The All-Time Greatest Small Forwards at Age 25
I think it is unfair that alot of people write Lebron off because he hasn't won a championship yet. He has only been in the league 6 years and is only 25 years old and in that time he has turned the Cavs from a lottery team to a finals contender. Michael Jordan had alot of pressure to win a championship but once he got going he couldn't be stopped and I feel that there has never been so much pressure on Lebron James to win a ring than right now. Lebron is too great a player to not ever win a ring, he probably has a good 10 years left in the tank which is more than sufficient time to capture the ultimate success in the NBA and if he doesn't win at all he will still be considered an all-time great.
With the exception of measuring by championships I am going to list below some other great small forwards and what they had accomplished by the age of 25 and how Lebron's achievements rival or surpass them.
LARRY BIRD
2x NBA All-Star
2X All NBA First Team
Rookie of the Year
All Rookie Team
JULIUS ERVING
was in the ABA not NBA yet
DOMINIQUE WILKINS
All Rookie Team
RICK BARRY
2x All NBA First Team
All Star MVP
Rookie of the Year
2x NBA All Star
JOHN HAVLICEK
2x All NBA Second Team
All Rookie Team
GRANT HILL
Rookie of the Year
3x NBA All-Star
1x All NBA First Team
1x All NBA Second Team
All Rookie Team
JAMES WORTHY
1x NBA All-Star
All Rookie Team
SCOTTIE PIPPEN
1X NBA All-Star
BERNARD KING
All Rookie Team
PAUL PIERCE
1X NBA All-Star
1X All NBA Third Team
All Rookie Team
ELGIN BAYLOR
1X NBA All-Star
1X All-Star MVP
Rookie of the Year
I thought I would also include a few players that always seem to be linked with Lebron:
KOBE BRYANT
5x NBA All-Star
2x All NBA First Team
2x All NBA Second Team
1x All NBA Third Team
2x All NBA Defensive First Team
2x All NBA Defensive Second Team
NBA All Rookie Second Team
MICHAEL JORDAN
1x NBA MVP
4x NBA All-Star
2x All NBA First Team
1x All NBA Second Team
1x All NBA Defensive First Team
1x NBA All-Star MVP
Rookie of the Year
NBA All Rookie Team
MAGIC JOHNSON
4x NBA All-Star
2x All NBA First Team
1x All NBA Second Team
NBA All Rookie Team
OSCAR ROBERTSON
3x NBA All-Star
3x All NBA First Team
Rookie of the Year
1x All Star MVP
Last but not least, LEBRON JAMES
2X NBA MVP
6X NBA All-Star
4X All NBA First Team
3X All NBA Second Team
1X All NBA Defensive First Team
2X All Star MVP
Rookie of the Year
All Rookie Team
1X Scoring Champion
As you can see, Lebron is on target to have an incredible career strictly from an individual standpoint and any championships will be a bonus. There are always going to be haters but when you look at what he has done so far at 25 you can't help but be impressed and curious about what he will do in the future.
