Wall Street Journal compares LeBron to Bird

[footey]

James has always struck me as more Magic than Bird.

agreed.

has the ball most of the time like Magic.  Bird touched the ball a lot on offense but wasn't the one bringing it up or initiating plays unlike Lebron and Magic.

Definitely can't shoot like Bird.  Doesn't pass like him either.  Bird was able to find and make the exceptional pass where he caught the opposition napping.  Lebron, though a very gifted athlete and a good passer in his own right, doesn't make those same types of passes.  His passes are more like a PGs type of passes where he draws attention on a drive and lays it off to someone that becomes open due to a double team.

Lebron is Magic on steroids. I don't mean to imply that Lebron takes steroids (I have no idea, and personally believe his strength is God-given), but to me that is the best way to describe him. He can do things athletically that Magic could not.  

Or maybe best to put it this way:  If Magic and Jordan ever produced a kid together (creepy, I know) it would be Lebron!

[liam]

LeBron James is going to be better than Larry Bird.

Maybe someday. Larry Bird was in the top five all time. He was great. For about 5 years he was the best player in the NBA. He raised all his numbers in the playoffs and won 3 championships  before the NBA was watered down. Before the flagrant foul. Before the touch foul. Bird would average like 40 points a game in this NBA. If no one could lay there hands on him and he could travel on every play and carry the ball all the time. Unstoppable. They count assists different now.  If LeBron touches the ball and then another player scores it's an assist.  Lerbron is a poor man's Dr. J.

[wdleehi]

LeBron James is going to be better than Larry Bird.

Maybe someday. Larry Bird was in the top five all time. He was great. For about 5 years he was the best player in the NBA. He raised all his numbers in the playoffs and won 3 championships  before the NBA was watered down. Before the flagrant foul. Before the touch foul. Bird would average like 40 points a game in this NBA. If no one could lay there hands on him and he could travel on every play and carry the ball all the time. Unstoppable. They count assists different now.  If LeBron touches the ball and then another player scores it's an assist.  Lerbron is a poor man's Dr. J.

I think he is already better then Dr. J.

[Donoghus]

Lebron isn't just one guy from the past.  He really is a unique talent and you can relate different aspects of his game to different players such as Magic, Bird, Oscar, and Jordan.

I think when all is said and done and we find ourselves ranking him with the all-time greats, the biggest detriment working against him will be number of rings, that's it.  Championships aside, I expect this guy to be Top 5 and quite possibly Top 3. I know many people like to knock him here but you have to recognize just how talented this guy really is.

[liam]

LeBron James is going to be better than Larry Bird.

Maybe someday. Larry Bird was in the top five all time. He was great. For about 5 years he was the best player in the NBA. He raised all his numbers in the playoffs and won 3 championships  before the NBA was watered down. Before the flagrant foul. Before the touch foul. Bird would average like 40 points a game in this NBA. If no one could lay there hands on him and he could travel on every play and carry the ball all the time. Unstoppable. They count assists different now.  If LeBron touches the ball and then another player scores it's an assist.  Lerbron is a poor man's Dr. J.

I think he is already better then Dr. J.

Dr J was great and his prime was spent in the ABA. DJ could pass rebound and finish like nobody else. If LeBron gets compared to him it's a compliment.

[PLamb]

Does anybody else belong on that list? 

Wilt Chamberlain - he did have these three years in a row of stats

33.5 PPG, 24.6 RPG 5.2 APG
24.1 PPG, 24.2 RPG, 7.8 APG
24.3 PPG, 23.8 RPG, 8.6 APG

I already know the counter argument but Wilt could dish

Others to consider that could score, rebound and dish the ball all at the same time

Fat Lever
Michael Ray Richardson
Jerry West

[Greenbean]

LeBron James is going to be better than Larry Bird.

Maybe someday. Larry Bird was in the top five all time. He was great. For about 5 years he was the best player in the NBA. He raised all his numbers in the playoffs and won 3 championships  before the NBA was watered down. Before the flagrant foul. Before the touch foul. Bird would average like 40 points a game in this NBA. If no one could lay there hands on him and he could travel on every play and carry the ball all the time. Unstoppable. They count assists different now.  If LeBron touches the ball and then another player scores it's an assist.  Lerbron is a poor man's Dr. J.

The best player in the NBA is a poor man's version of Dr. J. I understand hating the guy but come on man. Do you watch basketball.

No disrespect to the Doctor but LeBron affects the game in so many other ways.

Also it is fruitless to say what each player would do in different eras. Keep them in their own eras and compare their skill sets.

For example who was strong enough, fast enough, and big enough to stop LeBron on the fast break in Bird's era. LeBron would put up inflated numbers in Bird's era too considering he is an unstoppable force in an uptempo game. Okay sorry I just did what i said was fruitless.

[Edgar]

Are we looking to change Jerry West Siluethe with lebrons already?

[RAcker]

ohhhhhhh humanity!!!!!

Exactly.

[liam]

LeBron James is going to be better than Larry Bird.

Maybe someday. Larry Bird was in the top five all time. He was great. For about 5 years he was the best player in the NBA. He raised all his numbers in the playoffs and won 3 championships  before the NBA was watered down. Before the flagrant foul. Before the touch foul. Bird would average like 40 points a game in this NBA. If no one could lay there hands on him and he could travel on every play and carry the ball all the time. Unstoppable. They count assists different now.  If LeBron touches the ball and then another player scores it's an assist.  Lerbron is a poor man's Dr. J.

The best player in the NBA is a poor man's version of Dr. J. I understand hating the guy but come on man. Do you watch basketball.

No disrespect to the Doctor but LeBron affects the game in so many other ways.

Also it is fruitless to say what each player would do in different eras. Keep them in their own eras and compare their skill sets.

For example who was strong enough, fast enough, and big enough to stop LeBron on the fast break in Bird's era. LeBron would put up inflated numbers in Bird's era too considering he is an unstoppable force in an uptempo game. Okay sorry I just did what i said was fruitless.

A couple of clotheslines might have slowed LeBron down. He wouldn't have been getting these touch fouls. LeBrons carries and crab dribbles would also not be aloud. Yeah I watch all the games Lebron is a great player playing in a watered down protect the stars with calls game. In the 80's Basketball was still a man's game.  Do you see the way LeBron winner's when anyone touches him or if he doesn't get a call. I think Charles Oakley and A. Mason and Carl Malone and Moses Malone and Dennis Rodman and Lambear among others might have put "The King" on his back a few times and discouraged his driving the lane.

[wdleehi]

LeBron James is going to be better than Larry Bird.

Maybe someday. Larry Bird was in the top five all time. He was great. For about 5 years he was the best player in the NBA. He raised all his numbers in the playoffs and won 3 championships  before the NBA was watered down. Before the flagrant foul. Before the touch foul. Bird would average like 40 points a game in this NBA. If no one could lay there hands on him and he could travel on every play and carry the ball all the time. Unstoppable. They count assists different now.  If LeBron touches the ball and then another player scores it's an assist.  Lerbron is a poor man's Dr. J.

The best player in the NBA is a poor man's version of Dr. J. I understand hating the guy but come on man. Do you watch basketball.

No disrespect to the Doctor but LeBron affects the game in so many other ways.

Also it is fruitless to say what each player would do in different eras. Keep them in their own eras and compare their skill sets.

For example who was strong enough, fast enough, and big enough to stop LeBron on the fast break in Bird's era. LeBron would put up inflated numbers in Bird's era too considering he is an unstoppable force in an uptempo game. Okay sorry I just did what i said was fruitless.

A couple of clotheslines might have slowed LeBron down. He wouldn't have been getting these touch fouls. LeBrons carries and crab dribbles would also not be aloud. Yeah I watch all the games Lebron is a great player playing in a watered down protect the stars with calls game. In the 80's Basketball was still a man's game.  Do you see the way LeBron winner's when anyone touches him or if he doesn't get a call. I think Charles Oakley and A. Mason and Carl Malone and Moses Malone and Dennis Rodman and Lambear among others might have put "The King" on his back a few times and discouraged his driving the lane.

Players can only play based on the rules in place at the time they play.


Do you think Lebron, with his physical gifts, couldn't handle the more physical play that once took place?


I would be interested in seeing how great a defender he could have been if he was allowed to be more physcical.

[BballTim]

I think if Lebron had the quality teammates that Bird had, Lebron would double his assists numbers as well as double his scoring numbers.

  Completely disgree with this. Put James on a team with great scorers and he'll score less, just like the big three all scored less when put on the same team. Put James on a team with better/more intellegent players and his assists will drop because, aside from having the ball less, his teammates will make the extra pass and not just shoot the ball when they get it. When the Celts were going to the finals the others in the top 8 averaged about 21 assists a game. LeBron's teammates get around 14. I'd expect LeBron to lose at least 2-3 assists a game playing with similar players.

[dlpin]

Lebron is the best at what he does, which is using his athleticism to beat his man off the dribble and penetrating. He might even be better at that than Jordan, given his size and strength.

The problem with Lebron, though, is that he is a worse all around player than Jordan and, currently, even Bird. His 45% eFG% on jump shots is terrible (compare it to Pierce's 51.5%), he shoots less than 40% on the long 2, and his 35% 3fg is not good for someone who attempts 5 3s a game.

Now, those numbers are relatively reasonable when compared to other good players of today, but when the talk is "best of all time" or "top 5 of all time," those numbers point to significant limitations in his game.

So until he gets a jumpshot or a post game, I wouldn't compare him to Bird or Magic, much less to Jordan. His multiple playoff failures show that. He can get there, but its not a given.

[Donoghus]

Lebron is the best at what he does, which is using his athleticism to beat his man off the dribble and penetrating. He might even be better at that than Jordan, given his size and strength.

The problem with Lebron, though, is that he is a worse all around player than Jordan and, currently, even Bird. His 45% eFG% on jump shots is terrible (compare it to Pierce's 51.5%), he shoots less than 40% on the long 2, and his 35% 3fg is not good for someone who attempts 5 3s a game.

Now, those numbers are relatively reasonable when compared to other good players of today, but when the talk is "best of all time" or "top 5 of all time," those numbers point to significant limitations in his game.

So until he gets a jumpshot or a post game, I wouldn't compare him to Bird or Magic, much less to Jordan. His multiple playoff failures show that. He can get there, but its not a given.

He's still awfully young and it wasn't like Jordan had it right away, either.  There were plenty of playoff failures for Jordan before '90-91 and his game definitely changed as his career progressed.  The Jordan of the nineties was a more complete and refined player than the Jordan of the '80s.

Much like Jordan, I think LBJ will get that jumper down as he progresses in his career.  I don't think he'll have the 6 rings but we certainly haven't seen his ceiling as a player. 

[dlpin]

Lebron is the best at what he does, which is using his athleticism to beat his man off the dribble and penetrating. He might even be better at that than Jordan, given his size and strength.

The problem with Lebron, though, is that he is a worse all around player than Jordan and, currently, even Bird. His 45% eFG% on jump shots is terrible (compare it to Pierce's 51.5%), he shoots less than 40% on the long 2, and his 35% 3fg is not good for someone who attempts 5 3s a game.

Now, those numbers are relatively reasonable when compared to other good players of today, but when the talk is "best of all time" or "top 5 of all time," those numbers point to significant limitations in his game.

So until he gets a jumpshot or a post game, I wouldn't compare him to Bird or Magic, much less to Jordan. His multiple playoff failures show that. He can get there, but its not a given.

He's still awfully young and it wasn't like Jordan had it right away, either.  There were plenty of playoff failures for Jordan before '90-91 and his game definitely changed as his career progressed.  The Jordan of the nineties was a more complete and refined player than the Jordan of the '80s.

Much like Jordan, I think LBJ will get that jumper down as he progresses in his career.  I don't think he'll have the 6 rings but we certainly haven't seen his ceiling as a player. 

While Jordan's jumper wasn't as good early on as it was later on, nevertheless it was better than Lebron's from the start.

And I don't think Lebron's getting better is a given in any way.