The Sports Page 12.5.2010: The Truth about LeBron's Game
Hey what's up Dickson? I spoke to 'Bron the other day. He said he'll try to be very serious for our game out there on Christmas. Let me know if you are going to be there, man, so we can catch up and go over this new offense you came up with... - Spo
Since I have been a coherent sports fan, and by coherent I really mean old enough, there has been a handful of athletes that just stood out from everyone else. There was Barry Sanders with his unique style and uncanny elusiveness. There was Shaq, who at one point was an unstoppable force (of course, only when he was artificially motivated to do so). There was Shawn Kemp, arguably the greatest dunker of all time before fried food and vaginas took over his life. There was Deion Sanders, arguably the most gifted pure athlete in NFL history. There is Michael Vick, easily the most dynamic and athletic quarterback in NFL history. Then there is LeBron...
Think about the most beautiful woman you have ever seen (and if you are a female, it can be a guy (or woman ;-))...just know that I will use a woman from here on out, but you can replace it with a male). Now think about her life. From the time she enters late elementary school, she is constantly reminded about how beautiful she is. This is reinforced by every boy in the school letting her know they like her, every girl in school wanting to befriend her because she is so beautiful and popular, and getting better treatment in class by her teachers and classmates.
She now moves on to middle school. She still has all the cuteness from elementary school, but now she has started her ascent to womanhood. She's now grown to or near her permanent height. Her breasts start to develop or may even be already fully developed. Curves start appearing. She gets all the attention like in her elementary school days, but it has grown exponentially. Not only do all the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade boys like her, she even begins getting attention from a few high school underclassmen. It is here where her beauty starts to get to her head. She realizes that there is something to be had due to the spoils of being blessed with what we call beauty.
In high school, she molds into full-blown icon status. She is now the envy of most girls, coveted by all the guys, and even transcends high school. At this point, she realizes she can just deal with the cream of the crop when it comes to guys. She can easily hang out with or date college guys with their cars, relative maturity, own apartments, and tons of freedom to do whatever she needs them to do. Even [some] grown men think about ******* her on a daily basis.
By time she reaches adulthood, she has not had to worry about her character development, enhancing her soul, having merit to receive special treatment, or not having access to the best guys possible. Due to her genes, life comes much easier for her while certain character traits remain undeveloped.
Only when she gets well into adulthood and is no longer the young coveted icon that every guy wants (though she'd most likely still be very beautiful) does she readdress those undeveloped character traits that were suppressed when she was able to over look them due to her natural beauty. Even at this point, she will most likely have a top-notch husband or long-term paramour. It is here when she becomes the ultimate, all-around woman.
Ok, so what the hell does this have to do with LeBron? Think about what LeBron is. His basketball game falls along the lines of our aforementioned woman.
At 16, LeBron was in the midst of his growing spurt, and he was then anointed as Ohio's top basketball player. At the tender age of 16, his body and talent was just so far beyond anything else that he just absolutely obliterated all opponents. He is just able to run by people, through people (with out charging, of course), and jump over people. However, I don't mean to ignore his natural court awareness that makes him Magic-like.
Towards the end of high school, LeBron has been declared King James, and he shall rule the basketball kingdom! Based on his sheer genes and talent, he received probably every high school basketball honor there is, and I'm sure people created new awards and honors just for him.
He now enters the NBA to the Cavaliers of Cleveland (predictably basically since Cleveland did a total tank job to get their "fair share" of a disproportionate amount of ping pong balls). In his rookie year, he averaged about 21 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 6 assist, which is phenomenal, considering he was only 18-19 years old. He easily had the most man-like body of any high school draftee in NBA history, and it's not even close. At 18, he already had a body of 5-year vet, and a body that was better than some vets. He was still able to use his genes and talent to have the greatest season of any 18 year old in NBA history.
From his time with the Cavs to the present with the Heat, you can see LeBron's physical prowess. He jumps out of the screen because of his sheer athleticism and alacrity. However, this is the foundation of his game, which has given him much success.
LeBron is not as offensively skilled and graceful as a Jordan or Kobe. Being 6'-8'', 250lbs, long, strong, a ridiculous leaper, and can cover baseline to baseline probably faster than anyone in the league and probably needing no more than 10 steps, he can get any shot he wants when he wants it. He can plow to the basket or shoot a jumper over any defender in the league without much of a contest. Hence, we do not see the offensive exquisiteness as with Mike or Kobe. This is because LeBron does not have to have this exquisiteness. This is why we have not seen him create a midrange game for himself, nor have we seen any kind of development of a post game. Imagine the Heat being able to play him like the Lakers played Magic, and he was able to post up small guards. All I can do right now is shake my head in horror. Nonetheless, he is able to get any shot by using his God-given athleticism as he has done since high school.
I am pro-LeBron, I've written about this before. I just thought his whole Decision wasn't handled the best, but life goes on. He's not a bad guy or quitter or anything. However, I am not too impressed with his game because I am more into the intricacies that makes greatness as opposed to just being gifted. Seeing him plow through the NBA like a men among boys amazes me, but it does not impress me.
Remember our beautiful woman from the beginning? Remember how she got older and lost a little of her appeal, meaning she had to develop those character traits that were ignored when she was the hottest thing around? That will be LeBron in the near future. One day, his physical attributes are going to wane. Thus, he will need to work on the intricacies of his game because jumping over, running through, and running past people won't come as easy. You saw this in the final three Jordan years. No longer was he flying through the air like that memorable play in the '91 finals against the Lakers. Jordan became this in the end. You saw the push, right? That was the less athletic, but more cunning Jordan (though you can argue cunning is a euphemism for cheating in this instance...lol). LeBron will eventually have to become that wily player once his ridiculous athleticism fades. We are seeing that with Kobe at this very moment.
Ideally, we would hope that woman from the beginning would not have had to wait until her physical beauty waned before she became that great all around person, but it is hard when we give the world to her based on how she looks. Same with LeBron. If running over, running past, and jumping over people is what got him a $90 million contract with Nike before any NBA team own his rights, sets him on a pace to challenge Jordan as the greatest ever, gives his teams 60-win seasons, and makes him a global icon (well at least he's trying to be that, but I'm skeptical if he will be), why would he feel like he needs to evolve? The game has given him so much just based on his genes and talents, just as that woman was given everything just based on her looks. He will continue to amaze me, but he still has some work to do to actually impress me (not that he need to impress me though).
Since I have been a coherent sports fan, and by coherent I really mean old enough, there has been a handful of athletes that just stood out from everyone else. There was Barry Sanders with his unique style and uncanny elusiveness. There was Shaq, who at one point was an unstoppable force (of course, only when he was artificially motivated to do so). There was Shawn Kemp, arguably the greatest dunker of all time before fried food and vaginas took over his life. There was Deion Sanders, arguably the most gifted pure athlete in NFL history. There is Michael Vick, easily the most dynamic and athletic quarterback in NFL history. Then there is LeBron...Think about the most beautiful woman you have ever seen (and if you are a female, it can be a guy (or woman ;-))...just know that I will use a woman from here on out, but you can replace it with a male). Now think about her life. From the time she enters late elementary school, she is constantly reminded about how beautiful she is. This is reinforced by every boy in the school letting her know they like her, every girl in school wanting to befriend her because she is so beautiful and popular, and getting better treatment in class by her teachers and classmates.
She now moves on to middle school. She still has all the cuteness from elementary school, but now she has started her ascent to womanhood. She's now grown to or near her permanent height. Her breasts start to develop or may even be already fully developed. Curves start appearing. She gets all the attention like in her elementary school days, but it has grown exponentially. Not only do all the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade boys like her, she even begins getting attention from a few high school underclassmen. It is here where her beauty starts to get to her head. She realizes that there is something to be had due to the spoils of being blessed with what we call beauty.
In high school, she molds into full-blown icon status. She is now the envy of most girls, coveted by all the guys, and even transcends high school. At this point, she realizes she can just deal with the cream of the crop when it comes to guys. She can easily hang out with or date college guys with their cars, relative maturity, own apartments, and tons of freedom to do whatever she needs them to do. Even [some] grown men think about ******* her on a daily basis.
By time she reaches adulthood, she has not had to worry about her character development, enhancing her soul, having merit to receive special treatment, or not having access to the best guys possible. Due to her genes, life comes much easier for her while certain character traits remain undeveloped.
Only when she gets well into adulthood and is no longer the young coveted icon that every guy wants (though she'd most likely still be very beautiful) does she readdress those undeveloped character traits that were suppressed when she was able to over look them due to her natural beauty. Even at this point, she will most likely have a top-notch husband or long-term paramour. It is here when she becomes the ultimate, all-around woman.
Ok, so what the hell does this have to do with LeBron? Think about what LeBron is. His basketball game falls along the lines of our aforementioned woman.
At 16, LeBron was in the midst of his growing spurt, and he was then anointed as Ohio's top basketball player. At the tender age of 16, his body and talent was just so far beyond anything else that he just absolutely obliterated all opponents. He is just able to run by people, through people (with out charging, of course), and jump over people. However, I don't mean to ignore his natural court awareness that makes him Magic-like.
Towards the end of high school, LeBron has been declared King James, and he shall rule the basketball kingdom! Based on his sheer genes and talent, he received probably every high school basketball honor there is, and I'm sure people created new awards and honors just for him.
He now enters the NBA to the Cavaliers of Cleveland (predictably basically since Cleveland did a total tank job to get their "fair share" of a disproportionate amount of ping pong balls). In his rookie year, he averaged about 21 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 6 assist, which is phenomenal, considering he was only 18-19 years old. He easily had the most man-like body of any high school draftee in NBA history, and it's not even close. At 18, he already had a body of 5-year vet, and a body that was better than some vets. He was still able to use his genes and talent to have the greatest season of any 18 year old in NBA history.
From his time with the Cavs to the present with the Heat, you can see LeBron's physical prowess. He jumps out of the screen because of his sheer athleticism and alacrity. However, this is the foundation of his game, which has given him much success.
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| 'Bron's rookie body compared to Kobe and KG |
LeBron is not as offensively skilled and graceful as a Jordan or Kobe. Being 6'-8'', 250lbs, long, strong, a ridiculous leaper, and can cover baseline to baseline probably faster than anyone in the league and probably needing no more than 10 steps, he can get any shot he wants when he wants it. He can plow to the basket or shoot a jumper over any defender in the league without much of a contest. Hence, we do not see the offensive exquisiteness as with Mike or Kobe. This is because LeBron does not have to have this exquisiteness. This is why we have not seen him create a midrange game for himself, nor have we seen any kind of development of a post game. Imagine the Heat being able to play him like the Lakers played Magic, and he was able to post up small guards. All I can do right now is shake my head in horror. Nonetheless, he is able to get any shot by using his God-given athleticism as he has done since high school.I am pro-LeBron, I've written about this before. I just thought his whole Decision wasn't handled the best, but life goes on. He's not a bad guy or quitter or anything. However, I am not too impressed with his game because I am more into the intricacies that makes greatness as opposed to just being gifted. Seeing him plow through the NBA like a men among boys amazes me, but it does not impress me.
Remember our beautiful woman from the beginning? Remember how she got older and lost a little of her appeal, meaning she had to develop those character traits that were ignored when she was the hottest thing around? That will be LeBron in the near future. One day, his physical attributes are going to wane. Thus, he will need to work on the intricacies of his game because jumping over, running through, and running past people won't come as easy. You saw this in the final three Jordan years. No longer was he flying through the air like that memorable play in the '91 finals against the Lakers. Jordan became this in the end. You saw the push, right? That was the less athletic, but more cunning Jordan (though you can argue cunning is a euphemism for cheating in this instance...lol). LeBron will eventually have to become that wily player once his ridiculous athleticism fades. We are seeing that with Kobe at this very moment.
Ideally, we would hope that woman from the beginning would not have had to wait until her physical beauty waned before she became that great all around person, but it is hard when we give the world to her based on how she looks. Same with LeBron. If running over, running past, and jumping over people is what got him a $90 million contract with Nike before any NBA team own his rights, sets him on a pace to challenge Jordan as the greatest ever, gives his teams 60-win seasons, and makes him a global icon (well at least he's trying to be that, but I'm skeptical if he will be), why would he feel like he needs to evolve? The game has given him so much just based on his genes and talents, just as that woman was given everything just based on her looks. He will continue to amaze me, but he still has some work to do to actually impress me (not that he need to impress me though).
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