. Personally, I'd say it's the best this millennium other than Kobe's 35PPG year.
Durant over LeBron is a joke. Wade outperforms LeBron in the Finals, but on a team by himself he would never make it there in the first place. Why did the Heat beat the Bulls last year?
Again, I've already said Lebron is the most talented twice. This makes three times. I firmly believe in the "it factor" and BronBron just doesn't have it. That's why I take Kobe, Wade and Durant over him. Talent only takes you so far. Drive and intensity kick in at some point. It's extremely rare for any superstar to lead a team to a championship all by himself. MJ never did it, Wade hasn't done it, Magic didn't do it, Shaq didn't do it, Bird didn't do it.