After Game 4 of the 2011 NBA Finals, Dallas Mavericks shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson said that LeBron James “checked out” of the game. LeBron James’ poor fourth quarter performances in the Heat-Mavs series last year were beyond comprehension, and they raised a number of questions about his poise, determination and toughness.
James was ripped apart all summer for shrinking on the big stage, but this year is a new year. So where does he stand so far this year? Let’s take a look at how King James measures up with the rest of the NBA’s top five players through the midway point of the season.
No. 5 – Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers – I actually had Derrick Rose here instead of Kobe Bryant originally.
I had it typed in and was ready to keep it that way. I was on the brink of leaving the great Kobe Bryant out of the top five. It seemed an insult to Kobe, the Lakers and the NBA to do so, but I still was tempted.
Kobe is having his worst overall shooting season since the 2004-05 season and his worst three-point shooting season since 2001-02.
His age is finally catching up with him, but there is one thing that Kobe still does better than anyone in the NBA, even if only for another year or so: he continues to amaze with his ability to hit shots that it looks like no one in the world has any business taking.
He certainly has a few more years of basketball in him, but this could very well be his last as a top-five player.
No. 4 – Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers – What? Paul ahead of Kobe and Rose? Paul is undersized and does not put up as many points as anyone else on this list, but he makes as big of an impact on a team as anyone in the NBA.
Paul is one of the best passers in recent history and sees things on the court that almost no one else does. He made an atrocious New Orleans Hornets team respectable, and just before this season he left and took over the reins in Los Angeles for a Clippers team that went 32-50 last year, nowhere remotely close to sufficient for a playoff appearance.
Paul wasted no time in refusing to take a backseat in Los Angeles to Kobe and the Lakers. The Clippers have the fifth best record in the NBA and sit just ahead of the Lakers in the Pacific division of the Western Conference. Paul can take over a game with his passing as well as some of the best players do with their scoring.
No. 3 – Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat – Praise Wade, blame LeBron has been the theme ever since LeBron James joined the Heat.
Wade has scored fewer points than James so far this year, but he has showed up when it matters in the fourth quarter. He has hit two game-winning shots this year. Wade is virtually unstoppable at anything not involving the 3-point line, and his shot-blocking ability is incredible for a shooting guard.
The Heat are still Wade’s—and not LeBron’s—team as long as he continues to be one of the most clutch players in the NBA.
No. 2 – Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder – “Durantula” is a quicker, more aggressive and more athletic version of Dirk Nowitzki. That’s scary. Durant might be the best scorer since Michael Jordan.
Before that sounds too outrageous, look at the fact that he shoots the ball far better than James, and he drives to the basket better than Bryant. I would go as far as to say he is pretty darn close to a hybrid of the two.
And most important, he is the guy you want on your team if you are down a basket with one possession left. Durant always takes the shot in those situations, and he makes it, too.
No. 1 – LeBron James, Miami Heat – If it’s the fourth quarter—particularly the fourth quarter in the NBA Finals—LeBron James is about as irrelevant to the game as the camera man.
James dominates in every facet of the game for three quarters, then King James mysteriously becomes Prince James, and everything he did for the first 36 minutes goes right out the window as he begs sidekick Dwyane Wade to bail him out. All that said, I still have James as the best player in the NBA.
He is on pact to have the most efficient season an NBA player has ever had, according to the John Hollinger Player Efficiency Rating, which measures a player’s overall impact. No disrespect to Durant, but there is a bigger difference between James’ and Durant’s defense in favor of James than there is between their offense in favor of Durant.
Come May and June, James current standing will likely change if he continues to embarrass himself on the big stage, but as for now, he is still King of the NBA.
