King Dethroned?

From day one this man has been given the crown, in his junior year of high school, he made the cover of Sports Illustrated, with the title “The Chosen One”. Along with the title he enjoyed the luxury of having nationally televised games for his High school team, and a $90 million dollar endorsement deal with Nike before he ever played a single game in the NBA. To say that Lebron James had some buzz entering the NBA would be a major understatement. He was already one of the most celebrated stars in the NBA and he hadn’t won a single award, dominated a game, or even touched the hardwood for a playoff series. Yet everyone saw him as the best thing since Michael Jordan.

Six years into the league and everything that was said about him before he ever played a game, seems to be absolutely true, coming off of his second straight MVP season, and standing alone as the best team in the east, Lebron James seems to be on pace to win his first of what many see as many NBA titles, but as good as things seem to be going for Lebron, I for one think that he is not as great as everyone builds him up to be, and although he’s on a very good team, I don’t see him winning multiple championships, at least not this early. But back to the main point, the reason that most of you are here reading this article, Lebron although an amazing player just is not the best basketball player in the league. Lets take a deeper look at things.

If the NBA was all about being an athlete Lebron would have the crown hands down. Were talking about a man who is listed as 6’9 weighing somewhere between 250-275, with the physic of a power running back, and the raw physical talent never seen before. At this point in his career, he can outrun, out jump, out muscle, and out last anyone in the league. There is no one who can match him physically, take in to consideration that he has great handle, and is probably as elusive as Barry Sanders was in his hay day, but before you close out this page and decide on this column being irrelevant, ask yourself this question. What will happen to Lebron after his first knee surgery.

The Lebron fans will read this and cry out Blasphemy, while others will just laugh it off and see this as a rant from a Lebron hater, but not all of you will disregard this, some will see what I am talking about, because there is a small group of people who understand that Lebron although freakishly talented, will eventually slow down, and they also understand that no matter how lucky any player in the NBA is. Some sort of surgery is only inevitable. So when Lebron is no longer able to barrel over players, and jump over the opposition, will he still be good enough to dominate a game? Lets take a look at four things he needs to improve, before he can be the pound for pound best.

Mentally

The great players have always been the ones who were able to master the game on both levels. That meant the physical aspect of the game and the mental, Michael Jordan was able to be as great as he was for so long, because nine out of ten times he was the smartest player on the court. He was able to read the defense, and anticipate behavior and tendencies of players and coaches. Lebron is a great player but he his knowledge and understanding of the game has not yet reached the point where he has the mental advantage in almost every game.

Outside Shooting

Many people will say that this is not an issue for Lebron, and to prove that they will point to the gradual improvement of his shooting percentage over the past few years. But if you take a closer look at Lebron you will notice a couple of things. The first is that Lebron is a rhythm shooter, if he gets comfortable and gets a good rhythm he can be very dangerous form outside, because of this he can also be a very streaky shooter. The second thing, is that those outside shots usually start to result in bricks once you get to 16 feet and further. His game is built off of barging into the paint, taking contact and powering his way to the hoop, if you force him to shoot he looses his potency, keep him from getting shots in the same spots, and he has no time to get a rhythm from there you see the Lebron that was neutralized in the Orlando series last year. Further more if you observe his shot you c an still see him struggling with mechanics at times, this is a player who’s game is still raw, which means his shooting stroke is inconsistent.

Defensively

Here is another part of Lebrons game that everyone always raves about him improving so drastically in. I will give Lebron respect where respect is due, he has drastically improved on the defensive side of the ball, but like much of his game, he’s still cheating. Great defenders have a knack for knowing where the ball is, they also have a knack for understanding an offense and what is going to happen in certain offensive sets. Lebron has not completely figured this out, and because of this he can be fooled by a good offensive strategy. But his physical gifts keep him in the game, there have been many plays where he was beaten on a play but because he’s so fast, and can jump so high, he’s recovered the ball with a momentum killing deflection. So when those knees start to tire, and the legs can pick up as much steam, he will be beaten a lot more unless he learns the art of defense and not just master the skill of pursuit.

Lebron is an amazing player, honestly he is probably one of the gifted players that I have ever seen. If we are being completely honest he is literally the most gifted player I have ever seen, and with his work ethic I don’t see how he wont eventually become the best player ever. But right now, with a shaky post game, an inconsistent outside shot, and defense built off of physical skill and gazelle like speed Lebron is still to flawed to be considered the best. Lets come back to this conversation in five years, when he’s rehabbing from his second knee surgery.