Jordan: "LeBron would be an average player"

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/spo...rts/5118093.htm

 

Jordan: LeBron as rookie would be 'average'

Associated Press

 

NEW YORK - Here's the scouting report from Michael Jordan: Right now, high school superstar LeBron James would be only an average NBA player.

 

"It's going to be harder for him than it was for me, Kobe [bryant] or anyone else, because of the exposure that he's gathered," Jordan told the MSG Network on Tuesday.

 

"Is he capable? Yes. He has the skills that most 18-year-olds do not have. Now, if you equate that to playing in the league, I think he would be an average player in our league right now with the potential to be a better player."

 

James, a 6-8 senior at St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio, is expected to forgo college and be the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft.

 

"To say that he can step in at the same level as a Tracy McGrady or a Kobe Bryant would be unfair to LeBron James," Jordan said.

 

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When you hear that from one of the best ever, you better accept it and hope to prove MJ wrong.

[Guest Lethargic]

I think average is stretching it. Ecspecially for the first year. But I really believe this kid is gonna crash and burn. I just have a feeling that something is gonna go wrong this guy. The whole situation reminds me so much of Mike Tyson. A young kid with a lot of talent, surrounded by a bunch of morons that are only looking for some money. Nobody is trying to teach this guy right from wrong or anything like that. Unless he ends up on a team with somebody that will really take him under their wing and teach him how the real world operates, I bet he's out of the league in 5 years tops. Probably trying to kill himself with tylenol or something. I think the best thing that could happen is that he somehow happens to end up on the Wizards where Jordan could become a sort of "father" figure to him. Or maybe with Garnett in Minnesotta. It's really gonna take somebody willing to put in some extra time to turn this kid into a man. Garnett was lucky to end up with having McHale being there to help him adjust to the NBA life.

 

He reminds me a lot of JR Rider. Except Rider had a mom that would run on the court and spank him for being a idiot. Lebron's mom seems to encourage him to be an idiot.

[Guest Still Fly]

Lethargic, why would you want LeBron James to crash and burn and throw his dreams away? Hes a damn good player and why would want bad things to happen to him? There no history of him doing bad things other than taking 2 jerseys from a sports store. There is no comparison between LeBron James and Mike Tyson because James has no emotional problems. LeBron James is just a young kid that plays basketball and sees baketball as way out of the hood and into a better life. James looks like a pretty level headed guy to me, and justs needs some direction (like we ALL do in life) from a father figure thats all. Hes not drug user, thug or bad person. James' mom is just looking out for him like any mother would do. It just seems to me that some people are really jealous and want him fail. WHY? If anybody wants anybody to crash and burn like you have describe has some serious problems. I mean hes an honors student for crying out loud!

[Guest Lethargic]

Will you please find one instance in my post where I said I WANTED him to crash and burn? Or do you just make up things to respond to?

[Guest hardyz1]

"James, a 6-8 senior at St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio, is expected to forgo college and be the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft."

 

Expected?!? It's been a forgone conclusion for months now.

[Guest Zero_Cool]

You heard it right now, the New York Knicks are going to draft LeBron James with the first pick in the NBA Draft

 

MJ's right, too. But I think most people can see that James would only be average right now.

[Guest DrTom]

You heard it right now, the New York Knicks are going to draft LeBron James with the first pick in the NBA Draft

To do that, they have to hope one of their ping-pong balls is picked out of the fishbowl in the exceedinly silly "draft lottery" the NBA continues to use every year. Whoever ends up with the first pick, though, will certainly take him.

 

I think he'll get a rude awakening his first couple years, but he should start playing well by his third year. He still needs some serious work on fundamentals, though, and skimping on them could definitely hamper his development.

[Guest Sandman9000]

Of course, whoever gets that first pick will be contacted in seconds by the Cavs, who will basically tell the holders of that magic first pick to name their price.

 

Three years appears to be the average amount of time it takes for a player out of high school to truly come into their own. (a.k.a. hit 21) He'll be an All-Star starter the first year, due to all the hype, but after that is a crapshoot. The only thing I can really say is check back in 2006 and see how he's doing.

 

However, 2:1 that there is someone taken later in the first round who ends up making a bigger impact on their team and the league in general.

[Guest ShooterJay]

However, 2:1 that there is someone taken later in the first round who ends up making a bigger impact on their team and the league in general.

Oh no doubt,

 

I equate the LeBron hype to an NFL team picking whoever wins the Heisman that year. Carson Palmer for example, I have a feeling he is going to be a HORRIBLE NFL quarterback, a Danny Wuerffel bust. I was watching the USC/Auburn game, and it was blatantly obvious even to me he doesn't have what it takes- but he's got a lot of hype so he'll go high. Meanwhile, guys who put up big numbers but are ignored, like Chad Pennington was, end up really good. I agree w/MJ's assessment- unlike Palmer, LeBron does have skill, but he's not all he's cracked up to be. I wish teams (well, at least the Boston ones) would pay more attention to stats than hype- Chauncey Billlups and Ron Mercer anyone?

 

Then again, I was totally wrong about Yao Ming, so we'll see.

[Guest Lethargic]

Last I saw, James says he refuses to play for the Cavs even if they draft him because of them firing Jerry Lucas who had been courting him for the past year. A lot of people seem to think that it doesn't matter who drafts him, James is going to demand a trade to the Wizards just like Kobe demanded and got a trade to the Lakers from the Hornets.

 

I would hope that the Knicks wouldn't be stupid enough to draft him. How does Lebron James fix ANYTHING on the Knicks? If they drafted him and then traded him maybe it'd do them some good, but adding Lebron James to that team is a disaster waiting to happen. Look how much pressue is on him now, imagine him in New York, 10 times the pressure. Knicks fans aren't going to sit and wait 3-4 years for some high school kid to grow up.

 

If I was New York and I won the lottery. And if Cleveland still wants to try to get Lebron. I'd trade that pick for Ilgauskus and a couple of lower picks. Draft another big man and a PG and they'd be set. Of course the Knicks scouting department doesn't seem to exist so they'd probably just draft a couple more busts.

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

Can somebody explain to me why the NBA has a 'lottery' system for the #1 pick?

 

doesn't that defeat the purpose of a draft if the best team has a shot of getting the best player with the first pick?

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

"Expected?!? It's been a forgone conclusion for months now."

 

It's a media thing -- he's not the #1 pick yet, so if you're a reporter you have to speculate. Just like when covering a trial, you don't say "Bob Smith is on trial for killing his mom," you say "Bob Smith is on trial for ALLEGEDLY killing his mom." You keep saying this until Bob gets convicted or his scumbag lawyer gets him off...

[Guest phoenixrising]

Can somebody explain to me why the NBA has a 'lottery' system for the #1 pick?

 

doesn't that defeat the purpose of a draft if the best team has a shot of getting the best player with the first pick?

Checked my NBA Encyclopedia for this one...

 

It's there so that teams don't start deliberately losing games at the end of the season in order to improve their position in the draft. So the first few spots are picked with the lottery, and everything else goes according to won-loss record. However, the teams with the worst records have more balls in the machine, thus increasing their chances of recieving a better pick.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Tell the Cavaliers worst record doesn't get the #1 pick.

 

Did any school think of asking James if he'd go to there school?

[Guest Lethargic]

Can somebody explain to me why the NBA has a 'lottery' system for the #1 pick?

 

doesn't that defeat the purpose of a draft if the best team has a shot of getting the best player with the first pick?

There is no way the best team could get the #1 spot. The "best" team would be in the playoffs. The draft lottery is only for teams that didn't make the playoffs.

 

I love the lottery. Hell, there's more excitement in watching Elgin Baylor sit at that little podium every year waiting for the Clippers card to come out of that envelope than there is in watching the Clippers play a game. It adds more fun to it for me than just doing your standard record based draft. Gives it some suspense and whatnot. A chance for a shocker like Orlando lucking up and getting the #1 pick the year they got Anfernee. Or when the Spurs ended sucking that one year and got Duncan. Or the year before last when we got to have fun with all the conspiracy theories about the NBA rigging it for Jordan.

 

I do wish that they would figure out a way to do it live though. I think that would be even more fun to watch the balls pop out. But the process is so complicated right now that it's impossible to do it live.

 

Does anybody know when the last time the team with the actual worst record ended up with the 1st pick? I can't really remember ever seeing it happen off the top of my head.

[Guest DrTom]

I think the draft lottery is preposterous. No other sport seems to have a problem with conducting a draft in reverse order of finish. The NBA alone seems to be paranoid about teams tanking games and deliberately sucking so they can get the first draft pick. Why they alone have this fear is unknown, but the worst team should always get the first pick. If they get the sixth, it's not going to help them as much. Conversely, if you had the sixth-worst record in the league and ended up with the #1 because you had the lucky ping-pong ball, what incentive is there to try and win all the games you can?

 

Did any school think of asking James if he'd go to there school?

The NCAA has said he wouldn't be eligible right away, presumably because of some of the things that have threatened to derail his high school career.

[Guest Lethargic]

Conversely, if you had the sixth-worst record in the league and ended up with the #1 because you had the lucky ping-pong ball, what incentive is there to try and win all the games you can?

Uh....to get OUT of the lottery maybe?

[The Dames 0]

Conversely, if you had the sixth-worst record in the league and ended up with the #1 because you had the lucky ping-pong ball, what incentive is there to try and win all the games you can?

Uh....to get OUT of the lottery maybe?

Why take the 7th pick guaranteed when you can have 1 through 6 possibly?

 

Dames

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Maybe they should tweak it slightly. In the NHL only the 4 worst teams can get the #1 pick, and the worse team can pick no lower than maybe #3.

[Guest DrTom]

Uh....to get OUT of the lottery maybe?

But why, when there's a chance your ping-pong ball might be the one selected? To me, the lottery just means more teams have no incentive to win. Instead of one or two teams throwing in the towel, you have six teams throwing in the towel, all on the chance that they might get the first overall pick. What a truly magnificent system...

 

Reverse order of finish is still the best system to use.

[Guest Lethargic]

Uh....to get OUT of the lottery maybe?

But why, when there's a chance your ping-pong ball might be the one selected? To me, the lottery just means more teams have no incentive to win. Instead of one or two teams throwing in the towel, you have six teams throwing in the towel, all on the chance that they might get the first overall pick. What a truly magnificent system...

 

Reverse order of finish is still the best system to use.

This theory is like being trapped in a maze. I keep trying to figure it out but I keep running into walls.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

LeBron James won't have a harder time of adjusting to the NBA than anyone else. Lethargic may not WISH him to crash and burn, but it certainly seems he is expecting it for whatever reason. I can't see why. So many folks have jumped from high school to the NBA before him. Sure, he'll have some regular rookie woes and "hit the wall" as all rookies tend to do during the halfway point of the season, but that's life. He'll come along just like anyone else.

[Guest Lethargic]

Like I said, I just have a bad feeling about it. And from every interview and story about the kid, it seems like he's really got some bad people surrounding him to try to milk off some of his celebrity and money. He may have a good head on his shoulders, but it's gonna take more than that to get through the adjustment of going from HS to the NBA PLUS dealing with the amount of pressure that is going to be on him due to all this hype PLUS dealing with all the beggars and hanger-ons that view him as a meal ticket PLUS all the jealousy that all of the above brings. I hope he overcomes all that just fine but I have a bad feeling that he won't.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

Dude, he ain't the first person to go through that nor will he be the last. In fact, I'm sure ANY athlete about to turn pro go through all you mentioned and more. I'm sure it NEVER stops. Thousands of people made it through that drama before LeBron, plenty will make it after. He'll be just fine.

[Guest Lethargic]

Dude, he ain't the first person to go through that nor will he be the last. In fact, I'm sure ANY athlete about to turn pro go through all you mentioned and more. I'm sure it NEVER stops. Thousands of people made it through that drama before LeBron, plenty will make it after. He'll be just fine.

Name one that has had this amount of hype surrounding him. Kobe and Garnett had some, but nowhere near this level. They weren't broadcasting their high school games on ESPN and on PPV. People knew who those guys were, but it was nothing like this at all. Thousands have gone stuff like this and made it, but there are a hell of a lot that went through it and didn't make it as well.

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

However, 2:1 that there is someone taken later in the first round who ends up making a bigger impact on their team and the league in general.

Oh no doubt,

 

I equate the LeBron hype to an NFL team picking whoever wins the Heisman that year. Carson Palmer for example, I have a feeling he is going to be a HORRIBLE NFL quarterback, a Danny Wuerffel bust. I was watching the USC/Auburn game, and it was blatantly obvious even to me he doesn't have what it takes- but he's got a lot of hype so he'll go high. Meanwhile, guys who put up big numbers but are ignored, like Chad Pennington was, end up really good. I agree w/MJ's assessment- unlike Palmer, LeBron does have skill, but he's not all he's cracked up to be. I wish teams (well, at least the Boston ones) would pay more attention to stats than hype- Chauncey Billlups and Ron Mercer anyone?

 

Then again, I was totally wrong about Yao Ming, so we'll see.

I miss football so much, I quoted ShooterJay's post just so I'd see talk about it twice in this thread.

 

Oh, and by the way, I never endorse any player going professional right out of high school. Must be the education freak in me.

[Guest alkeiper]

At least when LeBron is drafted, he'll be among NBA basketball players, who could take him under their wing.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

Name one that has had this amount of hype surrounding him. Kobe and Garnett had some, but nowhere near this level. They weren't broadcasting their high school games on ESPN and on PPV. People knew who those guys were, but it was nothing like this at all.

 

Just because their drama wasn't broadcast for you to see doesn't mean it was non-existent or somehow lesser than what LeBron James is going through. I'm sure it was equally as rough for Kobe and Garnett, as well as players who didn't come right out of high school.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

I found it kind of cool that Kobe Bryant took Brandy to HIS high school prom, before he stepped foot in the NBA(obviously)...