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LeBron James: The obvious Air Apparent |
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 (for GRAPHIC Jan. 17, 05)
by Krip Yuson
As I write this, about a fortnight before this issue comes out, the teen-age
phenom LeBron James still has to record his first triple-double in the NBA. No
doubt it will come soon, sometime this season, to put him in the history books
as the youngest ever player to record the feat.
A couple of games ago he nearly did it, posting just a rebound shy, and only
because in one or two instances he and teammate Drew Gooden, a monster off the
glass, actually competed for the carom, and lost the ball.
It’ll come. Already the kid ranks 5th in scoring and 7th in assists, and if he
crashes the boards more, the well-built, 6’9” pro straight out of high school
should register triple-doubles with regularity.
One gets the feeling that LeBron, super-nice kid, still defers a lot to his
teammates. He loves to pass, for one, and does it with great skill, court
vision, and a superlative sense of the game. His basketball IQ had been of the
first water long before he attracted scouts, and television sports channels, to
his performance with an unheralded high-school varsity team in Ohio.
With his selection as the first draft pick last season, appropriately enough by
the Cleveland Cavaliers, the long languishing team has been transformed into a
winner. A more dramatic turnaround could have been achieved in LBJ’s rookie year
had starting point guard Jeff McGinnis not suffered an injury at the
homestretch, preventing the Cavs from joining the playoff picture.
This season there’s no doubting that LeBron will lead his wine-and-gold
jersey-mates deep into the playoffs, in fact even contend for the conference
title. Presently the Cavs rank second only to the Shaq-led Miami Heat, although
I imagine that the defending champs, the Detroit Pistons, will eventually make
another strong bid once they get their defensive game going after a poor start.
The Indiana Pacers too will be in the thick of it, especially if NBA
Commissioner David Stern applies the hand of mercy and cuts Ron Artest’s
season-long suspension short.
These four teams should figure in the Eastern Division semis. Well, the New
Jersey Nets might also make a run for it, once the regular triple-double
performer Jason Kidd gets his shot back, and if the erstwhile “Air Canada,”
Vince Carter who was recently traded from Toronto per his wish, stays healthy.
In the relatively stronger Western Conference, my money’s on the San Antonio
Spurs, despite the remarkable starts enjoyed by the Phoenix Suns and Seattle
Sonics. The Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks ought to make it a tight
finish, but count out the Lakers, which will need more than Kobe Bryant’s
do-it-all tendencies.
My dream finals would be a Spurs-Cavs match-up. I like both teams, but would of
course root for the underdog newcomers. But that scenario, assuming the Cavs can
get past the Pistons or Pacers, let alone the Heat, would be based on too much
wishful thinking for LeBron & Co. Reaching the conference semis would be enough
of an achievement for the year. One or two more good or lucky trades to boost
the present roster, and a continuously maturing and improving LeBron James,
should make the Cavs
a title contender soon enough.
At present, one can’t say that LeBron is the league’s best or most valuable
player. Other monsters that still outrank him would include the top four
scorers: Allan Iverson, Kobe, Dirk Nowitski and Amare Stoudemire. Then there’s
Shaq and the entirely reliable Tim Duncan, especially in terms of over-all value
to the team. But LBJ would now rank among the top ten players this season.
Suffice it to say that given a few more years, his star will shine even more
brilliantly and establish him as the Air Apparent to the greatest ever so far,
Michael Jordan.
The comebacking Grant Hill used to be touted as MJ’s second coming, but that was
before his knees turned suspect. Then all eyes turned on Carter, who was quickly
billed as “half-man, half-amazing” for his aerial derring-do. But Vince has also
been often hampered by injuries.
Besides, he never did pick up much on the assists and defense departments.
Kobe Bryant still bids fair to be the greatest ever after No. 23, but there’s
something errant in his personality, even before the disastrous rape charge
against him, that should rule out any further ascension. Kobe’s a great player,
and might even get better, but he pouts, crows after a marvel of a move, tangles
with teammates and coaches. And we can’t
have a dysfunctional superstar taking over MJ’s place in our hearts, minds and
stat sheets.
LeBron James not only has the moves, the incredibly soaring, scoring prowess,
inclusive of a steadily improving long-range touch. He has the teammanship, the
leadership, the quickness and grace, the power, the all-court vision, etc. More
than all of these, he also strikes us as having great good karma.
Ever modest, apparently entirely centered, this kid who turns 20 soon may well
become the greatest ever in the post-Jordan era. The question is how many
championship rings he’ll acquire before he’s pronounced the lord and master of
the (I love this) game.
**************************************************
Published in Gutom.org with permission from Krip Yuson
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Posted on Tuesday, February 08 @ 13:39:04 CST by don |
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