Lebron is the best player in the game.
He has become just about impossible to guard with his combination of size, speed, shooting (an improving aspect) and vision to hit the open man with a pass.
And once he decided to play defense, he has become probably the best defensive SF in the NBA, because of his size and speed.
Lebron is ether bigger then his man or faster then his man or (most likely) bigger and faster then his man.
Kobe is still number 2.
Wade, Melo and Durrant are the next class below. Durrant has the best chance of jumping up if he ever decided to play defense.
If most games were called on a even playing field(correctly)Lebron wouldn't be as productive offensively...in the 70's,80's Lebron wouldn't be close to the success he's had so far today.I feel he is in a era of players with less talented players,and defense is not top priority to most teams.I think Melo,Durant,Wade,Pierce and a few others would be more successful than James in a different era of players because of their natural ability without aid from bias officiating.
So your saying an era where Lebron will be even bigger and faster by comparision to other SFs and he is allowed to be more physical on defense is a bad thing for him?
He (much like the scorers of that era) would be able to adjust to the more physical play. He has more then enough size to deal with that.
He would still be bigger. He would still be faster. And he would still have the improving shot and good vision.
It is a guy like Wade that would have problems. He would have been injured even more.
Im saying he wouldn't be coming thru the paint as often,and as successful...he would have developed an outside game quicker than he did in this era.I have heard retired players like Mahorn,Pippens,Lambeire on different NBA talk shows make reference to if Lebron was playing in their day,with quotes like he would be fresh meat(laughing).There were more physical players per team in those days to either shut him down or make him think twice about coming thru the paint.
Is it that he is much better than other players or is some of his success from the way the game is being called these days?...todays officiating has some to do with his success.
I still feel Melo would win 6 out 10 games head to head aganist Lebron and Melo is a better NBA player than James.
Why would Lebron stop attacking the basket? He is still physically bigger then the man defending him. Heck, he is probably bigger and stronger then some of the PF back then.
And in a deeper NBA, he would have better talent around him making it harder to double him all the time, especially with his talent to see and pass the ball.
And by what measure do you use to say Melo is better?
James has better numbers
James plays better defense.
James has been further in the playoff and has had his team being a true contender for a longer time.
Apparently you aren't old enough to appreciate the types of defense played in those past eras.If you were an NBA fan(adult)in those days i don't think you would be asking these questions.I see you keep repeating Lebron's size/strength,whereas there were players in the 70's,80's able to slow him down.I would bet money Lebron would have thought twice before driving to the basket like he does in this present day NBA.
As far as Melo vs Lebron...my measuring stick is mostly eyeball.Although James might be leading in scoring,assists,rebounds,their stats are probably close in most categories,depending on the week.I do not keep up with stats regularly but i think Melo is close in points.As far as defense,Melo has stepped his defense up this season just as James has.Whenever a team's primetime scorer plays the Nuggets,i see Melo taking on the responsibility of playing one on one defense on him,like James does.Melo has been just as successful as James playing guys like Kobe,Wade.Playoff wise,Lebron has had better players around him until this past season.In the past i say Lebron was better because Melo was going through some maturity issues besides playing with a lot of scrubs,but we are rating them today.Melo is a more complete player today than he was a few seasons ago.Prior to Billups showing up in Denver,he did shoot the ball to much and didn't include his team mates enough.It could be the players around him wasn't that good at the time.The only player i can remember in Denver that was any good(pre-Billups)was AI.
I look at the intanglables what both players bring to the table as well...they both are doing the little things for their teams that don't show up in the stat sheets night after night.I don't see Lebron running away with anything in this case either.
Remember,right before Melo went down with injuries several months ago,he was the leading candidate for MVP.When he returned the media had jumped on the Lebron banwagon for MVP...But Melo has regained his high level of play,like he never left,but the media seems to want Lebron to win no matter what.