LeBron has that look again

Malone had a long career also and miss even less games? Did any look how good condition he was even at the end of his his career? Give me any other 39 year old that avg 27 and 8. In fact give me any guy who beat out Michael Jordan in the prime of his career for the MVP award.

I don't know a guy who was a number 1 draft pick, League MVP, 2 x Finals MVP, 2 x Defensive Player of the Year and a multiple time All Star like Hakeem Olajuwon can really be said to be underrated....

To not have Kobe in a top 10 is criminal. Agreed, the 3peat was mostly Shaq, but the man is an absolute legend! In my opinion, the 3peat is probably why kobe wants another ring so bad. True, MJ has 6 rings, so Kobe wants 6, but I think deep down he knows that MJ won 6 titles single handily (to a point, it takes all players, but he was dominant) whereas Kobe was a bit of a passenger (to an extent) in 3 of his. I think Kobe feels like he wants to be "the man" to win another title. Lebron and Kobe are my 2 fave players but I felt Kobe's block from behind in Houston was a bit of a low move. Nobody had played any D all night and all of a sudden Kobe tried to show he's still got it. If only he'd been playing that kind of D all season, maybe we wouldn't have lost so many winnable games! Let's be honest, if Kobe really wanted to play one on one with Lebron, the king would monster him. The comparisons of Lebron, Kobe and MJ are so crazy at the moment, and I would like to start by saying I love MJ, I really do.... But seriously, his comment last week was so ridiculous, and I can't believe a champion of his calibre would make such comments. I challenge anyone who would think that championships maketh the career. Scalabrine - 1 title, Charles Barkley - 0 titles, ergo on MJ logic, Scalabrine was a better player than Chuck and those other poor bastards that never made it to the top of the mountain!?!? I think not. I must admit lebron stayed so composed in his answer, a hotter head would have made some smart comment or challenged MJ to a one on one or something. But in Lebron's response he still said he would take MJ's career over any others! The king is so well placed for another title, surely only injury can prevent a back to back in Miami!?!?

Okay Jerry wow, MJ is top goat, and that stats just confirms that even more.

Yes Ryan it was travesty of justice the way Isiah Thomas was treated, his stats spek for themselves and in the big games. Kareem played in that 1989 series too. He retired after that aged 42, but still had a good series. The Pistons were just better, or in the zone. And Majic was only 29 so wasn't past it. Isiah Thomas was brilliant and went hear to head with Majic. They used to be close friends , they have recently reconciled. A part of me almost thinks and I say this seriously, a part of me thinks if either Majic or MJ die before Isiah Thomas does, before they pass away on there death bed they should give Isiah Thomas there gold medal from 92 Barcelona. Thomas was in that top 12, no doubt about it. A lot of coverage has been done the subject and media commentators the whole Majic/MJ vs Isiah feud. It all stemmed from MJ and Isiah simply not liking each other. They just didn't want to play on the same team, and Isiah Thomas had a falling out with Majic over rumours about Majic's behaviour and how he got HIV. Anyway 20 years ago but Isiah Thomas one heck of basketball player, the edge just too Majic but wow he is seriously up there top 10 talk. I am now just reading about Chris Paul, wow he is a heck of player now a current player. Just some players go thought there careers overly or underrated or properly rated, it's the underrated players that always catch my attention. Barkley,Malone,Scottie Pippen,Hakeem, Alonzo Mourning , and a few others, Otis Thorpe,Mark Price,Dominque Wilkins, and many more.

Okay ryan thanks mate. Didn't know.

Fair call Johnno. Isiah Thomas is criminally underrated historically. A lot of it has to do with his personality and the enemies he made along the way, but that's no reason not to admire and respect his on court brilliance. For those that think Chris Paul is a great player, Isaiah Thomas played in a similar way, but was even better. And I rate CP3 highly!

Those are Jordan's stats from the 93 Finals series vs the Suns.

Yeah, The Decision got a lot of people offside. I didn't mind the TV show to be honest, but I thought teaming up with Wade was a little off-putting. But, by the same token, I can understand it as well. It's funny, I was writing a piece at halftime of the Thunder/Heat game saying how LeBron had put the nail in Durant's MVP coffin. But Durant went quietly crazy in the second half. Whilst I still think it's LeBron's trophy to lose, Durant is right on his tail. And considering the lofty height LeBron is currently at, that's a massive achievement.

Johnno, LeBron is 28, mate. He was born in 1984.

I was talking about the NBA grand final, Shaqs stats in the NBA grand final series, are better than MJ's. MJ probably had the better play off record, but come grand final time series, Shaq's were better, and better than Wilt's too. thesportsguy, Lebron James is the man and is moving rapidly up the ladder , I had him at no 8, but in 5-7 years we will know if he is top 5 or no 1. Exciting times for basketball fans and Lebron, look forwad too that chat in 2018, ha ha.

Guys in all this, Isiah Thomas is one basketball player that has ot be talked about . I left him nd Jerry West out agonisingly, very tempted to put Isiah Thomas and West ahead of both Tim Duncan and Shaq, but just chose both in a whisker. Some facts on point guard Isiah Thomas, i was reading about and i am no expert on any player. Isiah Thomas is the only player to beat , Larry Brid,Majic Johnson, and Micheal Jordan , in a play off series. Not bad trifecta if you don't mind. Isiah Thomas was the leader of that Detroit Pistons bad boys side. Him,Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman, and a few others, were lean,mean, and dead nasty. The checking days, they got physical and were tough, didn't take crap from anybody. Dennis Rodman was an awesome player , he took it to anyone best rebounded ever, I rate Rodman higher than Malone,at the clutch Rodman was your man. Just ask why MJ wanted him on his team. He didn't like him much, but he needed a guy like Rodman, like Horace Grant before that. A strong power forwad to take it to guys like Barkley and Malone. So the fact Isiah beat 3 of the all time greats in a playoff series, speaks for itself. Isiah Thomas was good mates with Majic but then had a falling out. Have now just recently reconciled, but Isiah Thomas and MJ bad blood it seems for a long time, 2 fierce rivals who hated losing to each other , really personal. Some say its coz MJ hates the fact Isiah Thomas and the bad boys beat him, just maybe , but they had a really competitive rivalry and downright nasty. No love lost trying to be top goat. Isiah Thomas was in the dream team , picked ahead of stockton his record speaks for itself , Stockton is great, but Isiah Thomas 2NBA titles and other records is just simply better. And a better shooter. He really to me will always be part of that dream team, as all in the USA at the time especially MJ and Majic knew he was in the best 12 players in the country. Isiah thomas got some injuries too. And also MJ was loved by the media and the endorsement deals to, undermined Isiah Thomas being underrated at times. But when he won those 2 titles with the bad boys in 89 and 90, Isiah Thomas and Majic were the 2 stars in the NBA, as Bird was fading, . That Detorit Pistons side beat Majic's lakers 4-0 zip, yep 4 zip, . Not bad at all. I think Kareem had just retired but Lakers 2 years later got back into the grand final, but 4 nil is 4 nil. And Majic them tried , Majic hated losing to his arch rival point guard, especially like that. What's scary is Isiah Thomas head to head stats vs Majic Johnson. Both head to head 18 matches, when playing each other average 21.9 points per game in an Majic average just 1 better assist 12.9, to 11.7 But in play offs head to head when they played each other 10 games Isiah Thomas 2o.9 points per game, Majic 18.3 points per game. Assists in play offs head ot head when they play each other Majic 11.5 , Isiah Thomas 8.7 , rebounds the same. So the point is nothing is in it, Isiah Thomas was a star, he just got a lot of hate coz he was with the bad boys, and his rivalry with MJ. Remember Isiah Thomas is the only player to beat Jordan, Majic, and Bird in the play offs, the man is one of the all time greats, and is pushing the top 10 real hard, heck some even say Isiah Thomas was better than Majic and jordan, in the play offs he sure stepped up when he played them Jerry West is almost as good in the play offs as MJ, statistically , a real clutch performer, as was James Worthy, man he stepped up in the play offs did his statistics shoot up . He was one of the best post-basline shooters whatever that means , but he could play. James Worthy was the star on that North Carolina college winning team , not MJ. So many great players int he 80's and 90's man one could talk for years about all the stats, and exciting rivalries for multiple reasons. Good times.

"Maybe the best player in the 90′s not to win a title?" Drexler won a title with the Houston Rockets. Charles Barkley probably has the (dis)honour of that title, Karl Malone runner up.

Jordan's stats in 93 are better than 97 - Average - 41.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals

I actually agree with you on some of your points johnno. That shaq was the better player in those title runs in the lakers - that his peaks were arguably better then kobes and more dominant. HOWEVER, kobe has maintained his peak a lot higher then shaq was my original point. He is still playing incredible ball on a incredibly dysfunctional team at age 34 in his 17th season. To be a top 5 MVP candidate on a losing team is incredible. Having said that, i dont blame u for taking shaqs career just, over kobes. I just like kobes resume better - 3 rings as the #2 option, 2 as the #1. Shaq was 3 rings as #1, 1 as #2 (wade was phenomenal that series) and kobe has put in more consistent seasons in the past 15. historically, what kobe is doing is unreal. How many players sustained a peak for that long? thats why i bought up the point about larry bird..his peak years were phenomonal - 24/10/6 for 6 seasons straight is unbelievable. Lebron has never done that. sure his points average is higher, but rebounding is lower, and assists about the same. Michael jordan obviously had a very dominant career from start to finish - so did kareem abdul jabbar, but who else? Larry bird got injured that is true - but injuries are part and parcel of the game. to be that resliant is a feat in itself. to be that consistent is amazing and puts you in a truely elite category. Also, while i completely agree that Lebron is on pace for HOF greatness and GOAT discussion, he could easily decline over the next 4-5 years, or suffer an injury, then historically, lookking back on him, you could easly also think of him as a larry bird. a guy that was set to have the most dominant career of all time but didnt have sustained excellence like kobe or mj. Not saying that would happen, but you gotta consider the possibility. Lebron is half way through his career, so i think its to early for GOAT talks and ranking him ahead of kobe or shaq or duncan. Lets see how his next 5-7 years pans out then i think you can safely revisit that discussion.

Think people must understand the era some players played in. Johnson played in the era of big flashy guards. This is a different era, and the position reflects the times, self involvement, ego, personal ambition, sort of the Enron era of point guards: Get your own first. It's what the point guards of this era do. They score. They look good. The best coaches, like Larry Brown, make them shooting guards, like he did with Allen Iverson . They don't think about others first. They are just products of their times. Then you get John Stockton. Never see him smile. Media didn't like him. No standing ovation or retirement party nothing. No flashy dribbles no no look shots not the fastest not the biggest boring as hell to many. Yet his baseline screen on centers freeing up Malone for thousands of points. Really everyone knew who to stop when playing the Jazz and where everything comes from most of the times. Yet Malone still racked up 38000 points and Stockton still holds records for assists and steals even surpassing Magic Johnson. I don't think no one will ever break his records. The guy was a joy to watch and if you want to show someone a team player loyal to the core just show him John Stockton. The guy played like 607 games straight.

Neuen I am with you. He was a great player most of these guys probably did not see him regularly as those names in the list. Because he played in a small media market and shared top billing with John Stockton, Malone has never been as popular as such superstars as Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing. That is why he is not considered a great because its a popularity contest rather than achievements. When I say achievements I mean a guy that steam rolled guys out of the way with his physical approach so much so that not only did he revolutionized the power forward role he ended up with the most points in NBA history only 2nd to Jabbar. In 1990 fans voted for Green to start in the All Star game and Malone took the Mickey out of them by racking up 61 points in 33 minutes vs Milwaukee. His records and stats speak for itself but he did not play for the Bulls or Lakers who's merchandise was everywhere and games were shown where certain names won a popularity contest and some true old school in your face players are forgotten or dismissed in favor of those who's name was on a shirt when you were younger. Sad really

Le Bron is only 27 Born in December 1985, so just turned 27, . MJ won his 1st title at 28 in 1991, so Le Bron can only get better. Those 18 Jordan had off, will always be a big mystery. MJ was 30 when he quit. Would MJ have been better or peaked even higher in those 18 months,or did those 18 months freshen MJ up. With the stars alleging etc , etc, I just can't see Le Bron having a break, new life challenges, or a sabbatical or whatever, or finding inner peace lol. Le Bron will play on until his body can't keep going. How that break helped or hurt Jordan's career is a mystery we will all never know. My hunch is it freshened him up. mentally especially. Coz MJ cam back with a lot of hunger, and motivation to his game. And yes he lost to Houston in the semi finals from memory in his half season in 1994-5, but he came back and won 3 titles after that. So MJ had that hunger due to the break, it is what it is, and was the right move for MJ, and helped him I think. Interesting side note, was he would only return , if an unhappy with the Bulls Scottie Pippen stayed with the Bulls, which he agreed to when he almost left.

Nice piece Kurt. I think I'm rapidly becoming the president of the LeBron fan club (or so I've been told!), so I certainly agree with your article. He's on a different planet at the moment, and at 28, the scary thing is that he may still has some improvement left. Frightening.