Heat: Laimbeer: Lebron would be the best in my era

[StrengthAndHonor]

True or False?

Keep in mind the 80's brand of basketball will be applied here.

[N0 LyF3 ScRuB]

no

[spurraider21]

LeBron would be even more of a monster on defense in the 80's. although he hasn't for a while, he used to complain about hard fouls even in the era of the flagrant foul. it would take some adjustment, but he could thrive

[Arnold Toht]

He would be shining shoes with the rest of the league.

[resistanze]

@ the thought of LeBron playing in the zone-less 80s. The only proven formula to contain Lebron would be gone. Hard fouls wouldn't stop LeBron, he's still bigger than most people from that era too.

[Clipper Nation]

@ the thought of LeBron playing in the zone-less 80s. The only proven formula to contain Lebron would be gone. Hard fouls wouldn't stop LeBron, he's still bigger than most people from that era too.

This, tbh.... the only reasons people will say no is due to nostalgia gotry and blind hate for LeBron

[The Gemini Method]

The steroids weren't good enough in the 80's so, no.

[Koolaid_Man]

This, tbh.... the only reasons people will say no is due to nostalgia gotry and blind hate for LeBron

please...Karl Malone would have made Bron look like a ing bean pole...in fact Rodman would have shut Bron down...been all up in his soft little ass....If Malone couldn't wit h Rodman what makes your dumb ass think Lebron could...man I tell ya...you cats get dumber by the min

[N0 LyF3 ScRuB]

@ the thought of LeBron playing in the zone-less 80s. The only proven formula to contain Lebron would be gone. Hard fouls wouldn't stop LeBron, he's still bigger than most people from that era too.

hard fouls would stop lebron

could you imagine him going against the bad boy pistons

[N0 LyF3 ScRuB]

please...Karl Malone would have made Bron look like a ing bean pole...in fact Rodman would have shut Bron down...been all up in his soft little ass....If Malone couldn't wit h Rodman what makes your dumb ass think Lebron could...man I tell ya...you cats get dumber by the min

kool_aid with the surprise goods. rodman would have on him.

i'm telling you guys.. his dominance is like magic's. he's a great player.. but he's nothing the league hasn't seen

[Clipper Nation]

at Capri making that choke artist Karl Malone out to be some badass.... Brian freaking Grant had no problem owning Malone, so I fail to see where LeBron would have any trouble....

And at least Cat has stopped comparing the Kang to T-Mac, so that's progress

[Katherine Robinson]

Lebron would need to focus on his mid-range more to truly dominate, the bigs of the 80s weren't the shrimps Wilt Chamberlain destroyed on a daily basis.

[JamStone]

I'd say very likely. LeBron is just a freak. As quick and as athletic as any of the quick perimeter players back then and the size and build and strength of any power forward back then as well. The only thing that might have changed was back then LeBron may have not been allowed to play out on the perimeter as much growing up. He may have been forced into a role of playing PF/C when he was younger. Then he would have gone to college and they'd have him still play down low on the block. And even with above average perimeter skills, he may have gone through an NBA career more like Charles Barkley or Larry Johnson where he'd be good enough to play out on the perimeter, but was pigeon-holed into the PF position. Would that have made things different for him in terms of dominating the league? I think it's possible. I don't know if he ends up dominating the interior and the post the same way he dominates out on the perimeter and open court. I think guys like Magic and Jordan and Grant Hill and Pippen paved the road for NBA coaches (and ultimately college and high school and AAU coaches as well) to be more willing to allow "big" players be playmakers, facilitators, lead guards even if their size used to dictate what position they'd ultimately play in the league. It may have been more taboo for LeBron to be basically a combination of SF/SG/PG where he has the ball in his hands all the time. In that sense, I'm not sure if the standard notions of NBA coaching back then would have allowed him to become the player he is today.

But if whoever ended up coaching him simply allowed him to just play and play any position, have the ball in his hands to facilitate the offense and grow and develop they way he has now, I don't think he would have had any problem adjusting the physicality of 80s NBA basketball. And I think his combination of size and athleticism and strength would have been even more pronounced back then. LeBron would pretty much dominate any era you put him in as long as he was allowed the same type of freedom and development of his game that he was given early on in his NBA career.

[Killakobe81]

I'd say very likely. LeBron is just a freak. As quick and as athletic as any of the quick perimeter players back then and the size and build and strength of any power forward back then as well. The only thing that might have changed was back then LeBron may have not been allowed to play out on the perimeter as much growing up. He may have been forced into a role of playing PF/C when he was younger. Then he would have gone to college and they'd have him still play down low on the block. And even with above average perimeter skills, he may have gone through an NBA career more like Charles Barkley or Larry Johnson where he'd be good enough to play out on the perimeter, but was pigeon-holed into the PF position. Would that have made things different for him in terms of dominating the league? I think it's possible. I don't know if he ends up dominating the interior and the post the same way he dominates out on the perimeter and open court. I think guys like Magic and Jordan and Grant Hill and Pippen paved the road for NBA coaches (and ultimately college and high school and AAU coaches as well) to be more willing to allow "big" players be playmakers, facilitators, lead guards even if their size used to dictate what position they'd ultimately play in the league. It may have been more taboo for LeBron to be basically a combination of SF/SG/PG where he has the ball in his hands all the time. In that sense, I'm not sure if the standard notions of NBA coaching back then would have allowed him to become the player he is today.

But if whoever ended up coaching him simply allowed him to just play and play any position, have the ball in his hands to facilitate the offense and grow and develop they way he has now, I don't think he would have had any problem adjusting the physicality of 80s NBA basketball. And I think his combination of size and athleticism and strength would have been even more pronounced back then. LeBron would pretty much dominate any era you put him in as long as he was allowed the same type of freedom and development of his game that he was given early on in his NBA career.

this. But like young MJ he would have to learn how to handle that kind of physical play. Lebron is bigger and stronger than MJ so he may have been able to handle it better, but it wasnt just physical abuse dem Bad Boys Pistons dished but it was mental as well. I say yes he could be the best in any era his talent is THAT great. But he only has two rings in this one a good not great era so let's give it some time to really set his place. But I have always maintained he has GOAT potential.

[Clipper Nation]

this. But like young MJ he would have to learn how to handle that kind of physical play.

MJ's method of "handling it" was to cry to Stern for rule changes that neutered the Bad Boys

[Malik Hairston]

It depends if you extrapolate the teams of the 80s to today's league..if you assume they benefit from the knowledge and progression of schemes, then we can expand and discuss arguments like Jam's, tbh..

If you simply insert current Lebron in the 80s, he would be a much better version of Aids Johnson..he wouldn't put up Wilt numbers, but probably Oscar Robertson-ish..

The best defensive team in the 80s would be an average defensive team in today's league..this year's Raptors were statistically superior to the Bad Boys Pistons..

[spurraider21]

MJ's method of "handling it" was to cry to Stern for rule changes that neutered the Bad Boys

Lebron still cries about hard fouls in this pussified era tbh. Like I said in my first post here, he'd need to adjust offensively but he would annihilate fools on defense with the physicality allowed

[Malik Hairston]

There wouldn't be an adjustment offensively..hard fouls are by far the most overrated aspect of basketball..

Lebron, Durant and Kobe would completely dominate the 80s lack of defensive schemes and athleticism, tbh..

[Clipper Nation]

Lebron still cries about hard fouls in this pussified era tbh.

Nobody's changing any rules for him - in fact, he gets less calls by the year while Durbeta (his manufactured "rival") lives at the line

[spurraider21]

Nobody's changing any rules for him - in fact, he gets less calls by the year while Durbeta (his manufactured "rival") lives at the line

I never said they changed rules for him and never mentioned Durant, so cute strawman rebuttal

[Axegrinder]

Oakley would snap him like a pea pod

[hater]

Sorry Lebron just doesn't have the mental for ude to overcome the physicality of the 80s ball. He'd be relegated to riding someone's coattails imo (probably new york)

Saying just cause he's big he'd be a success is as stupid as saying Aron Baynes would be a success in the 80s too

there's strong and there's mentally strong. Lebron just doesn't have that, that's why he joined Ryley, Dwayne and needed the best shooter in history to even repeat

[Malik Hairston]

Again, do people even realize that the Toronto Raptors of 2014 are an equal defense to the Bad Boys Pistons, tbh?..

[daslicer]

Again, do people even realize that the Toronto Raptors of 2014 are an equal defense to the Bad Boys Pistons, tbh?..

Do you think any of the Raptors are better individual defenders than Dennis Rodman was on the Pistons team? Then again you don't know about that era or the 90's since you were born right after 1990. You can't comment on any of this .

[Malik Hairston]

Sure, I can, it's called the Internet..

The magical system that allows me to watch any game from the 80s/90s, along with having all the data from those eras..

Those Pistons allowed around 105 PPG/100 poss(on average, for a few years), around the same as the Raptors..they would be a slightly above average defensive team, sorry homie..