The greatness of LeBron

How great is LeBron?

He makes Cleveland think it can win it all.

 

He is a tremendous player who'll almost certainly finish his career ranked among the 5-10 best of all-time. Where in that list he'll finish is still up to the future to decide.
Fair or unfair (unfair to Jerry West, certainly, but not to Wilt), titles end up casting a deciding vote in those ratings.

 

It was phenomenal. They had switched over from the Blackhawks game at my local BW3, and after Turkoglu hits his shot, I said to my companions: "If he wants to be great, it has to start here."

A few seconds later, he drills it.

The entire bar went nucking futs.

 

After he hit, everyone in my office was discussing whether or not this would be his "shot".

If they win the title this year, it will definitely be a shot that goes into his lore.

Talking to a buddy the other day and I think LeBron is one of those athletes - kind of like Pedro in the late '90s - where you never know what he will do each game.

I remember every time Pedro pitched I would check the boxscore to see how many he had struck out. The same thing goes for me with LeBron.

 

Sometimes I wonder if he would have the stones to play in the West, though.

 

^Ha.

The shot was amazing. It looked good as soon as the ball left his hands.

 

It all depends on how many titles he wins. He's great enough in his skill set, that, if the titles come, the only question left will be if he's No. 1 or No. 2.

 

You mean it didn't start two years ago in Game 7 of the Eastern Finals when he had perhaps the greatest fourth quarter ever to singlehandedly carry the Cavs to the franchise's first ever finals? Damn, you're a tough judge. I thought this guy's greatness trek was waay past started by now.

 

It actually starts when he signs with the Bulls.

 

Anyhoo, there's nothing about him I don't love, starting with his personality, then his work ethic.

He had some deficiencies but, from what I read in an article about him, busted his balls last summer to correct them i.e. changing the angle of his arm for jumpshots while also committing to play interior defense. The other thing is, as the article mentioned, he's just now acquiring his man strength. Most of what he did before was the raw man-child talent. Now he's all man and just getting bigger, stronger, faster.

He's a sexy beast.

If they win it this year, he'll stay in Cleveland. Hell, even if they don't he might. They built him a state-of-the-art practice facility near the arena, and the organization is doing the little things to win his heart and mind.

But I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the Knicks in '10. Maybe the Knicks go for it all in 2010 by signing LeBron and Wade, although I think the Lakers will go after Wade.

 

Whether the Cavs win it all this year or not, I have no doubt LeBron will never hit the market in 2010. He'll sign a max extension before the start of the 09-10 season and end up playing his entire career in Cleveland.

The only problem with that is TSP will have one less thing to whine "these things only happen in Cleveland" about. ;D