I wrote this after Game 4 about LBJ but forgot to hit enter. I only added one sentence. . .

First off the last paragraph is ridiculous. Second he’s not Jordan he’s Magic if anything because he’s not a scorer he’s basically a point guard.  This is where everyone is off because he’s a natural basketball player not a guy that looks to score but a guy that make’s the basketball play.  Unfortuntely he’s has a guy on his team that only can score for the most part and no one wants to bring that up.  There’s a reason Wade didn’t win without Shaq; he doesn’t draw double teams, look to pass(unless he has too), or make the basketball play, he does what he knows best and try to score. Which works unless your playing in the finals and they key on someone else(which they are and if he averages what he did last finals this series would be over) doesn’t help.  It’ll go down to 7 but were expecting MJ and we should appreciate the closest to Magic(the first LeBron) that well ever get.

First off the last paragraph is ridiculous. Second he’s not Jordan he’s Magic if anything because he’s not a scorer he’s basically a point guard.  This is where everyone is off because he’s a natural basketball player not a guy that looks to score but a guy that make’s the basketball play.  Unfortuntely he’s has a guy on his team that only can score for the most part and no one wants to bring that up.  There’s a reason Wade didn’t win without Shaq; he doesn’t draw double teams, look to pass(unless he has too), or make the basketball play, he does what he knows best and try to score. Which works unless your playing in the finals and they key on someone else(which they are and if he averages what he did last finals this series would be over) doesn’t help.  It’ll go down to 7 but were expecting MJ and we should appreciate the closest to Magic(the first LeBron) that well ever get.

Very insightful. I never thought about it that way.

In my mind, he’ll won’t reach Jordan status even if he develops a jump shot.

It’s his mentality that needs to change and like you said, maybe he never really has needed to develop that mentality because of all the people kneeling at his feet.

Jordan wouldn’t let a an off-court issue affect his game. Does anyone remember how he performed the game after his father tragically died? And that’s his father not a rumor about his girlfriend.

I know that something like that could way heavy on a player, but this is the FINALS you have to leave all of that stuff behind when you step on the court and you need to perform.

People say he isn’t MJ he is Magic. My question to them is really??? I think folks need to check Magic’s resume.

well jordon was able to avrage 8 apg in the nba so he is kind of like lebron … Magic was more of PG then lebron where as jordon and lebron are scorers that can pass the ball really well

I understand people think he is a scorer but he truely isn’t. He always makes the true basketball play, look at the olympics.  He will always be a basketball player first and scorer second.  Thats the thing that makes us so interested in him.  He doesn’t look at stats he truely looks at wins and losses.  I know some people will never aknowledge it but it’s true. If he wanted to be the man he would have stuck it out in Cleveland.  He wants to win and will figure it out until he does. 

People need to consider that they could win it with Anthony(one of the worst players in NBA) and Bibby(who no one wanted is why he became a free agent) in there starting lineup as well as Illguskuas(spelling?).

To add to your post, I’m starting to think he’s content with being great but it seems like he doesn’t have that killer instinct to be the best. He came into the league with a huge hype to live up to and he almost surpassed it for his first couple of years, making it to the finals and he even created a bigger hype for his future. We thought he would only improve and win multiple championships; but I didn’t see his game improve as much as I thought it would.

It seems like he’s not practicing enough or practicing the right stuff. His jumpshot sucked when he came into the league and he’s still not a great, confident shooter. He hasn’t developed any low post moves, or any moves period, no one-on-one dribble moves or anything. He’s probably the most talented basketball player ever and his physical talent allows him to get rebounds, assists, lay-ups, dunks, alley oops, blocks, steals…but he stuggles when it comes down to skills, something that’s practiced over and over by repition.

Because he’s always been the best player, and his peers have always told him he was the best player so his drive is no where near Jordans, who was cut his Sophomore year by his high school coach, and didn’t have a huge hype coming into the league. So I think you’re onto something "TheFaction…" 

The biggest knock against him as a player is that he can’t close down the stretch or games and folds under pressure. My theory is that closers, or clutch players are the best players at taking their opponent one-on-one with moves and are able to knock down jumpers. Guys like Kobe, Paul Peirce, Wade, Jordan, Dirk; and they’re confident in their abilities because they’ve practiced that move over and over in the gym. LeBron has no confidence in any particular move to go to and isn’t confident in his shot. It makes me think he’s not practicing enough or practicing the right thing.

I just don’t see the drive in LeBron like I do with other great closers. If I was him I would work on a one-on-one move over and over until I felt confident to use it every time in late game situations…then I would hire the best shooting coach in the world to become a great shooter, and put the time in at the gym.

cant say he is NOT a scorer, anyone who averages 29ppg in a season….if thats not a scorer, I’d hate to see what is.  what he is…is an unselfish player, a multi-dimensional player….but he does not have the scoring mindset  or ability of Jordan or Kobe….and although unselfish, he is not the playmaker that Magic was, he is somewhere between all of them…so why are we comparing him to them anyway???  Staying in Cleveland wasnt going to make him the man, his learning curve had reached its peak there….he can learn to be a better player with the Heat…but I still say the last 2 places I wouldve signed with wouldve been Cleveland and Miami.

this guy’s main problem is…like it or not…he went to a team that has a ball dominant scorer who is very close to him talent wise in Wade.   Most people thought Beasley sucked and I know that is not the case….I doubt if Beasley would ever avg over 20ppg on the same team as Wade.  D-Wade is a dominant scorer who needs the ball in his hands.  We are starting to see that Durant is not as assertive as his high scoring avg in the reg season would suggest either.  I think we need to really realize that despite Lebron leading them in most statistics…this is D-Wade’s team, NOT his. 

I sorta kinda see where you are coming from with the drive….but IMO, I think its his personality.  Jordan, Kobe, Magic, and…..D-Wade…they have different personalities, they are killers.  Someone here said he was not Jordan, he was Pippen, at first I was like nah….but now I see….he really is.  Skillwise and physically tooled he has Jordan like talent….mentality wise he is Pippen.  Pippen although a great player is mentally like Lebron as opposed to the others mentioned.   I think maybe Durant is like this too….he is passive while Westbrook is aggressive and firery.   Personality is not really something you can change….only to a certain degree…like if you have a shy kid, they can break out of their shyness but their personality will never reach the level to where they are the most wittiest or charasmatic…or even flamboyant.   Some people are afraid to be "wrong" therefore they are only content to go as far as their confidence will take them.  To sum it all up, Lebron is not a "killer", at least not yet.

There was only one Wilt, one Magic, one Larry, one MJ. There is only one LeBron.

But, after 8 years we still don’t know who
that is. A great talent. But who is he like? Those other guys are some of the best ever. But they each gave us another player down the
line. Wilt gave us Shaq. Dirk is pretty close to Larry Legend. Dirk is Bird without the assists but with more dunks. Without the steals but with more blocks. MJ gave us Kobe. Is LeBron the next Magic? The next Scottie? Or even what we thought Grant Hill should have been? I think LeBron wants to be The Greatest Ever. But to him it means the greatest passer, showtime guy, and all-around player. But more of a Harlem Globetrotter than a lone assassin. He is chasing Magic not MJ. But Magic had Kareem. And Worthy.

Who is he like? He comes close to being the guy we wanted Penny to be. Great passer, ball handler, athlete, icon, who could also score. Or he is the guy we all wanted Lamar Odom to be. A point guard in a power forward’s body who played small forward and could do it all.What about some other guys? He is somewhat a combination of a prime Shawn Kemp (athletecism, power, slashing dunks, blocks, rebounds, lacking a refined post game, not very clutch, but always the most talented and gifted guy on the court) and a young, pre-injury Grant Hill (could score, pass, handle the ball, rebound, get to the line, a go-to guy, could really score, marketable, but not a great shooter, and lacked a killer instinct).

Never saw Oscar Robertson play but I think that might be a good comparison. Best player all-around. Great size. Could score. A walking triple double threat. But couldn’t do it by himself. Only won one title with Kareem’s help. … Or Elgin Baylor. The original high flyer. The original MJ who even came before Dr. J. But he never won a ring. Great stats but maybe he was missing something.

 ^^I totally get what you’re saying and I agree, and you actually proved my point. You said later in your post, it’s also about confidence and being afraid of being "wrong;" and confidence comes from practice and repition, if you practice your skills over and over it’s almost impossible not to have confidence; he doesn’t have a move, or jumper that he can go to.

It’s not necessarily an individual (DNA) trate that some people have and some people don’t…You can relate practice and repition = confidence to any real life metaphor.

Guys that are shy talking to girls aren’t confident can improve their confidence with practice and repition. 

 I havent forgotten all the negatives i recieved for calling him Scottie Pippen version 2.0, and now that comparison is starting to look validated. And whoever said something about jordan never letting things off court distract him i agree with as wel. Same for Kobe coming from court in denver and showing up during the game and DOMINATING are the kind of differences between the killers and the guys who are content as just being great.