Lebron James: Great player but terrible leader

[knowitall]

Not me. I see how adults act when playing in beer leagues or watching their kids play. LeBron is playing for an NBA Championship and possibly becoming the greatest player of all time

[konjo78]

Greatest player of all time... not after tonight. Slipping out of the top 5 very very quickly

[Crimson's Ghost]

 lol. 

[konjo78]

I mean my top 5 in no order at the moment is Jordan, Magic, Kareem, Chamberlain and Kobe

[knowitall]

Kobe was a great leader

[Manfred]

I'm surprised anyone under 30 even considers Wilt. Yes, the game's changed, but talents haven't. Just consider if the 3 pt. shot had never been implemented.

[knowitall]

It's hard for me to rank anyone who played before 1980 as that was before my time.  I would think at the very least Bill Russell belongs in a Top Five.  Jordan, Russell, James, Johnson, Jabbar, Bird, Chamberlain, Bryant, Durant, Duncan.  This list seems to discriminate against the second half of the alphabet.

[Crimson's Ghost]

Yeah it's just hard for me to judge guys before my time fully, but when I look at LeBron and KD and probably Michael Jordan and Kobe too, I think they would be one of the top 2-3 players in the league at any point of the league's history. I have doubts anyone else can make that claim.


Would Magic Johnson be good right now in today's NBA? Sure. All-Star? Probably. Top five player in the league? I don't really think so.


Would Wilt Chamberlain still be great in today's NBA? I think. Would he dominate like he did in his time? No. Why? Every team in the league has multiple guys his size that could matchup with him.



So I think it's tough to gauge for me. But from a physical standpoint, there's never been a player as good at the game of basketball as LeBron James. If you want to call Jordan a greater player, I can see where people get that notion also. A whole generation was raised on MJ being larger than life. He was a special figure, he had a mystique about him. But if you gave me one player from all-time to start a historical franchise, I'd take LeBron James. I wouldn't even think twice about it.

[konjo78]

The only reason why I wouldnt take lebron first would be how his teams always end up looking after a few years. Whether its original Cleveland run, miami run and now this cleveland run James's teams have always ended up being him with a bunch of 3 point shooters who are bad defensively. I don't think thats the system I would personally ever want. Plus youd lose lebron after a few seasons when he goes to a team with 2 or more all stars


If I had to pick right now my first, it would be jordanm

[Crimson's Ghost]

Yes, LeBron typically has bad supporting casts besides the three years in Miami, I agree.