Back when LeBron often ended high school games in the first half...

[klientel]

Oak Hill white boys??

Don’t tell him that’s where Melo played....

Let him continue to think it’s 5’7 white boys

 

[Killer Instinct]

I often stay away from the phrase "Born to do... " but LeBron was absolutely born to hoop. What's most impressive to me is how willing a passer he was. He was by far and away MILES ahead of the kids he was playing with and yet he still shared the wealth and showed mercy on the opposition. Kid could have legitimately averaged 45 PPG - 50 PPG & had multiple 70 - 100 point games if he went out with the mindset that everybody must die. Like, those kids on the other teams were legitimately at his mercy. Those box scores could have been so much more embarrassing.

 

[Big Boss]

There is no debate LeBron fulfilled the hype. Its widely acknowledged that the NBA gave away MVPs (at minimum 1) because of "LeBron Fatigue" to other guys that deserved to be his. He should have at least 5 MVPs, and you can argue he could have up to 7...

Besides shutting himself out of a ring in '11, its widely acknowledged that he could potentially have another chip in '15 if his horses were with him. Nobody with basketball sense thinks his squad was supposed to beat the Spurs in '07 or '14 or the Warriors in '17 or '18...

His impact on the sport as the most versatile player ever is widely acknowledged. He's one if the greatest scorers of all time without being a score first player---->if LeBron was a score first guy he'd easily have probably 5 scoring titles and a 32+ career average...

In his prime he could defend any position, his anticipation was unparalleled. As he's aged and become a lesser defender, his ability to STILL impact games defensively in critical junctions is extremely underrated...

He took a franchise that was NOTHING before him and made them annual contenders and eventual champions. What other GOAT did this besides Mike or Kareem? Not Larry, Magic, Kobe, Shaq, Wilt, etc...

Came into The League with everybody gunning for him and met the challenge head on even if it wasn't always pretty. He took his L's and he always could sulk sometimes and get moody but he NEVER ran from the challenge...

His impact on the sport from a cultural perspective is unmatched by anyone besides Mike. The 2nd greatest player of the 2010s is patterning his entire career (not his game, but his career) after Bron on some Kobe-after-Mike shyt. What does that say when the 2nd greatest player of an era is so consumed with chasing you?

Missed 40% of the 2000s and is still a Top 10 player of that era. Is the #1 player of the 2010s by a landslide and dominated the era in every meaningful facet besides team success, and yet is still as accomplished as the greatest team in that era--->Warriors won 3 chips in the '10s, Bron won 3 chips in the '10s, and its widely acknowledged that the Warriors retooled with the Express interest of keeping Bron from winning all the chips (and it worked, kudos to them)...

He was every team, every player, every coaches primary focus. He was the best player in the NBA for a decade...

I can keep going, any assertion that LeBron hasn't exceeded the hype isn't rooted in anything realistic unless you expected him to win every championship and every MVP, which again, isn't realistic...

His only challengers as the #1 GOAT is Mike and Kareem. The vast majority of unbiased basketball heads acknowledge this without trouble, saying he's #4 or #5 is low but a listenable argument, and anyone who claims he isn't Top 5 has exposed themselves as an ignorant hater. Again, most people have him Top 3 without fuss and many have him Top 2...

He's gonna disappoint a lot if people if he goes on a late career run winning championships like Tom Brady, who won in Year 17 (and SB MVP) and won again in Year 19. None of us can guarantee anything, but he's going into Year 17 this year. If he wins two more chips, that would be 5 chips in double digit Finals with potentially 5 Finals MVPs, this guy could literally spend two thirds of his career playing in NBA Finals (he's already played in 9 in 16 seasons, 56%)...

But he hasn't exceeded the hype hahahahahaha...

7 mvps

 

[10bandz]

Seems like you wished Bron accomplished where he previously came up short. Doesn’t work like that but Bron is an atg

These dudes type up essays on Saturday morning cuz they think that makes them right No one in this thread even claimed he didn’t exceed the hype and he typed all that anyway

 

[A1aaa]

That passing vision in high school

#1 player of this generation... top 2-3 all-time . Took the torch from MJ along with the media scrutiny and ran with it.

 

[KingJay]

HS Bron was different
there were some heat mixtapes before people starting post all these dumbass full game highlights
but one half of a game from Bron was all you needed to see, clearly different

 

[CJ]

Used all my allowance that year to buy a School Yard Legends St Mary's LBJ jersey in gold lol.

 

[RAX 010]

 

[pcg]

And y’all gotta remember this was before the YouTube, Instagram, mixtape era. A lot of these teams had probably heard rumors or had no idea what was about to happen.

Can you imagine that shyt? You done finally made varsity, you had your clean fit on for game day. Getting all hype in warmups. Then this mother fukker shows up. Alright, so what he a 6’8 point guard? So what he can dunk from the damn free throw line....I’d be heated.

if im playing lebron, my girl aint going to the damn game

 

[Curtis Nightfish]

“I’m chasing a ghost”

How’s that going for you

You can’t spin 3-6

 

[cartierhoe]

And y’all gotta remember this was before the YouTube, Instagram, mixtape era. A lot of these teams had probably heard rumors or had no idea what was about to happen.

Can you imagine that shyt? You done finally made varsity, you had your clean fit on for game day. Getting all hype in warmups. Then this mother fukker shows up. Alright, so what he a 6’8 point guard? So what he can dunk from the damn free throw line....I’d be heated.

I seen a tweet that said imagine guarding this nikka after a day of Algebra 2

 

[cartierhoe]

I don’t know how you can deny dude’s talent, he just has it.

 

[NobleDrewAli]

GOAT.

 

[pete clemenza]

 

[#1 pick]

First time i hearing bout Bron was this cover....

.saw him on ESPN like a week later and thought the same shyt

I heard about him as a HS Soph. They were giving Eboni Bates treatment