As a Lebron fan, things I don't appreciate of Lebron

[retaxis]

Ive been following Lebron since he was drafted in 03 and still do however I often say I am an NBA fan not a player fan. I like the whole product however Lebron is still my favourite player in the NBA. Every player has their pros and cons and here is what ticks me off about lebron.

1. Poor ball handling skills, Lebron bounces the ball too high in the air and does not have that swagger and quick moves that elite ball handlers have at the guard position. Perhaps its his short wing span? Who knows one thing is for sure he bounces the ball like he picked up basketball as a second sport.

2. Lebron is all tough talking leader stuff but he isn't willing to be rude to his team mates and demand excellence from them. He asks them to follow him and then expects them to do more in the end. Lebron can be confusing at times especially in clutch moments when everyone expects lebron to look for his own shot (including team mates) and then he ditches the ball out to an unsuspecting team mate.

3. Lebron is a mechanical player unlike some of the more pure basketball players like the Wades, Kobes, Melos, Durants etc. His movements are not fluid but blocky and therefore he does not have a good pump fake game either.

Despite this Lebron is still the best player in the game however like I said before, he looks like one of those people who picked up basketball as a second or third sport and never got the fluidity and ball handling skills down like some of the other great guards e.g. MJ, Kobe, Magic, Wade etc. He is still a great player but if he had focused and improved his actual basketball skills on a more fundamental level and improved his game/mentality as such he could easily have 3 championships by now and possibly more.

Give Lebrons body to a Kobe/Mike/Magic mentality/skills for example and they will come at you all game until they wear you and your backup down to the ground while dancing around you. Lebron approaches basketball like its a different sport sometimes..

[Akrazotile]

Ive been following Lebron since he was drafted in 03 and still do however I often say I am an NBA fan not a player fan. I like the whole product however Lebron is still my favourite player in the NBA. Every player has their pros and cons and here is what ticks me off about lebron.

1. Poor ball handling skills, Lebron bounces the ball too high in the air and does not have that swagger and quick moves that elite ball handlers have at the guard position. Perhaps its his short wing span? Who knows one thing is for sure he bounces the ball like he picked up basketball as a second sport.

2. Lebron is all tough talking leader stuff but he isn't willing to be rude to his team mates and demand excellence from them. He asks them to follow him and then expects them to do more in the end. Lebron can be confusing at times especially in clutch moments when everyone expects lebron to look for his own shot (including team mates) and then he ditches the ball out to an unsuspecting team mate.

3. Lebron is a mechanical player unlike some of the more pure basketball players like the Wades, Kobes, Melos, Durants etc. His movements are not fluid but blocky and therefore he does not have a good pump fake game either.

Despite this Lebron is still the best player in the game however like I said before, he looks like one of those people who picked up basketball as a second or third sport and never got the fluidity and ball handling skills down like some of the other great guards e.g. MJ, Kobe, Magic, Wade etc. He is still a great player but if he had focused and improved his actual basketball skills on a more fundamental level and improved his game/mentality as such he could easily have 3 championships by now and possibly more.

Give Lebrons body to a Kobe/Mike/Magic mentality/skills for example and they will come at you all game until they wear you and your backup down to the ground while dancing around you. Lebron approaches basketball like its a different sport sometimes..

Dude Lebron is like 5 inches taller than Wade: Of course hes gonna dribble the ball higher up. Hes probably 60 pounds heavier than Kobe. Obviously hes not gonna be as graceful in his movements.

Lebron has been playing basketball and handling the basketball all his life. It's clearly not a matter of being something he hasnt worked on. He's just not built to handle the ball like a 6'3 200 pound guard. Hes 6'8 270. Wtf do you want??

Compare his ball handling to other players his size. Comparing it to guys lower to the ground and far lighter is an extremely pointless criticism.

[lilteapot]

Ive been following Lebron since he was drafted in 03 and still do however I often say I am an NBA fan not a player fan. I like the whole product however Lebron is still my favourite player in the NBA. Every player has their pros and cons and here is what ticks me off about lebron.

1. Poor ball handling skills, Lebron bounces the ball too high in the air and does not have that swagger and quick moves that elite ball handlers have at the guard position. Perhaps its his short wing span? Who knows one thing is for sure he bounces the ball like he picked up basketball as a second sport.

2. Lebron is all tough talking leader stuff but he isn't willing to be rude to his team mates and demand excellence from them. He asks them to follow him and then expects them to do more in the end. Lebron can be confusing at times especially in clutch moments when everyone expects lebron to look for his own shot (including team mates) and then he ditches the ball out to an unsuspecting team mate.

Give Lebrons body to a Kobe/Mike/Magic mentality/skills for example and they will come at you all game until they wear you and your backup down to the ground while dancing around you. Lebron approaches basketball like its a different sport sometimes..

For a Lebron fan, you seem to not know him very well. He is just as hard on his teammates as anyone. He is constantly yelling at his teammates on the court and calling them out for their mistakes.

[90sgoat]

Good post brah, all is correct. Lebron simply lacks skill unfortunately.

He also has a very obnoxious personality (narcissist), which holds him back from growing as a player.

I think the biggest problem with Lebron is the false hype from the media. He is Charles Barkley or Karl Malone and the problem is that in this weak era, that is all we get. We don't get any Kareem or Wilt or Bird or Magic or Jordan or even Shaq. We only get Karl Malone. That's just something we have to live with.

[Mr. Jabbar]

its good to see more and more big time lebron fans are beginning to take dumps on lequit's chest

[Akrazotile]

For a Lebron fan, you seem to not know him very well. He is just as hard on his teammates as anyone. He is constantly yelling at his teammates on the court and calling them out for their mistakes.

It doesnt even matter anyway. There's no one way to be a leader. Tim Duncan and Steve Nash dont snarl and yell at people, and theyre considered two of the finer leaders in the game.

It's just the quintessential internet "bros" that obsess over players projecting some combative alpha shtick.

[J Shuttlesworth]

Agreed on most points. Unlike some stans of other players on here, I don't mind admitting certain weaknesses to LeBron's game. The one that bothers me the most is not getting back on defense after a fall, or complaining to the refs. Sometimes he does this on crucial plays and it makes me want to tear my hair out. Obviously, this is something a lot of players do but people don't take notice when it's not a superstar doing it. It doesn't make him not the best player on the game, or my favorite, but everyone has flaws.

[Nuff Said]

Dude Lebron is like 5 inches taller than Wade: Of course hes gonna dribble the ball higher up. Hes probably 60 pounds heavier than Kobe. Obviously hes not gonna be as graceful in his movements.

Lebron has been playing basketball and handling the basketball all his life. It's clearly not a matter of being something he hasnt worked on. He's just not built to handle the ball like a 6'3 200 pound guard. Hes 6'8 270. Wtf do you want??

Compare his ball handling to other players his size. Comparing it to guys lower to the ground and far lighter is an extremely pointless criticism.

KD and Blake handle the ball much better imo. Lebron just ain't built for it.

[J Shuttlesworth]

KD and Blake handle the ball much better imo. Lebron just ain't built for it.

KD obviously has great handles, but Blake's handles are pretty suspect IMO.

Even if it looks flashier, he's still pretty turnover prone when handling the ball.

[ISHGoat]

Agreed on most points. Unlike some stans of other players on here, I don't mind admitting certain weaknesses to LeBron's game. The one that bothers me the most is not getting back on defense after a fall, or complaining to the refs. Sometimes he does this on crucial plays and it makes me want to tear my hair out. Obviously, this is something a lot of players do but people don't take notice when it's not a superstar doing it. It doesn't make him not the best player on the game, or my favorite, but everyone has flaws.

Yes but a lot of the time he gets back so late that he is in great cherry picking position because the other team rushes up a shot 4v5, so he's not actually giving up that many points by doing this.

My gripe with him is his retarded turnovers when hes so obviously trying to force a pass because he lacks the proper moves to pump fake for the foul when he is in a bad spot.

[3ball]

Lebron is still a great player but if he had focused and improved his actual basketball skills on a more fundamental level and improved his game/mentality as such he could easily have 3 championships by now and possibly more.

Very true - but you omitted Lebron's poor shooting in the OP, which hurts his ability to shoot well at high shot volume.. It's a statistical fact that Lebron isn't capable of good efficiency at high shot volume, since he's horrible at the additional midrange required of high volume shooting (seen above).

27 shot attempts per game (the amount Lebron averaged in 2015 Playoffs) cannot be achieved on all 3-and-D - good midrange is needed to shoot well at this volume.. Accordingly, Lebron's career 37% midrange efficiency precludes him from ever shooting well at very high volumes - this is a statistical fact.

In the Finals, there was no danger in letting Lebron shoot 39% at 33 fga, so there was no need to take the ball out of his hands to prevent the high volume.. Lebron's inability to have good efficiency at high volume allowed the Warriors to permit his secluded 1-on-1 clearouts all series long - it was part of their exploitative strategy.. They never double-teamed to take the ball out of his hands - no one has ever gotten such secluded clearouts, probably in history., So there's no excuse for Lebron's 39% shooting (other than him not being capable of good efficiency at high volume).

Lebron's lack of midrange ability didn't just prevent him from good efficiency at high volumes and subsequent double-teams, but it prevents him from being as good in the 80's, when midrange was the primary option remaining in the absence of the 3-pointers necessary to make screen-roll/drive-and-kick mathematically worthwhile.

Give Lebrons body to a Kobe/Mike/Magic mentality/skills for example and they will come at you all game until they wear you and your backup down to the ground while dancing around you.

Kobe and Magic might prefer Lebron's physique, but it wouldn't be better for MJ - if MJ had Lebron's physique, he wouldn't be a good two-foot leaper, which helps to mitigate traffic and take off with power in tight spots:

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...8&postcount=48
http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...7&postcount=47


Also, Lebron's larger, bumbling physique is too slow compared to MJ in pretty much every spot, except maybe a full-on sprint (and even that, we don't know - there are reports of MJ with a 4.4 40).. MJ's physique is optimal for a hooper.

[Hey Yo]

KD and Blake handle the ball much better imo. Lebron just ain't built for it.

Blake and KD don't handle the ball with expectations of possibly making a great pass.

KD has better handles but Blake does not.

LeBron's great passing and play making ability makes up more than enough for his shoddy handles.

[SpaceJammeR]

his handles are fine for a guy his size. his leadership is great, guys want to play with him and follow him to other teams. can't say that about many players. my knock on him is his 1on1 skills. he needs to work on more go to moves to get more separation or better shots.

[90sgoat]

Lebron's 'handles' = travel

[kennethgriffin]

Dude Lebron is like 5 inches taller than Wade: Of course hes gonna dribble the ball higher up. Hes probably 60 pounds heavier than Kobe. Obviously hes not gonna be as graceful in his movements.

Lebron has been playing basketball and handling the basketball all his life. It's clearly not a matter of being something he hasnt worked on. He's just not built to handle the ball like a 6'3 200 pound guard. Hes 6'8 270. Wtf do you want??

Compare his ball handling to other players his size. Comparing it to guys lower to the ground and far lighter is an extremely pointless criticism.

hakeem and durant are graceful though