The King of Cleveland, Miami, and now ruling Los Angeles -- you could say Lebron James has made his rounds. Just like most NBA players, Lebron's game has evolved over the span of his career. Let's take a trip down memory lane and look back at how Lebron's game has changed for the good.
Stage 1: Teenage Years ( "No Jumpshot" )
The upcoming 2003-2004 NBA season had everyone excited. Were the fans more excited about Syracuse standout Carmelo Anthony, or Marquette standout Dwyane Wade? The correct answer would be neither -- it was St. Vincent-St. Mary standout Lebron James everyone was looking forward to. Lebron did not disappoint, as the city of Cleveland knew they had a special talent when in his debut Lebron racked up 25 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Yes, Lebron was a scoring machine right off from tip-off, but there was only one problem: he did not have a solid jumpshot. For the whole 2003-2004 season, Lebron totaled 1654 points on 1492 field goals attempted. Out of those 1492 shots, only 217 were 3's. His all around game was very solid, shooting 43% from the field and averaging 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists, but his 3 point % worried Cleveland some. James shot 29% from 3 for the year. This made everyone question, would Lebron become the player people wanted him to be?
Comparison player to teenage Lebron (2003) : Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans)
Zion is the perfect comparison to Lebron when first coming into the league, thought there are couple of big differences between the two. Zion is 40 pounds bigger than Lebron was his rookie year, and this weight span is making Zion dominate without shooting any jumpshots. However, almost every NBA analyst has agreed that Zion will not dominate without shooting any attempts from three. This was the same statement that was made when Lebron was in his rookie season.
The other difference is Zion is starting his career with much better talent than what Lebron had to work with. Lebron's best teammates were both big men, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Carlos Boozer. Both of them were at the tail end of their career; therefore, Lebron was the main guy for the Cavaliers right off the bat. For Zion, he is starting off his career right playing with future all-stars Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, along with veteran Jrue Holiday.
Stage 2: Identity Search ( "Heating up to Prime - Time" )
"I'm taking my talents to South Beach." These were the words people did not want to come out of Lebron's mouth. This Miami Heat roster was not very deep, and focused on all - star guard Dwyane Wade, Lebron had "rings" on his mind. Joining Wade was already a lot to take in, but then came in more bad news: Chris Bosh was headed to Miami on a sign-and-trade deal forming " The Big Three."
With Lebron joining Miami, he found himself experiencing a new role. With Wade and Bosh still being dominant scoring threats, Lebron was searching for his new role without doing more. Facilitating is the first thought that comes to mind. With Lebron averaging 8.6 APG the season before heading to Miami, his APG and PPG both dropped as he was looking to get everyone around him more involved. Even though Wade and Bosh's PPG dropped as well, all 3 vets had to give up a little bit of their stats to win a championship. In this case, for this Miami team, stats did not matter. Winning was their only mindset.
"I'm taking my talents to South Beach."
Comparison to finding himself Lebron (2010): Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers)
What a coincidence that these two are now teammates. Is it really fair to the NBA? Davis is the perfect comparison to the "finding himself" Lebron, as now in his fourth year he is digging deep to find what type of player he is -- and what he will become. Davis in his first three years was all the Pelicans had. He was it. He was forced to become one of the best players in the NBA by being asked to dominate every night and do everything with little to no help. Now with Davis leaving the Pelicans and joining Lebron in L.A., he has come to realize that he does not have to do everything by himself, as he has help around him to hopefully win his first ring.
Stage 3: The Parental Role ( "Test Time" )
"I'm coming home." Lebron shocked the world after roaming the top with Miami the past few seasons. Reuniting with the Cavs was huge for Lebron and the city of Cleveland, but this next time around Lebron was not going to be left empty -handed and forced to do everything. You could say he had some help from rising star Kyrie Irving, former all- star Kevin Love, and dominant big man Tristan Thompson, who on the down low every night got close to a double-double. Kyrie, before practice, was asked a question that he did not understand, nor did he like: " Will Lebron play a parental role this season with the Cavaliers?" This question had many answer possibilities, but Kyrie decided to go with the casual answer: " Lebron is a great leader, but not a father figure to us, I have one father and that's all."
Lebron was now in the stage of his career where he knew how dominant he really was. At this time he was arguably considered the best player in the whole NBA. This "parental role" question that was asked really is a great question, and shows the best example is Lebron is a father figure. Just like most parents, they let their kids solve their own problems and when they need help, they step in and take charge -- and for Lebron, that is what was going to happen. In this case, Kyrie was one of the best young guards in the game, and him and Lebron shared the role of the "go to guy". He wanted Kyrie to take over, and he had faith he would hit the clutch shots and game winners when he needed to. And for Love, he just played his role and took charge when he needed to as well.
Comparison to Parental Role Lebron (2016): Kawhi Leonard (Los Angeles Clippers)
Toronto hero Kawhi Leonard has been on a similar journey as Lebron. Coming in as a young leader, Kawhi was put into the " all - defensive " role, guarding the best player all the time from Lebron, to Kobe, to Paul Pierce. After all of the vets retiring in San Antonio, Kawhi had nobody left, and he was now put into the "do everything yourself" role. Once this happened, Kawhi set off, starting his "finding himself" stage in Toronto.
Becoming the most dominant player and taking out Giannis, Kawhi knew after that series that no one was getting in his way. Now in Los Angeles, Kawhi is in the "parental role," joining all-star Paul George. Kawhi has many good role players around him in Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell and George, when he returns from injury. Kawhi's role right now is, as he said, to, " dominate when I have to and let everyone else do there jobs to make my job a little bit easier."
Stage 4: Old Man Game ( "Sit back and Chill" )
One ring in Cleveland is all it took for Kyrie to leave Lebron's side. This is the part in a father's life where their child doesn't need them anymore, as they are all grown up and think they can do everything by themselves. For Lebron and Kyrie, it was that time. Lebron had to let Kyrie go on his own way as he left to go be the main guy now for the Boston Celtics, and now the Brooklyn Nets as of this season. Now in his 16th season, Lebron is now just chilling, and is playing the game he loves to play. With the talent LA has brought in over this past season, Lebron does not have to do as much as he has had to do in the past, as they acquired All-NBA big man Anthony Davis, sharpshooter Danny Green, and another All - NBA big man Dwight Howard.
This season, Lebron is averaging a career low 31.2 minutes per game. As Lebron gets older, just like every other NBA player, they tend to start to slow down as it's a lot on their body. This leads to load management, as the Lakers have done the season before. Lebron is now in " Old Man " mode and is letting everyone else do their thing until the times he has to take over for them to win the game. I guess you could say Lebron is also getting close to somewhat being done, as vs the Jazz -- after scoring a bucket headed into a timeout -- Lebron's fake hair actually started to come off and fall out before the timeout was over. Everyone will need to keep an eye on Lebron's minutes per play, and his hairline to see how much Lebron impacts the Lakers this season.
Comparison to Old Man Game Lebron (2019) : Tim Duncan ( San Antonio Spurs 1998-2016 )
Duncan, one of the most dominating big men of all time, is the perfect comparison to " Old Man Game " Lebron. Now we could also go with Dirk Nowitzki or Vince Carter, but I feel Duncan fits the example better. In San Antonio, Duncan always had good talent around him from his rookie season with Hall of Famer David Robinson to his old man years with future Hall of Famers Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. Duncan, at one point of his career, was just like Lebron: unstoppable. Averaging 25.7 PPG and 12.7 RPG when in his most dominant stage, his numbers died down, getting everyone else around him the ball. When Duncan's numbers dropped down to 14.9 PPG and 9.9 RPG, this was because this was the start of the " Kawhi dynasty."
With Kawhi's game now being on the rise, and with Danny Green and Patty Mills slowly keeping up, this made Duncan, Parker and Ginobili's game die down for the good. Coming in clutch when needing to, this led Duncan to his 5th NBA title. If Lebron can play the same role in LA this season, will the same result come for Lebron, leading him to his fourth?
Future... Soon to Happen...
Stage 5: Successful Lebron ( "Business is Boomin" )
Tuesday is now Lebron's favorite day of the week. It's probably game day, but more importantly, it's " Taco Tuesday." Lebron is one of the most successful businessmen in the NBA. Between his shoes, shirts and other merchandise he is connected to, Lebron will always be bringing in money. Taco Tuesday is pretty successful right now; as a meme and as a slogan, Lebron has already sold close to $250,000 worth of just Taco Tuesday merchandise. His net worth is already solid, sitting at $480 million. He should be set after he decides to hang em up.
With Lebron not signing with Nike when he declined, everyone thought he was crazy, but today he has made close to $500 million off of merchandise after creating his own logo. Lebron could become one of the most successful business pro athletes of all time after retirement begins. He has also shown interest in coaching or becoming a general manager at some point, and this could put him way over the point if he does pursue this decision.
