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  • May 30, 2007 03:56 PM ET

Even if he does not win a champoinship, LeBron James is the best player in the NBA.

JZuck (8-10-0) vs TheDeity (29-4-2)
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Although he has not lived up to the expectations of His Airness, LeBron continues to improve himself and the team around him. His comparisons to Michael Jordan are incorrect. James will never be MJ. A comparison more logical is Magic Johnson because of the way he creates on the floor and gets all his teammates involved. LeBron has taken the Cavs to the playoffs for the second year in a row with very little help around him. There is no chance the Cavs would do any better than an 8 seed without him. He might not lead the league in any category, but LeBron is the most important and best player in the NBA.


LeBron is a good NBA player, but in no way is he the best in the NBA. The Cavaliers would be an average Eastern conference team without him. Take away Steve Nash from the Suns or Dirk from the Mavs and you see them fall into mediocrity in the west. Take Kobe off the Lakers and they will not make the playoffs. I would even say Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan would give James a run for his money as the best in the NBA. If James wants to be the best, he cannot disappear in the fourth quarter as he has thus far throughout his career. I I were starting a franchise, I would rather have a player like Dwayne Wade who is there for all four quarters and has already proven he can take a team on his back and to the championship. James lacks the killer instinct and championship history to compete with the true elite of the NBA.


Dwayne Wade did not carry the team on his back. He had Shaq to lean on and he only won because Dirk and the Mavs choked. Nash and Dirk never won anything when they played together in Dallas. As far as taking either one of them away from their team, I would trade the Suns' or Mavs' roster for the Cavs. The second best player on the Cavs is Larry Hughes. The Suns have Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire. The Mavericks have Josh Howard, Jason Terry, and Devin Harris. Oh yeah, and how did Nowitzki do in Game 6 against the Warriors? Duncan and Garnett's best days are behind them. LeBron is only 22 and he keeps getting better.


You are saying who the best in the NBA is right now, and that certainly is not LeBron James. In five years he may well be the man, but not yet (and I would still take Wade over him five years from now). Wade led a team to the finals over the Pistons and Mavs with an old Shaq and a lackluster supporting cast. Duncan and Garnett's best days may well be behind them, but let's look at the stats. Points:

Kobe has a full 4.3 point per game more than James despite James having more playing time per game. Dirk was just 2.7 points per game fewer than James despite playing five minutes fewer. Garnett was just 4.9 points per game off James's pace despite his age.

Garnett did however finish with the most rebounds per game with 12.8 and Dirk was 22nd with 8.9 per game. James finished 50th with 6.7 and Kobe had just a rebound per game fewer than James and Wade had two per game fewer than James.

Steve Nash obviously led the league with a whooping 11.6 assists per game. However Wade finished 8th. James only averaged six per game which was good enough only to rank just .4 more than "ball hog" Kobe Bryant 1.9 more per game than Garnett and 2.6 more than Dirk, bot of which are PFs


Like I said, LeBron might not lead the league in any category, but he is still the best. Unlike Kobe, LeBron puts his teammates ahead of himself. In terms of rebounding, of course James gets fewer rebounds than Garnett, who is roughly 6'11", and Dirk, who is over 7 feet tall. Nash gets all those assists because he has guys like Marion and Stoudemire who can score when they get the ball. Plus, when they score so many points, of course the point guard will have a lot of assists. The Cavs are a defensive team under coach Mike Brown. They don???t run the floor like the Suns. And there is no way you can tell me that Steve Nash is a better defender than LeBron James. You need defense to win championships. LeBron has just as many titles as Dirk, Garnett, and Nash. You can obviously twist the stats in any way. James averaged more points and rebounds than Steve Nash, more points and assists than Nowitzki, Duncan, and Garnett, and more assists and rebounds than Bryant. The Cavs average over 13 points less a game than the Suns and almost 7 less than the Lakers, so that provides Nash more chances for assists and Bryant more chances to score points.


Sure you can twist stats, but you cannot twist that James has proven himself in the postseason and there is no reason to believe he will. James has come up short in the fourth quarter throughout the duration of his career. Meanwhile Wade, Bryant, Nash, and Duncan continue to thrive during crunch time and I even think that Dirk is more proven in the clutch. James plays on a decent team in a much worse conference than all the other players I have named. All have done more in the post season and the regular season than James. There is no reason to call him the best.

Comments (9) Add A Comment

May 30, 2007  04:08 PM ET
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its not whos Most valuable for there team... its whos the best player

May 30, 2007  04:44 PM ET
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He was the one bringing up the value of James to his team.

May 30, 2007  05:09 PM ET
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Nash, Duncan, and Wade I'd have ahead of LeBron on my list.

May 30, 2007  05:12 PM ET
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What if LeBron does win a championship, does he at least go ahead of Wade because the biggest argument against him is that he doesn't have a championship?

May 30, 2007  06:12 PM ET
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I think that Kobe is the best player in the league. LeBron's ok but i would pick Kobe or Tim Duncan as the best player.

May 30, 2007  06:48 PM ET
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Kobe is the best player in the entire league! u can't stop the man!

May 30, 2007  07:26 PM ET
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"What if LeBron does win a championship, does he at least go ahead of Wade because the biggest argument against him is that he doesn't have a championship?"

That is irrelevent. His basis is that even if LeBron does not win a championship he is the best.

May 31, 2007  12:51 PM ET
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I know what my argument is and I stick by it. I'm just asking that if he does win a championship, do you put him ahead of more people?

 
May 31, 2007  01:38 PM ET
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I'd consider it. He would not make the number one slot though.

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