Barkley: "Lebron will stay the best basketball player for the next 5-10 years"

[Lebron23]

LeBron will play the 4 position someday.

[NumberSix]

5 years? Sure. !0 years? Doubt it.

[DuMa]

if he learns how to post smaller defenders up when his athleticism diminishes or when they need an bucket at the most, i can see 10 years of dominance from LBJ. but right now 5-6 at the most.

[chazzy]

Lebron may not be in the league in 10 years.. really people?

[R.I.P.]

Yes, I can definitely see LeBron still being the best player in basketball when he's ****ing almost 40. Especially considering he has good fundamentals and all.

[RaininTwos]

Lebron may not be in the league in 10 years.. really people?

You can say that for almost anyone though.

Durant might not be in the league in 10 years. and so on. I was just saying barring major injuries, he could move to the 4 and still be a force.

[StateOfMind12]

I would give LeBron 3 years max as remaining as the best player in the league. I think Durant will take over as the best by either next season or two seasons from now and three seasons if Durant suffers injuries or something.

[Kingwillball]

I say foer the NEXT 5 to 7 years if he stays Healthy and Continues post Game development cause his Drive game and fast break game probably tails off in another 3 years or so..

[Kingwillball]

I would give LeBron 3 years max as remaining as the best player in the league. I think Durant will take over as the best by either next season or two seasons from now and three seasons if Durant suffers injuries or something.

Durant May NEVER be better than Lebron cause He doesn't have all the attributes Lebron has.. Lebron is the Equivalent of a 5 tool player in baseball while Durant is More like a 3 Tool player. Durant may be better than Lebron in one or two areas but not in every phase of the game. Lebron is a top 5 scorer, Passer, Defender while also possessing the ability to be a top 5 rebounder if he focused on it as we are witnessing in Playoffs. Durant is a top 5 shooter/Scorer and thats it..

[step_back]

LeBron won't be as dominant in 10 years time as he is now. However I don't think he will have a huge drop of. He is far too smart a player and versatile to not be relevant. He will be simular to Steve Nash in terms of what they give you. Still leading a team and putting up great numbers.

[StateOfMind12]

Durant May NEVER be better than Lebron cause He doesn't have all the attributes Lebron has.. Lebron is the Equivalent of a 5 tool player in baseball while Durant is More like a 3 Tool player. Durant may be better than Lebron in one or two areas but not in every phase of the game. Lebron is a top 5 scorer, Passer, Defender while also possessing the ability to be a top 5 rebounder if he focused on it as we are witnessing in Playoffs. Durant is a top 5 shooter/Scorer and thats it..

Being a more and better all-around player doesn't necessarily make you better than another player.

Like I said, I still see Durant surpassing LeBron in the next 3 seasons. Durant needs to improve on a few areas which are his handles, his passing, his strength and that is about it. His strength will open up his ability to post up more, his mentality to post up more, and it will also help him become a better rebounder.

Durant will probably never be the playmaker or passer that LeBron is but that doesn't mean he'll never be a better individual player than LeBron.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Lebron isn't going to be the best in 5 years, much less 10. It is phenomenal that he's been the best in the league for 4 consecutive seasons. Some would argue Kobe or Wade in '09, but I disagree, Wade's regular season was comprable with his improved jumper and defense having easily the best year of his career, and Kobe won the title, but Lebron was the best between regular season and playoffs.

He was just as good in 2010 outside of the playoffs, and had less competition with Wade clearly not at the level he was in '09, and Kobe not being 100% and also declining physically. Though some would still say Kobe.

2011 was wide open between the top 1-4 with Howard, Nowitzki and Wade, I still stick with Lebron, but it's debatable.

But he's clearly the best right now, Durant is the closest, but with Kobe and Wade not consistently looking like the player he was and Howard distracted and failing to match his '11 season, it's pretty clear.

Durant did improve quite a bit, and despite not having Lebron's all around game, as Lebron continues to lose athleticism(and he has already lost some), Durant will probably pass him within the next few years. Dwight also has the potential to pass him. He could top his 2011 season, especially since despite the problems, he showed a big improvement passing out of double teams this year, if he combines that with his 2011 post game, and perhaps starts shooting that bank shot again, and becomes even more comfortable with his arsenal, he'll be the best player in the league.

Chris Paul was top 3 this year behind Lebron and KD, and appeared to get more comfortable with the Clippers and return closer to his '08 and '09 form as the season went on. He could very well pass Lebron in the next few years.

Plus there will be young players entering the league.

No chance. He hasn't even been the best the last 2 seasons.

2011 was debatable between Lebron, Dwight, Dirk and Wade. I definitely got Lebron over Wade last year for shooting and defense, but 1-4 can be put in any order.

This year? No contest. I understand that he benefits a lot from easy transition baskets, part of that is Miami's ability to force turnovers, and Lebron is a big part of that, but he also leaks out for quite a few easy ones. But he's improved his post game, played the best defense of his career this past season, imo, and I love that he's cut down on the 3s so much.

Plus, he did it in the regular season with Wade missing a ton of time, and Lebron was 13-1 without Wade, granted Bosh gave him excellent second option production without Wade at 24/8 on 58%. They beat Indiana without Bosh with Lebron playing dominant ball outside of games 2 and 3, though Indiana also beat themselves with Paul George's boneheaded plays, and Hibbert shouldn't have been able to be shut down by Anthony, their inexperience showed, and they're deep, but not a great team just yet. Plus despite Wade's decline, he played like the old Wade when Miami took control of the series, but still, he did it without a 3rd option.

But if he wins a title with Wade declining and Bosh out for a good chunk of the postseason, his ring will be far more impressive than I thought it would've been, because even last year, he clearly didn't have to do as much as other stars on their run to the finals, despite how well he played.

[FultzNationRISE]

Amazing that he was RIGHT