Bleacher Report - Articles by Nick Buon

Why LeBron James Is "The Chosen One"

Nick Buon — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:04:12 -0500

LeBron James deserves a round of applause. The way he’s played the first five years of his career has been superb, and should be commemorated. With that said, I’ve decided to create a “Why LeBron Is The Chosen One” list.

Time to recognize why he's the best at what he does.

The List

His Swagger: The King knows who he is. Obviously, he knows how to play basketball. Every time he steps on the court, he knows he’s the best player in the arena. Whether he’s playing Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, or Michael Jordan (if he came out of retirement).

He’s confident that he can play just as well, if not better than any of them. This mental attitude gives him a certain type of motivation, like no other, that is needed to lead an elite team in the NBA.

The Way He’s Always Humble: After every win, LeBron will never boast or brag about the victory that he might have just sign-handedly won. It’s always a complete team effort in his eyes. Whether he scores 60 or 10, you’ll never hear him mention stats in a postgame interview or press conference.

Cockiness is not a part of LeBron’s game. He settles what needs to be settled on the court with his ability, not with trash talking.

And One: Every King has to be a robust person, mentally and physically. To rule the land of Cleveland, LeBron can't be weak in any of those areas. While driving the lane, you’ll never see Bron shy away from the rim. He finds a way to weave in an out of the largest defenders.

If you’ve ever seen James play, you’ll notice how tough he is to stop, mostly due to the fact that he brings 250 pounds of pure muscle to the hole on each and every drive. Because of this, he’s drawn hundreds and hundreds of and-one fouls in his career.

His Sense of Humor: We’ve all seen him in the High School Musical Clips on SNL and on the “LeBrons” commercials. "The Chosen One" might not just have been meant to play basketball.

If an injury ever takes his career in a different direction, we’ll know that the SNL crew will easily take him under their wing. The dude has a serious knack for comedy.

His Life Off the Court: Last spring, during the NBA playoffs, I witnessed a five-minute segment on LeBron’s home life. He elaborated on his children, girlfriend, and his love for the James family, which is even more critical to him than his love for basketball.

I watched in awe as he was shown playing with his year-old son, Bryce Maximus with a basketball.

As you readers have probably guessed, I’m an enormous fan of LeBron. However witnessing him around his family, he gained a heap of respect from me. Why? Because knowing that throughout the chaos during the season, he still has time to be a good father to his children, which can sometimes be a much more difficult job than any NBA player.

He’s more than just a phenomenal athlete. He’s a good guy.

The Transition: While being dazzled by LeBron’s versatility on the court, one could forget how young he truly is. As of today, he’s still 24.

When he first entered the league as an 18 year old, barely out of high school, his world wasn’t anything like it is today. In four years at Saint Vincent-Saint Mary High School, he averaged over 25 points, tallied up more than 500 assists, and grabbed 835 boards.

During his rookie NBA season, LeBron adjusted to the NBA like no one anticipated. Yes, he was predicted to win the Rookie of the Year Award, but LeBron went above and beyond his highest expectations.

James led the Wine and Gold to 23 more victories than the previous year, averaged over 20 points per game, and played in 79 of the 82 regular season games. You see players take part in 79 games every year, but LeBron was a mere teenager at the time.

The NBA schedule lingers on much longer than your typical high-school season, and can easily take a toll on someone’s body.

His Clutchness: LeBron James is the ultimate fourth-quarter player. Physically, he has what it takes to get to the basket when needed. Mentally, he focuses on the task at hand at all times, and could drain out the deafening crowd with ease.

The man doesn’t slow down in the fourth quarter like most players do; he accelerates as the game progresses. This isn't something that is too common in any professional sport.

When clutch time (the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime, when neither team is ahead by more than five points, according to 82GAMES.com) comes around, King James earns his paycheck.

Per 48 clutch-time minutes, LeBron averaged a remarkable 56 points in 2007-2008. Disgusting. Just nasty.

Playoff Magic: May 31, 2007. 3:15 left in regulation. Detroit up by seven. On the verge of going up 3-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

LeBron wasn’t going to let the Pistons eliminate his Cavs in two consecutive years. He just wasn’t able to comprehend it. Thus, it forced him to go onto a rampage.

James carried the city of Cleveland on his back during that final stretch, scoring the team’s last 25 points. Throughout the tear, LeBron took (and made) the most crucial shot of his career, a driving lay-up to break the tie, giving his squad a two point lead.

LBJ finished with a playoff career-high 48 points, and engraved his name in the NBA Playoff history books.

Just the Beginning

LeBron James is a household name in the NBA. 10 years from now, that won't be any different. 20 years from now, he'll most likely be retired, and be receiving comparisons to M.J., Kareem, Magic, and Wilt, among the best of all time.

30 years from now, the list will triple due to the fact that his list of accolades will have grown tremendously. And 100 years from now, when someone mentions "The Chosen One" to a sports fan, you'll know who will come to mind.

And The Better Deal Goes To...

Nick Buon — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:18:10 -0500

Overall, Joe Dumars should be happy with the deal he made for AI this past Monday.

He wanted a change, and he got one. The fans (from what I’ve heard) are ecstatic about the completion of this deal, so that in itself should put a smile on Joe’s face.

If it makes the team better, the fans happier, and the money more plentiful, I’d consider it a great deal. But I’m just not sure you could put a check next to all three of those categories.

The Pistons, with Chauncey, haven’t made the Finals since 2005, where they were taken down by the almighty San Antonio Spurs. In '06, they were knocked out in the Conference Finals by D-Wade’s Heat. In '07, my Cleveland Cavaliers sent them packing in the Conference Finals yet again.

And last year, we all know what happened with the Big Three.

If you're a Pistons fan, I imagine that you’re sick of constantly coming up short. A change was needed. Whether it was smart to give up Chauncey Billups and possibly Antonio McDyess, only time will tell.

Impact on the Pistons

Like I mentioned in my opening paragraph, the Pistons haven’t been to the Finals since 2005. And for sports fans, three years could feel like an eternity. I would know—I’m a Yankee fan.

So Joe Dumars and the Pistons front office did the only logical thing they could do—make a trade sending away the face of their franchise.

AI has only played one game as a Piston, but he did look pretty comfortable, tallying up 24 points and six assists. Chauncey, in his debut in Denver, put up 15 points and three assists.

If you look at these stats, you’d immediately think that AI had the better night. But the stat that I didn’t show you is the one that matters most—the win. The Pistons came up short in New Jersey, while the Nuggets took down the Dallas Mavericks.

Team chemistry could be a factor for Detroit, but when AI gets to know his teammates better, I’m sure his stats will exceed expectations.

If the Pistons are looking for AI to be their number-one scoring option, then they’re in luck. In his 12-year career, he has never averaged less than 24 points per game, and has a career shooting percentage of 42.6.

The productivity of Allen Iverson is undeniable, and any guard who shoots over 40 percent in their career from the field would be a main asset on any NBA team.

And although you wouldn’t consider AI the typical “rebounding guard”, he did out-rebound Chauncey Billups last year by 31 boards. All in all, AI is looking more and more valuable (statistically).

Impact on the Nuggets

The one-two punch of Carmelo and AI wasn’t gelling as smoothly as planned, and the Nuggets couldn’t make it out of the first round. Maybe putting two brand-name scorers on the floor together wasn’t working out like George Karl had imagined. But in any case, AI had to go.

Chauncey Billups, a Denver native, could be the perfect fit for the Nuggets organization. Chauncey has shown veteran leadership throughout the last few years, and could be an excellent mentor to the younger players on the team.

But besides his veteran presence, he also knows how to play basketball, which is a good thing in the NBA.

Chauncey’s experience as a team leader will help the Nuggets to an extent, but he’ll need to perform at a high level for the Nuggets to even contend for a playoff spot. His points-per-game average has been decreasing every year since '05-06, but his field-goal percentage has gone up since the same year. Put these two facts together, and you can conclude that he hasn’t been shooting as much as he did while in his prime.

With Denver, he’ll probably be their second option and have to put up an abundant amount of shots. In Denver, expect to see the Billups who takes over 900 shots every year.

Billups isn’t just known for his clutch shots and hardware—he also does the so-called “little things”. He’s nearly perfect from the charity stripe (86 percent in his career), has only missed 15 games in the past three years (compared to Iverson’s 30-plus), and has made more than one-third of his career three-point shots (38.5 percent, to be exact).

Though he’s not the flashy-type of player Allen Iverson is, his team-first attitude and experience could be just as beneficial to 'Melo and his squad.

Who Won the Deal?

Currently, the Antonio McDyess situation is up in the air, and we still don’t know which team he’ll be suiting up for the rest of the season. Because of this, the trade basically ends up being a straight AI for Chauncey deal.

As of right now, I’d have to give the edge to the Pistons. AI, in my opinion, will give the Pistons a better chance at winning an NBA title than Chauncey will give Denver. Overall, Iverson is the better scorer, much more versatile, and seems a bit hungrier for a championship ring.

But, like I stated earlier in the article, only time will tell.