LeBron James Represents A Dying Breed of NBA Superstars Who Master Both Ends of The Playoff Floor

If you value a healthy relationship with your friends, then there are four subjects that you need not broach in casual conversation; politics, religion, money and LeBron James

These topics are highly flammable subject matter because you’ll find that individuals have very passionate, diverse and uncompromising views on these particular subjects. You don’t convince anyone of anything when it comes to these areas. 

LeBron James has his legion of fans and media who support him to the fullest, even boosting him to GOAT status. He also has his detractors who acknowledge his greatness but don’t necessarily always jive with the way Bron delivers that greatness. Besides, he’s probably humiliated their favorite team more than once. 

When Bron is clicking on all cylinders, it’s unlike anything we’ve seen. He has the ability to score 40, but his focus has always been about making the right basketball play. He’s been dynamic and dominant — especially in his prime — and he’s been clutch.

Bron barely forces the issue or makes huge mistakes. His all-around game encompasses a little something from all of the greats. His defense might be the most underrated aspect of his game, despite the fact that he has 6 NBA All-Defensive selections and has made some of the most memorable playoff blocks of all-time. 

James executes on the court with the same methodical, emphatic purpose and contagious energy that he brings to his business endeavors and activism. From the end of his first contract with Cleveland to his current situation with the Lakers, Bron has masterminded a well-scripted journey that finds him swiftly moving towards a fourth NBA championship with a record third NBA team.

When you break it down to just ball, Bron is on a shortlist of basketball savants who exert max effort and have a methodical and hard-nosed approach on both ends of the court.

 

Jamal Murray was having a legendary Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. He was dipping and contorting his body, making an array of shots that would make the great Allen Iverson fall out of his chair. Denver was fighting tooth and nail to stay in the game and couldn’t cut the deficit any closer than three points. Every time they moved on the Lakers, LeBron and company answered. 

In another display of why LeBron James just might belong on the Mt. Rushmore of all-time greats, the 35-year-old stepped up and asked to guard a quicker, smaller, more dynamic 23-year-old guard down the stretch. It changed the game and in the final five minutes, Jamal Murray (32 points) was 0-of-3 shooting.

“LeBron asked for the assignment and obviously I granted it…” Lakers’ coach Frank Vogel said postgame. “Nothing was really working in terms of trying to slow him down until ‘Bron took that assignment.”

Before LeBron blocked two of Murray’s shots at crucial moments, Murray had been on fire and it was obvious that he would probably cool off. And if he wasn’t ready to cool off, Bron was going to clamp down and challenge every shot.

You gotta give Murray credit for going right at The King, but you have to question his basketball IQ in those situations. Of all the players on the court, Murray picked one of the greatest and most intelligent defensive players in the history of the game to go at. If his intention was to draw a foul, it wasn’t going to happen in that situation. He doesn’t have the cache to get that call against the No.1 brand in the NBA. He kind of has to understand that. 

When Anthony Davis took the game-winning shot in Game 2, he won the game with his offense.

When LeBron took the responsibility of guarding Murray in Game 4 he won it with his defense (James did score 26 points, grab 9 board and dish 8 dimes). That’s a lesson Jamal Murray has to learn as he ascends to another level as a player

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