Is LeBron on Jordan’s level? It’s pretty darned close

Tigers hire longtime assistant
February 19, 2013
Colonels on a roll as SLC Tourny nears
February 19, 2013
Tigers hire longtime assistant
February 19, 2013
Colonels on a roll as SLC Tourny nears
February 19, 2013

Anyone who knows me can vouch for the following fact’s validity: I’m a Grade-A LeBron James hater.


I don’t like the dude – I think he’s arrogant. Seriously, getting “Chosen One” tattooed onto your body at age 17 is a bit much for me.

Calling yourself “King” is also pretty difficult to pull off and a mark of hubris that is hard to rally around.


Attention to my Instagram followers – please do not tell anyone that my username on that social media service is KingCase. Let’s not let my personal hypocrisy stand in the way of my arguments, OK?


Jokes aside, I guess the biggest reason for my dislike of LeBron is that I don’t care for the path he took to get to Miami. I think he took a coward’s way out and chose to build an All-Star team in Miami over the pride of winning a championship in his hometown.

Oh yeah, I also don’t like his goofy looking headband, either. Just shave your head bald and be rid of your headline that is eroding quicker than Louisiana’s coast, bro.


But hatred aside, it’s becoming harder and harder for this hater to deny that the man’s talent is world-class.


LeBron James is on a roll – playing basketball in a way that hasn’t been seen very often in NBA history.

His success is making the question a valid one to ask: Is he better than Michael?


I don’t think so, yet.


But admittedly, it’s pretty damn close!

LeBron is capable of scoring at will against even the best NBA defenses.


Because of his combination of size, strength and athleticism, he has the ability to get to the rim and either finish with authority or be fouled.


Because of his reputation for being an elite scorer for the past decade, he also has the ability to draw a foul without much contact – an art Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant also mastered in their heyday.

James also has refined his outside game so that he can hit perimeter shots when teams play zone defenses to limit his penetration.


When LeBron was a rookie in 2003-04, he was a putrid outside shooter. Since that time, he’s progressively gotten better and better and he’s now a 56 percent shooter from the field and a 42 percent shooter from behind the 3-point line.


That’s scary.

His recent success is like Shaquille O’Neal’s paint dominance combined with Ray Allen’s jump shooting.


AKA, it’s pretty much not fair for opponents.

The natural instinct of anyone capable of scoring 50 points in every game would be to shoot as much as possible.

But after years of losing in Cleveland as the team’s only scorer, James knows that other people need to pitch in for a championship to be won.

In addition to his efficient offense (27 points per game on just 18 shots per game), James is among the most capable passers in the league, averaging seven assists per game.

Sure, even the most selfish player in the NBA could probably get three or four assists a game with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh roaming free. But James makes a concerted effort to get Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem and Shane Battier looks, too.

Those shots pay dividends late in the game when defenses have five sets of eyes on James and it’s physically impossible for him to score the ball.

Instead of being cold and annoyed with a lack of shots, the players are confident and ready to make big plays.

And then there’s the defense.

The reigning MVP has the ability to guard four and a half positions out of the five on the basketball floor.

He can guard point guards, shooting guards, small forwards and power forwards. He muscles the guards and takes them off their rhythm, while showing the quickness to overcome a size gap with the power forwards.

James can also guard most centers in the league, too. That’s mostly because 90 percent of NBA big men are terrible – but he still can guard a center if called to do so.

I believe he’d have a hard time locking down a truly dominant post scorer on the block – but those players are so rare in today’s NBA that it only devalues his ability by a half of a position.

Who are the dominant centers in the NBA in today’s day in age? Dwight Howard? Brook Lopez? None of those players are anywhere close to being considered among the elite post players that performed in the golden age of centers in the 1980s and 1990s.

So with all of these things having been said, it’s not a stupid question to ask anymore – LeBron is inching closer to Jordan when he was at his best.

I know the King has a lot of work to do to approach Michael’s career greatness – that’s not something that can be debated.

One ring versus six rings is a battle that cannot be debated or questioned.

But right now, if LeBron James played MJ at his absolute peak in a 1-on-1 game, I think the outcome would be a lot closer than most think.

It’s hard for me to say this as a life-long hater of the King. But I think he’d prove that he’s more than capable of consideration as one of the most dominant and prolific basketball players to ever play the game.

Even if he’s a chump who stabbed his hometown team in the back.