How many more seasons will Lebron be the best player?

[loco_91]

The thing about LeBron is that he has *never* had a significant injury. At this point it clearly isn't luck-- he is just incredibly durable. I think we may start seeing less regular-season dominance, but he'll be a top-3 playoff performer for 3-5 more years. I say top 3 because Durant and Davis are hot on his heels, already last year it was splitting hairs to say who was better between him and Durant. But that isn't a product of James's decline as much as it is a product of those two's phenomenal talent.

[D.o.s.]

Well, you know who else had a very poor supporting cast? Dwayne Wade in 2010. What a terrible team he had, yet he managed to go for 56% FG, 65% TS 33 points per game against our very own Boston Celtics.

A fair call, and he also led a (honestly pretty bad) Heat team to a championship in only his second or third season while averaging something like 35 PPG in the finals - that was a ridiculous.

I mean take a look at that Miami Heat team - with the exception of Shaq, who (look at his playoffs stats) was a shadow of himself, that team had NOBODY.  It was full of has-beens at the end of their careers (Payton, Mourning, Williams) and mediocre role players (Haslem, Posey, etc). 

That Wade (yes Wade, not Miami - the rest of the team did nothing) beat Dallas to win that title,  (against Dirk Nowitzski in his prime, was an unbelievable feat that has to be right up there with some of the most impressive individual playoff performances of all time.  It's right up there with how impressive it would have been if Lebron beat Golden State.

All the way down to the referees giving his team a pretty egregious helping hand   

[BudweiserCeltic]

Well, you know who else had a very poor supporting cast? Dwayne Wade in 2010. What a terrible team he had, yet he managed to go for 56% FG, 65% TS 33 points per game against our very own Boston Celtics.

A fair call, and he also led a (honestly pretty bad) Heat team to a championship in only his second or third season while averaging something like 35 PPG in the finals - that was a ridiculous.

I mean take a look at that Miami Heat team - with the exception of Shaq, who (look at his playoffs stats) was a shadow of himself, that team had NOBODY.  It was full of has-beens at the end of their careers (Payton, Mourning, Williams) and mediocre role players (Haslem, Posey, etc). 

That Wade (yes Wade, not Miami - the rest of the team did nothing) beat Dallas to win that title,  (against Dirk Nowitzski in his prime, was an unbelievable feat that has to be right up there with some of the most impressive individual playoff performances of all time.  It's right up there with how impressive it would have been if Lebron beat Golden State.

All the way down to the referees giving his team a pretty egregious helping hand   

Well, when we're comparing LeBron and Wade that kinda cancels out on each other lol.

[SHAQATTACK]

Lots of good posts .

Agree with Anthony Davis ....walking into the shoes of the next great player .   One day he'll toy with Howard and James as they are old men in the NBA .

Will be interesting to see ....if. James doesn't win the title next year ......will he stay in Cleveland the next 3-4 years.

I think if he fails in Cleveland next year , he forces his way to new powerful team already in place .  To pick up a couple extra titles.

He'd be set with Anthony Davis ,as his center. .

[Moranis]

Lots of good posts .

Agree with Anthony Davis ....walking into the shoes of the next great player .   One day he'll toy with Howard and James as they are old men in the NBA .

Will be interesting to see ....if. James doesn't win the title next year ......will he stay in Cleveland the next 3-4 years.

I think if he fails in Cleveland next year , he forces his way to new powerful team already in place .  To pick up a couple extra titles.

He'd be set with Anthony Davis ,as his center. .

Lebron James is not leaving Cleveland.  Doesn't matter if he doesn't win, he is not leaving again.  Just won't happen.

[hwangjini_1]

Lots of good posts .

Agree with Anthony Davis ....walking into the shoes of the next great player .   One day he'll toy with Howard and James as they are old men in the NBA .

Will be interesting to see ....if. James doesn't win the title next year ......will he stay in Cleveland the next 3-4 years.

I think if he fails in Cleveland next year , he forces his way to new powerful team already in place .  To pick up a couple extra titles.

He'd be set with Anthony Davis ,as his center. .

Lebron James is not leaving Cleveland.  Doesn't matter if he doesn't win, he is not leaving again.  Just won't happen.

ok, but why not? can you provide some insight as to why he will stay there?

[Donoghus]

Anthony Davis should be by 2018 or so. 

With most players, this is a physical question.  With LeBron, I think it might be more mental.  How is he going to handle the erosion of his abilities?

Mike

This is an excellent point.

[wdleehi]

It really depends on the team they put around him. 



If they add the talent that lets him play less minutes and increase his regular season rest (like Tim Duncan), he could be the best player for the next 4-5 years.


But that would be putting a lot of faith in a front office who have two skills, Lebron is from Cleveland and likes the area and the ability to win the NBA Lotto.

Those things have already passed so I am doubtful they can get it done.

[D.o.s.]

Lots of good posts .

Agree with Anthony Davis ....walking into the shoes of the next great player .   One day he'll toy with Howard and James as they are old men in the NBA .

Will be interesting to see ....if. James doesn't win the title next year ......will he stay in Cleveland the next 3-4 years.

I think if he fails in Cleveland next year , he forces his way to new powerful team already in place .  To pick up a couple extra titles.

He'd be set with Anthony Davis ,as his center. .

Lebron James is not leaving Cleveland.  Doesn't matter if he doesn't win, he is not leaving again.  Just won't happen.

ok, but why not? can you provide some insight as to why he will stay there?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_mentality