Is LeBron James too good? If you ask Erik Spoelstra, that just might be the case. The Heat are the best team in the East and LeBron is having an MVP-caliber season. He’s averaging 27.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game. Perhaps more importantly, LeBron has played tremendous defense. According to Spoelstra, King James is the most consistently great player in the NBA. That may be true, but does he get less attention than he deserves because of it?
“If you compare it to any of the all-time greats — what he’s doing — it’s on par or arguably even better than what anybody has done and we need him to have an MVP season quite frankly to go where we want to go,” Spoelstra said during an interview with WQAM in Miami. “Of course his head coach is going to say that but he is so unique and dimensional and his consistent greatness is one of his negatives in terms of how he is perceived because you take it for granted.
“I think the media and people who judge him take it for granted what he’s able to do on both ends of the court. He’s a true two way player. He can lead the league in scoring, but he can also get double digit assists and get everyone involved. He can do it in the post, in transition, on pick and rolls, isolation, and defensively what he is doing for us this year I don’t know if that has really been matched in terms of guarding one through five every single game.”
Spoelstra also alluded to the way LeBron is able to sprint from one end of the court to another to block a layup, but that is certainly something he gets credit for. Every time James does that it’s all over Sportscenter, so I’m not sure what other attention Spoelstra expects.
As for LeBron being underrated, that is true of every superstar to a certain extent. Guys like LeBron and Kobe are held to their own standard. We don’t take LeBron’s performances and compare them to Ray Allen’s, because that wouldn’t make sense. Besides, none of the Heat players should be thinking about individual recognition or MVP resumes. Isn’t the goal to win not one, not two, not three championships?
