As the NBA season approaches, many sports pages start releasing their rankings of teams and players. LeBron James is number 1 on almost every one of those lists. LeBron James took the league by the storm when he made his NBA debut in 2003. He has been one of the best players in the league in every season he has played and the best player in the world in the last couple of years. Sports Illustrated released their Top 100 NBA Players of 2018 list a couple of days ago. Many fans and players were outraged because of some decision that SI made, but one thing was for sure and that is that LeBron James is number one.
Even his biggest haters (read: Skip Bayless) have admitted that he is the best in the world at the moment.
LeBron is still the best
Over the past couple of years many players have emerged as the superstars in the league, but none of them has managed to surpass LeBron James. He is still the most complete player in the world, he can defend any position, he can score at will, his basketball IQ might the best in the league, and he is a leader and a champion. There isn't a player in the league, other than Kyre Irving, who wouldn't like to play with LeBron. LeBron is getting older, so he has to change his style of play but that doesn't undermine his greatness. He now plays a bigger playmaker role and tries to get his teammates involved, but he is still a great scorer.
His 3-point shot has improved, so it enables him to save his body and strength. He has matured and is now a great teammate and a leader of his team. Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, or Stephen Curry may take his place as the best in the world in the future, but for now no one is better than King James.
James needs to have a monster year after Irving's departure
In this offseason, Kyrie Irving demanded a trade from Cleveland and was eventually traded to Boston Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and a first-round pick from the Brooklyn Nets. Some may argue that this trade makes Cleveland a better team than than they were last year, but it is hard to replace a great talent such as Kyrie Irving.
Irving had a closer role for the Cavs because of the fact that he is a much better shooter than LeBron and probably one of the best in the league in clutch situations. Now that he is gone, LeBron will have to have more of his signature games where he takes over and be absolutely unstoppable in order for the Cavs to reach the NBA FInals. This is probably one of the last years of LeBron's dominance and we need to enjoy watching his greatness while we still can.
