re: Where would you rank LBJ on the all time List Right Now??

Wilt is the worst version of my problem with Shaq and Kobe combined. He couldve been so much more. He played basketball like it was a video game. YouTube some of his free throws. He gave less than a shite about improving them.

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No lower than 2. He may not be the "GREATEST", but he's probably the "BEST"

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Top 10

What order would you rank these guys if you we're starting a franchise and had to choose from this list? Make a big board. You must account for their whole career. Jordan takes two years off, Shaq gets fat, Magic gets HIV, etc...

Top 80 today.

James is #2.

46 or 47

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And it's not even close

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You're one of the few level headed posters around here lol, so i'll assume you agree with this: Lebron's 1st 10 years, the only other person you can argue had a better 10 year run is MJ, correct?

If you agree to that, what more do we need to see, 10 years seems like plenty, no?

Magic only played 12 years total(then the comeback year for his 13th), so where do you have Magic ranked? And if Lebron plays 2 more normal Lebron years, does he then vault above wherever you have Magic and into your top 3 or wherever? If so, then I can't argue because you'd be consistent.

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That's an interesting question and certainly a valid one in regards to this thread. I want to say how much I've come to despise this type of question on current NBA players, or at least until the narrative on their career is a little more shaped, a la KG,etc.

LeBron has had as an impressive start as anyone just like you said, but even with 2 more years I hesitate and putting him in the top 3 or wherever Magic is. As much as I hate to say it, it feels like championship basketball does factor in somehow. Simmons alluded this in his "Secret of Basketball" theory and illustrated it in his Pyramid of HOFers.

I'd sit and look at a 12 year LeBron career and marvel at it, then ask myself: "Is he better than Wilt?" which is becoming a player he is compared to. At that point I'd feel like he is just behind Wilt.

bringing up Magic is a really great way to counter-attack for the pro-LeBron arguement (not that I think that's your agenda). Magic, somewhat fittingly, gets a lot of passes. It's assumed he essentially lost 5 years of his career(and we can't really count the mini-comeback, although impressive) and since he was a point guard, he gets a pass on being a sub-par shooter, but he was developing his shot more as he got older. Then look at Kareem, the older I get, the more I think he is underrated. The guy was fricking unstoppable pretty much his entire career.

I don't know if I could put LeBron ahead of those three with 2 titles and say 5 MVPs through year 12. He's right there, I just don't know yet.

I would rank him ahead of Moses, Larry (another shortened career) and Shaq (only because Shaq left so much on the table) at that point. I leave off Duncan and Kobe because they are still in play..or at least in theory they are.

I think what I mostly waiting for is to see what happens after "the change". When his game becomes more grounded, will he still be AS dominant (I think he will be dominant). Its really what keeps me interested in him. I see him playing a lot like that mini-comeback Magic with a little Karl Malone in him. Then I think the narrative comes into focus(that and we know where he is playing in two years, who is teammates are, etc.)

ETA: A guy I know said when talking LeBron (and he's pro-LeBron) he almost wishes that after the Heat (assuming they) three peat, that he'd take a year and half off, just to prove to the world that he could do it. I almost think that's a good idea

ETAA: just because you were the other thread, shel, I think Marc Gasol got either screwed out of first team all-NBA or Duncan was way ahead of him. The difference was like seven first place votes.
Assuming the media in certain regions of the country voted a certain way, Dwight got the west coast votes. There were SEVEN (first place)votes for Brook Lopez and ONE for Tyson fricking Chandler this year. I'd like to see where those votes came from. I assume Marc got shafted out of those votes, because he played something like 700 more mintues than Duncan AND basically through an abdominal tear, which is pretty much forgotten.

Shaq is my all time favorite basketball player and is the most dominate player ever, but not number one.

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He's number 2. Just watch the man play. U tell if he's the best by watching him play. There's two guys in a class by themselves. MJ and LBJ. And it's not even close

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LeBron has 1 title in 3 appearances. How can you justify putting him at #2?