What will happen when LeBron gets old?

[CelticConcourse]

He'll age eventually, how will he turn out? Wade's already gettin' old and his game is dropping off a bit (still HOF-worthy). Kobe, Duncan, Pierce have kept their games up. KG, Manu, their games have dropped a bit.

Will LeBron have to change his style of play? He won't be a "winner" forever... how will he have to adapt?

It's safe to say he won't be averaging 27/7/7 forever.

[wdleehi]

He plays less and less SF, more and more PF.

[Celtics4ever]

If he ever got back problems I could see him career being over.   He relies less on guile and more on his natural talent.  I think he would struggle but he is a good passer so I could see that improving but every other part of his game would decline.

[LarBrd33]

He's highly skilled and very big.  Barring injury, I could see the guy playing well into his late 30s as a post player.  The dude has the body of Karl Malone, but he's far more gifted than Malone ever was.

[LarBrd33]

If he ever got back problems I could see him career being over.   

I'd just like to add to this... if LeBron ever has a career-ending injury, I could see his career being over. 

[CelticConcourse]

If he ever got back problems I could see him career being over.   

I'd just like to add to this... if LeBron ever has a career-ending injury, I could see his career being over.

If this post is correct, I could see this post being correct. 

[PhoSita]

He plays less and less SF, more and more PF.

This.

Barring major injury or precipitous physical breakdown due to steroid use (cough cough), LeBron should be a dominant player well into his mid-30s.

[Boris Badenov]

He plays less and less SF, more and more PF.

Makes sense.

As a PF he is built like Malone but has the shooting and passing abilities more comparable to Bird (who was nominally an SF but would be a 4 in today's game). He would be lethal either posting in mid-range like the Mailman used to do, or playing more on the perimeter like Bird did (though Bird posted up a lot too from that area).

Scary. His "late career adjustment" could leave him comparable to or better than some other all-time greats.

[Eja117]

He'll retire and unretire about 5 times ala Brett Favre and David Stern will send him a nice note each time

[Celtics4ever]

As a PF he is built like Malone but has the shooting and passing abilities more comparable to Bird (who was nominally an SF but would be a 4 in today's game).

Bird was a much better shooter than LeBron.  You have drank the NBA kool-aid.   We all know LeBron wins the three point shooting contest every year.

Consider the amount of dunks he takes that vastly inflate his shooting % and what you have left is an average jumpshooter to slightly above average.   I would not consider him a marksman like Bird.

[Boris Badenov]

As a PF he is built like Malone but has the shooting and passing abilities more comparable to Bird (who was nominally an SF but would be a 4 in today's game).

Bird was a much better shooter than LeBron.  You have drank the NBA kool-aid.   We all know LeBron wins the three point shooting contest every year.

Consider the amount of dunks he takes that vastly inflate his shooting % and what you have left is an average jumpshooter to slightly above average.   I would not consider him a marksman like Bird.

No, I never said they were equal, I said Lebron's shooting (and passing) is "more comparable" to Bird's than Malone's. Bird was a much better shooter than Lebron is currently. Bird was also much more fluid as a ball-handler and passer than Lebron will ever be, I would guess.

However, Lebron has gotten better as a shooter. He was 41% from 3 this year, on volume comparable to what Bird shot (~3 per game). Bird shot a little better than that during his peak, but not much. My point was just that Mailman never had that kind of range.

[LarBrd33]

As a PF he is built like Malone but has the shooting and passing abilities more comparable to Bird (who was nominally an SF but would be a 4 in today's game).

Bird was a much better shooter than LeBron.  You have drank the NBA kool-aid.   We all know LeBron wins the three point shooting contest every year.

Consider the amount of dunks he takes that vastly inflate his shooting % and what you have left is an average jumpshooter to slightly above average.   I would not consider him a marksman like Bird.

Hold onto your lunch, folks...

It's fair to compare LeBron with Bird.

Bird's best season in 1988:
29.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.8 blocks  53%/41%/92% ... 1.3 three per game.   

Bird's Career averages:
24.3 points, 10 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.8 blocks ... 50%/38%/89%  0.7 threes per game

LeBron this season:

27 points, 8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.9 blocks   57%/41%/75% .... 1.4 threes per game

Even before LeBron won the title last year, Bird himself said LeBron was "BY FAR" the best player in the league.  He said he would have rather played with Kobe, because Kobe was a winner... but you gotta imagine that's changed as LeBron has proven to be capable of winning:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAEiIdQwX50

[BballTim]

He's highly skilled and very big.  Barring injury, I could see the guy playing well into his late 30s as a post player.  The dude has the body of Karl Malone, but he's far more gifted than Malone ever was.

  If you took away LeBron's ability to drive then he wouldn't be the scorer that Malone was. I don't know that his game will hold up as well.

[Eddie20]

As a PF he is built like Malone but has the shooting and passing abilities more comparable to Bird (who was nominally an SF but would be a 4 in today's game).

Bird was a much better shooter than LeBron.  You have drank the NBA kool-aid.   We all know LeBron wins the three point shooting contest every year.

Consider the amount of dunks he takes that vastly inflate his shooting % and what you have left is an average jumpshooter to slightly above average.   I would not consider him a marksman like Bird.

No, I never said they were equal, I said Lebron's shooting (and passing) is "more comparable" to Bird's than Malone's. Bird was a much better shooter than Lebron is currently. Bird was also much more fluid as a ball-handler and passer than Lebron will ever be, I would guess.

However, Lebron has gotten better as a shooter. He was 41% from 3 this year, on volume comparable to what Bird shot (~3 per game). Bird shot a little better than that during his peak, but not much. My point was just that Mailman never had that kind of range.

I don't think James is a better shooter than Malone. He may have more range, but he isn't a better shooter. People probably forget just how dangerous Malone was in pick and pops with Stockton.

[BballTim]

As a PF he is built like Malone but has the shooting and passing abilities more comparable to Bird (who was nominally an SF but would be a 4 in today's game).

Bird was a much better shooter than LeBron.  You have drank the NBA kool-aid.   We all know LeBron wins the three point shooting contest every year.

Consider the amount of dunks he takes that vastly inflate his shooting % and what you have left is an average jumpshooter to slightly above average.   I would not consider him a marksman like Bird.

Hold onto your lunch, folks...

It's fair to compare LeBron with Bird.

Bird's best season in 1988:
29.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.8 blocks  53%/41%/92% ... 1.3 three per game.   

Bird's Career averages:
24.3 points, 10 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.8 blocks ... 50%/38%/89%  0.7 threes per game

LeBron this season:

27 points, 8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.9 blocks   57%/41%/75% .... 1.4 threes per game

  It's fair to compare LeBron's stats to Bird's but not his shooting. I would imagine the bulk of the people who saw Bird play would agree with that. Would you compare LeBron's shooting with the likes of Nash and Ray Allen? Because that's the group Bird is in.