The Sixth Sense: Let's be completely honest about Lebron James once and for all!

Not only did Lebron James match the expectations people had of him coming out of high school, he surpassed them by leaps and bounds! 

The great Oscar Robinson aside, I don't know if there has ever been a more complete and dominating player than LJ.

*On Robinson,

people with short term memories seem to forget how many double - doubles the Big O may have racked up, mainly because stats weren't kept as meticulously as they are now and there was no ESPN or Sports Center around when Robinson was taking names and giving opponents   _The Business_

Lebron does so many things at such a high level on BOTH ends of the floor.

Running the point, passing, scoring and defending, shot blocking....

I know it's blasphemy for many but not even #23 was the point forward or passer #6 is. 

Strength, speed, power athleticism? There were players that matched James in some of those categories but NONE IN ALL FOUR! 

 Lebron detractors, have their had abilities to asses his skills blurred by resentment ( some people still can't let go of THE DECISION) and they continue to  reminisce over their favorite players of the past / present  through rose colored glasses. 

And the championship ring argument? Ninja please. You can NOT equate basketball greatness solely on  the number NBA titles. If true marginal players on Championship teams who've made marginal contributions are greater players than Miller, Barkley, Ewing, Malone, Webber, Wilkins, Stockton....

You see where I'm going with this. And if rings were the sole determiner of basketball greatness, the GOAT is Mr Bill Russell when you consider the fact that he has every player beat by a nearly 2-1 margin with ELEVEN CHAMPIONSHIPS! Why then is he rarely mentioned in the same conversation with Jordan, Bird  and Magic except by people who really appreciate the game and what Russell has  accomplished?

One of the reasons is that rings are the ultimate goal but not a solitary factor for determining basketball greatness.

Lebron may never  get 11 rings like B.R or even 6 they way Jordan did but he also never had the consistent (key word) help from team mates and role players that those gentlemen had on a game to game basis.

If he retired today and decided he wanted to be the world's tallest soccer or tennis player, LJ's is already a lock for one of the top 6 players of all time and as far as raw talent and ability, probably #1.

A very interesting video by ESPN's Michael Smith