THE PROBLEM WITH LEBRON

Trivia question: Who is the all-time leader in blocked shots, by a wide margin? (hint: they didn't start keeping the stat until 1974)

Before I get started here, I want to stipulate that Lebron James is awesome beyond all comprehension, he came into the league with probably the most hype of any athlete in the history of sports--and incredibly enough, he surpassed it. He's hands-down one of the very best players in the league and probably already one of the 25 or so best players of all time.

OK, I've acknowledged how great he is, so when I criticize, I'm only doing it in the context of how he stacks up against the true greats in the NBA.

'Nuff said. Here we go.

I see some Vince Carter in Lebron. No, that's not fair. I see some Kevin Garnett--LBJ plays hard, he's never just completely phoned it in the way Vince did in Toronto (I love how we suspend a guy for 20% of the season for throwing a punch in the heat of battle but Vince gets a pass for essentially throwing games).

Kevin Garnett is also a great, great player, a top 50 guy of all time, a fierce competitor who busts his ass for every minute of every game. But he can be, uh, passive at times. We all know it. I'm not talking about defense and rebounding, KG will *always* bring it in those departments. But look, he's a 6'11 guy who can shoot, handle, drive, and has great post moves--and has a career scoring average of a shade over 20 ppg.

Hey, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with scoring 20 points a game, not many guys average 20 for their career, but you always feel like with his ability, he could score more if he were just a little more proactive out there. He has a certain mindset you see in some great athletes where he just defers a little too much. Now there's nothing wrong with deferring sometimes, look at how much better the Lakers are when Kobe scores 27 vs. 35. Or just look at the greatness of Steve Nash. But when you play on a team with no other great players and you're "only" scoring 20 a game, well, maybe you need to be a bit more forceful. There's absolutely no physical reason Garnett couldn't score 25+, he just doesn' t have that Kobe/Bird/Jordan mindset where he knows he's the star, he knows the team lives or dies with him, and he knows he has to make things happen when nobody else has his shit going on.

For all the criticism Kobe gets (much of it deserved), some of the best games I've ever seen him play are ones where he completely forced the action and put up a lot of points on a lot of shots. Now there are times he's done that when it's been a horrible game, but I'm talking about games where he played it cool up until it was obvious that nobody else had anything working and the team just flat-out wasn't going to win if Kobe didn't ride in on his white horse and save the day, even if he wasn't really feeling it that night. Sometimes when that happens, he just can't shoot himself into a hot streak and the team loses. But sometimes he just forces the action, gets it going--or at least struggles through enough to put up points & keep the game close--and gives the team a shot at the end by sheer force of will.

Garnett doesn't do that. He scores a lot when he's feeling it, he doesn't when he's not--even if the team needs him to. Now I'm (*finally*) getting back around to Lebron. Now Lebron isn't exactly like Garnett, it's hard to criticize a 30+ ppg scorer for being too passive. And yet, he can be. At times. He's just so goddamned good, he can put up great numbers no matter how he plays it, active or passive. He's going to hit some ridiculous jumpers, he's going to get fouled, he's going to get rebounds and assists and steals and blocks and be generally awesome.

But I've seen some games of his recently where I felt there were situation like those Laker games mentioned above, when Kobe's supporting cast just doesn't have it that night (which, with the Cavs' crap supporting cast, is nearly every fucking game), and their best shot is for their superstar to get out of his funk and force the action--and LBJ just hasn't come through.

This game tonight was a great example. James had 34/6/6 on 15-28 shooting. Great game, right? 28 shots, hard to criticize him for being too passive, right? Well, a lot of that came in the fourth quarter with the team down 30, so the numbers aren't all they seem. In the 3rd quarter, with the team down but still with a reasonable shot at getting back in it, I felt like I was watching KG when the Cavs needed Kobe. It was honestly pretty astonishing how often he'd come down, pass off the ball, and just stand around on the perimeter. Every shot he took was a fallaway jumper, including a bunch of threes (seriously, what does anyone not named Dirk shoot on fallway threes, 15%). Here's a good stat--he took 28 shots and got to the line a whopping 2 times! I mean, that says it all right there. The Cavs might not have won the game, but they got *blown out* because James didn't play like a superstar when the team needed him to.

Now let's contrast with the other two best players in the league, Kobe and Wade. They both have their faults, but this--playing like a superstar when the team needs you to--ain't one of 'em. You never have to worry that Kobe or Wade is just going to disappear at a crucial time, to be shrinking violets standing in the corner like a Bostjan Nachbar waiting to toss up a prayer three when they should be taking the ball at the top of the key and going hellbent for the rim, over and over and over. I kept thinking how I wished the game were in Cleveland, where a booing crowd might have reawakened LBJ's fire.

To his credit, he didn't just give up once the blowout was a given (the way a Vince Carter would), he came back in the fourth quarter firing. I guess KG is the perfect comparison, a guy whose will to win you can never question. It's not about that, it's not that KG isn't taking the game over because he's feeling lazy or scared. He just doesn't have the Kobe/Bird/Jordan mindset where even if you're not feeling your absolute best on a given night, a superstar's job is to be a superstar. You don't have to force it when things are going well for your teammates; but when they're not, it's all on you. When James is on, there's no one better, including Wade and Kobe. But when he's not on, he takes a giant backseat to the other two. And that's important, because you're "not on" for a good percentage of the time, even when you're a mega-star like these three.

I mean, let's get some perspective here, Lebron just turned 22 a week ago, and he's unquestionably already one of the greatest players of our generation. I'm nitpicking more than anything here, I'm only saying he's passive *at times*. He frequently takes the game over, and he gets to the line as well as almost anyone. I just think (a) Wade and Kobe are slightly better players because of this little flaw, and (b) this has to be the next evolution of his game if he wants to get to the MJ level and make the Cavs a real contender. And I mean *NBA CHAMPIONSHIP* contender, not just being happy with winning the crap-ass Eastern Conference. We saw tonight that the East's best isn't anywhere even close to the West's. And it'll probably come, he's got plenty of time to develop that ability to shake off an off night and do his best to force it into being a 'good' one. That can come with maturity--but it is interesting that guys like Bird, Jordan, Kobe, and Wade clearly had that mindset from day one. I guess we'll see if we have the next MJ on our hands, or another Kevin Garnett.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Hakeem Olajuwon, by far over Dikembe Mutombo, who just surpassed Kareem for #2. Olajuwon had like four straight years with over 4 blocks per game, which is just sick.