13 Players in NBA History Who Have Reached the LeBron James Level

After one of the best individual years in the history of the NBA, LeBron James is clearly standing alone at the top of the basketball world. 

He's now achieved a level of dominance that only a select few players have ever reached. Even though his current level of play isn't the best of all time, we're going to call it the "LeBron James level" for right now. 

The LeBron level involves pure individual dominance.

To reach this level, a player must contribute in a variety of ways and be capable of single-handedly lifting a team to success on a consistent basis. Winning a championship isn't necessarily a requirement, though, because it's more about what the individual can do. 

There are only 13 players in the history of professional basketball that have reached LeBron's current level of domination. Keep in mind, though, that some of these players have even exceeded it.

Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain was the first player in NBA history to truly reach the LeBron James level and thoroughly dominate basketball games on a consistent basis. Yes, that's a massive anachronism, but you're going to have to deal with it because LeBron is providing the standard here. 

George Mikan and the other stars of professional basketball's infancy aren't being counted here because of the low level of competition. If Mikan could single-handedly win games while limping up and down the court on a broken leg, the players surrounding him just weren't talented enough for him to get full credit for his prowess. 

Given the dearth of quality centers in the 1960s, the same argument could apply to The Chairman of the Boards as well. However, Wilt took dominance to a different level, starting with his rookie season in 1959. 

He led the league in scoring and rebounding during his first four seasons in the league, including his tremendous 1961-62 campaign for the San Francisco Warriors. That season, Wilt averaged a mind-boggling 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per game. 

While Bill Russell got the better of him in the wins department and played much better defense, Wilt was a well-rounded player throughout his pre-Los Angeles Lakers career. He reached an individual level that his more offensively limited rival never could. 

Oscar Robertson

During the first five years of his storied NBA career, Oscar Robertson was simply on a level that no point guard had ever reached. 

The Big O was capable of controlling a game in every way possible, using his massive frame and unmatched skills to his advantage. With a ridiculous arsenal of moves, Robertson was able to befuddle opponent after opponent. He never stopped moving, and the movements all worked directly to his advantage. 

Robertson's most famous campaign came in 1961-62 with the Cincinnati Royals when he became the first—and still the only—player to average a triple-double for an entire season, putting up 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists per game. 

What's often overlooked, though, is that Robertson actually averaged a triple-double over the course of his first six years in The Association. That's not a typo. From 1961 to 1966, Robertson put up 30.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and 10.7 assists per contest. 

Even though he never once dunked in an NBA game, Robertson achieved a level of play only matched by one other point guard in the history of the sport. 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Just like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar entered the NBA at what we're calling the LeBron James level. 

Fresh off a dominant collegiate career with the UCLA Bruins, the master of the sky-hook made the league his personal plaything as soon as he first stepped onto the court at the professional level. He averaged 28.8 points, 14.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game during that inaugural campaign. 

Blocking shots at will and pulling down every board in sight, Kareem thoroughly destroyed the rest of The Association until he was well into his 30s. Even then, he continued to play at a high level. 

As was the case with LeBron or any of the other 12 players in this article, Kareem could single-handedly win games night after night.

And when I say single-handedly, I mean it more literally for Kareem. Using only his right hand on that beautiful and unstoppable sky-hook, Kareem sunk more than a few squads. 

Bill Walton

Bill Walton might be a surprising entry here, but that's only because his elevation to the LeBron James level lasted for just two seasons. 

The redhead was great, but not sensational, while hampered by injuries during his first two seasons in the league. Then, he took his game to the next level during the 1976-77 and 1977-78 campaigns, winning a title with the Portland Trail Blazers during the first of the two. 

After winning the league MVP in 1978 despite breaking his foot three-quarters of the way through the season, Walton was plagued by the pesky little injury imp once more and never regained his late-1970s glory.

Maybe Jack Ramsay was the key ingredient, as Walton's dominance became quite apparent when he started sitting on the bench in 1976. Whatever it was, Walton was a true superstar and helped spark the incredible Rip City run.

He was a solid scorer but a great defensive player, particularly when it came to blocking shots. Walton's passing also helped him stand out among the crowd of great NBA talents. It's rare that you find players who can make outlet passes look beautiful, yet that's exactly what Walton did. 

The big man didn't hang around at the LeBron level for long, but he did make it there for two seasons. 

Larry Bird

During the middle of the 1980s, was there anything on the basketball court that Larry Bird couldn't do? 

It may have helped that he was playing alongside a terrifying frontcourt of Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, but Bird was still just sensational in all areas of the game. From 1983 to 1988, the Hick from French Lick averaged a breathtaking 27.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. 

Those numbers don't quite match up with Oscar Robertson's, but The Big O didn't exactly face the same level of competition that Bird went up against every night. Plus, Robertson's one championship doesn't exactly draw even with Bird's three. 

Bird's contributions went beyond the numbers, though. He inspired terror in his opponents, both through his level of success and the non-stop trash-talk that spewed forth from his mouth. He made his teammates better and did the little things without a second thought. 

One of the few players to ever reach the LeBron James level, Bird did so with his unique combination of hustle plays and statistical dominance. 

Magic Johnson

When you're a 6'8" point guard and run the Showtime offense to perfection, you're at the LeBron James level. 

That's exactly what happened with Magic Johnson during the entirety of the 1980s. From his first NBA Finals appearance and legendary performance in the championship-clinching victory until his unfortunate premature retirement from the league, Johnson carried the Los Angeles Lakers to win after win. 

Three seasons in particular stand out above the backdrop of greatness provided by the best point guard of all time: his MVP-winning campaigns in 1987, 1989 and 1990. 

Johnson scored quite a few points, even without much of a jumper, but his true contributions came from making the offense hum. The Lakers thrived in transition and benefited tremendously from the accurate passes of Magic. 

He simply oozed greatness during the prime of his career. 

Michael Jordan

Don't act surprised. We all knew that Michael Jordan would work his way onto this list. 

A more accurate title for the level of play in question would be the "Michael Jordan level." But then again, this list would be a lot shorter because the MJ level is even higher than the LeBron James level. It would be populated by only Jordan and Wilt. 

Think about it in terms of math. If the LeBron level is equal to 10, and the MJ level is 15, then Jordan clearly reached the former level. 

Arguably the greatest offensive player of all time and not too far removed in the defensive conversation, Jordan deservedly earned his current status as the greatest player of all time. 

I normally like to back my claims up with some valid, fallacy-free arguments, but that's unnecessary here. Instead, let's roll with a nice tautological statement. 

Michael Jordan reached the LeBron level because he's Michael Jordan. 

Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley played at the coveted LeBron James level from his second season in the NBA until his penultimate campaign with the Philadelphia 76ers. After that 1990-91 season, he declined just enough to remain dominant but fall short of these stringent requirements. 

During the five seasons I'm referring to, the Round Mound of Rebound averaged 26.0 points, 12.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while shooting a sensational 58.6 percent from the field. His sneaky athleticism and versatility just left his opponents in the dust on a nightly basis. 

Chuck never reached the level of dominance that he's achieved in the broadcasting booth, and he never won a championship, but he clearly established himself as one of the best forwards to ever lace up a pair of basketball sneakers and pull on the short shorts. 

Before age and excess poundage caught up to him, Sir Charles was an offensive terror, the likes of which the NBA hadn't seen in quite some time. 

David Robinson

I have this sinking feeling that David Robinson is going to end up becoming one of the most underrated players in NBA history. Despite the incredible legacy that he built for himself throughout his stellar career, he was overshadowed by his successor. 

Tim Duncan is the San Antonio Spurs now, and he didn't give the organization a chance to pause, catch its metaphorical breath and appreciate The Admiral before he started creating a legacy of his own. 

That won't happen here. 

At the apex of his career, Robinson was an unstoppable two-way player, capable of more than holding his own against any of the best big men in the sport's history. From 1993 to 1996, the Navy product led the league in PER three times and win shares twice. By any overall metric, he exuded dominance. 

One of the greatest defensive players in the sport's history, Robinson wasn't exactly a slouch on the more glamorous end of the court. He could do it all. 

Hakeem Olajuwon

You'd have to be stuck in some sort of nightmare to imagine a world in which Hakeem Olajuwon wasn't at the LeBron James level during the prime of his career. Yes, that was an awful pun based around Hakeem's nickname. 

Hakeem was another of those dominant two-way centers that seemed to pop up left and right during the 1990s. He was just as capable of embarrassing his defender on offense as he was shutting down his man on defense. 

Plus, there was the Dream Shake. Just ask David Robinson about that one, and remember that Robinson was at the LeBron level when he got embarrassed. That's how impressive Hakeem's signature move was during his prime. 

Olajuwon took over as the best player in the league when Michael Jordan decided to try to strike out play baseball for a living, as shown by his MVP selection and two championships. 

He still remains one of the greatest big men ever to play the sport. 

Shaquille O'Neal

From about 1997 to 2003, there wasn't any way to stop Shaquille O'Neal.

You could take up one of two strategies when playing against the most dominant player in the game: 

1. Foul him repeatedly and hope that he beats himself from the charity stripe. 

2. Allow him to put up big numbers and focus on minimizing the damage caused by his teammates. 

Then Kobe Bryant came along and made the second strategy awfully difficult to execute. A three-peat was the result. 

If I may further subdivide O'Neal's most dominant stretch into a four-year period from 1999 through 2002, the numbers are even more astounding. Posting a 30.3 PER over those four seasons, Shaq simply couldn't be stopped. During the 1999-00 campaign, he even led the NBA in both offensive and defensive win shares. 

I'll go a step further than simply saying that Shaq was at the LeBron James level during that run of excellence. He was at the Michael Jordan level. 

In fact, Shaq surpassed the MJ tier and created the Shaq Level, which still has a population of just one. No player in NBA history has been that dominant over a similar length of time. 

Tim Duncan

He may be The Big Fundamental, but Tim Duncan achieved a level of excellence during the first half of the 2000s that very few players in NBA history could match. 

Playing with everything but glamour, Duncan took the torch from David Robinson for the San Antonio Spurs and then promptly flung it in the dirt. That torch didn't shine brightly enough. He needed a new one to represent just how good his play was going to become. 

Amazingly enough, Duncan has never led the NBA in any per-game stat. He's made his mark by contribution at an elite level in every aspect of the game, just not at the elite level. Whether defense, passing out of the post or efficient offense, the greatest power forward of all time has excelled at it. 

Leading the league in metrics, though, now that's a different story. 

Duncan paced The Association in defensive win shares five times, including his rookie season when he was still a baby-faced shot-blocker out of Wake Forest. He posted the highest offensive win share total once as well, giving him the versatility necessary to make this elite group of players. 

Kobe Bryant

Believe it or not, Kobe Bryant was the last player included, and I'm not just talking about the chronological order of these 13 all-time greats. 

Kobe is going to retire as one of the 10 best basketball players to ever step foot on the NBA hardcourt, but he's earned that title through team-based success and the longevity of his prime. That prime comes in at a slightly lower level than the primes of other legends, although it's still quite high indeed. 

He's dominated the league from 1999 through the present day, although that dominance is slowly declining as that pesky thing known as Father Time catches up to him. 

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when Kobe was at his best. Was he most dominant during the Los Angeles Lakers' three-peat in the early 2000s, when he was individually massacring the league or when he helped the team win more championships in 2009 and 2010?

Arguments can be made for each of the three options, but that's not really the pertinent question here.

Truthfully, I'm still leaning back and forth as to whether Kobe ever truly reached the level of sheer dominance that LeBron is playing at right now.  

The defense that he played throughout his career is massively overrated, but he did still excel on that end of the court. That, coupled with his offensive prowess is just enough for the see-saw to swing towards the "yes" side of the argument. 

Let's leave it open for discussion, though.