LeBron’s path to the top goes through Houston
LeBron James is the greatest player of his generation.
Over the course of his 15-year (and counting) NBA career, James has proven time and time again that he is the single best basketball player in the modern era. He currently ranks in the top 25 all-time in career assists (12th all-time), and steals (20th all-time) and is in the top 10 for career points (ninth all-time), career 50-point games (sixth all-time), and career triple-doubles (seventh all-time).
Only eight active players have played more games than James and out of that eight, only three –Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and Vince Carter — have played more minutes. Yet, while that trio seems to be entering the twilight of their playing days, LeBron is showing no signs of slowing down despite the immense amount of mileage he’s piled up at 32 years-old (he’ll turn 33 at the end of the month — the same age Michael Jordan was when he started his second three-peat).
James’ MVP-caliber efforts in the 2017-18 season (28.3 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game and 8.7 assists per game) are coming at just the right time.
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Once again, the best basketball player in the world will be a free agent this upcoming summer. The past two times LeBron has honestly dipped his toe into the open market he’s left for greener pastures (Miami in 2010 and Cleveland in 2014). Summer 2018 will be the next entry point in what can be argued is a four-year cycle for James.
Several teams have worked their salary cap in a way that will allow them to try and entice James with a max contract and youthful talent (Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers). But, there is really only one route for James to take if he wants to possibly overtake Jordan as the greatest of all-time (GOAT): the Houston Rockets
Ever since stealing James Harden away from under the noses of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Rockets have been looking to pair him with other stars in order to bring the franchise its first NBA title since 1995. Dwight Howard and Harden never meshed, Chris Paul has been brought in to rousing success this season, but the Golden State Warriors and “The Hamptons Five” still loom large out west.
This season, the Rockets are one of three teams with a top 10 offense and defense — the Warriors and Toronto Raptors (!) are the other two — under the tutelage of Mike D’Antoni and with one of Harden or Paul running the show for all 48 minutes, this team has the offensive firepower to hang with any team in the NBA. Their turnaround on defense has been the biggest factor in their rise to the best record in the league.
That defense has been bolstered by the additions of P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute as 3-and-D wings that can guard any position one through five. Both are having one of their best shooting seasons from the 3-point line (37.2 percent for Tucker and 40.3 percent for Mbah a Moute).
Now, imagine replacing their combined 53-plus minutes per game with 37 minutes of LeBron James, who combines their defensive versatility and outside shooting (James is hitting 41.7 percent of his 3-pointers this season) with the addition of elite playmaking, rim protection, and another player defenses have to account for at all times.
Not to mention, there’s a scenario where the Rockets adding James would not cost them Clint Capela. A defense anchored by Paul on the perimeter, Capela on the interior and James roaming freely could be catastrophic for opponents.
A trio of James, Harden and Paul is not only on equal footing to Golden State’s quintet of Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson from a star standpoint, but they also match in terms of talent.
James brings the best attributes of Green and Iguodala defensively while being a far superior offensive threat. Paul possesses as deadly a catch-and-shoot ability as Thompson and is on-par with Iguodala as a perimeter defender, albeit tilted towards smaller players. Then there’s Harden who can catch fire at a moment’s notice from beyond the arc like Curry and is an offensive enigma like Durant.
One prevailing narrative that came out of James’ return to Cleveland was his wish to have the Cavaliers organization run more like what Pat Riley has built in Miami. While not exactly a one-to-one comparison, the Rockets possess one of the most forward thinking front offices, were just purchased for $2.2 billion by a deep-pocketed owner, and have a coach who’s enough of an offensive genius to know how to properly incorporate a player like LeBron into his system.
Questions arose when the Rockets added Paul specifically focusing on if D’Antoni’s offense can run with two ball dominant players at the helm. Houston is yet to lose a game that Paul has played in, as of Sunday.
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James already has the feather in his cap of defeating better teams than Jordan in the NBA Finals (2013 Spurs and 2016 Warriors), but being the reason a juggernaut like the Warriors doesn’t even make it to the Finals would be the ultimate ace in the hole for his argument as to why he is the GOAT.
James versus Jordan is no longer as far-fetched a debate as it once seemed Though he might not ever give us a commercial phenomenon akin to “Like Mike”, James’ play on the court has been consistently above and beyond our wildest expectations for 15 years. LeBron is still seven years away from reaching the same age Jordan was when he hung his jersey up for good. If James does opt to join Houston it isn’t that crazy to think James could add three more titles and pass Jordan in the debate that creates the most noise, RINGZZZZZZZ!