NBA: Could LeBron James End Up the Next Tracy McGrady?

LeBron fans: Don't take offense. Just listen. Hear me out. 

LeBron James is too talented. Close your mouth; bugs might fly in there.

If you're into awesome NBA blogs, then you'd know this. My favorite NBA blogger, Dan Devine, at Yahoo! Sports' Ball Don't Lie, "recently" posted something about NBA players—specifically Tracy McGrady—being too talented.

This had been a topic brought up at the 2011 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, in which Dan Devine attended.

To shorten what Devine said—although you seriously should read this post yourself, it's a beauty—T-Mac was too talented.

The game came so easily to him, that he didn't feel the need to practice as much as he should—so he didn't. When his athleticism was gone, he was left with limited firepower.

The same concept can be applied to Allen Iverson, who now plays in Turkey.

LeBron James, too, fits this bill.

That's because you don't hear about LeBron James' work ethic as much, or in the same way, as you hear about Kobe's or Tim Duncan's.

LeBron James is ridiculously talented, and can dominate with his superhuman athleticism and size alone.

But what happens when his athleticism is gone? What happens if those knees start failing? How productive will he be when he's reached old age, in basketball terms?

Chances are, probably not much.

LeBron is an icon; he's virtually unstoppable by virtue of talent alone. There's no player as physical or as fast as LeBron James, which is basically fact.

While he's unstoppable now, what's not to say he's going to be completely stoppable at an old age? What happens when he can't pound his way to the middle, into the paint? What if he can't get the elevation he can now?

There are two paths LBJ can go down: The Kobe Bryant Path, where athleticism is replaced by sheer and total understanding of the game, or the Tracy McGrady Path—where athleticism was everything and now it's nothing.

My guess? He's going down the Tracy McGrady path.

LeBron is known for partying in his free time, not shooting in the gym in isolation. He gets paid to attend clubs, but isn't a strong presence on the practice court.

We don't hear this about LeBron. We don't hear LeBron shooting jumpers after a loss on another team's court—as disrespectful as it was when Kobe did it. If he did, we definitely would be hearing about it.

It's sad, really.

LeBron James dominates on pure talent and would be completely unstoppable if he practiced as much as Kobe did in his first seven years in the league.

No one makes this comparison: While LeBron is better than Kobe now, he might not be better than Kobe overall—championships or no championships.

Work ethic is key in the NBA. It's not key for the start of a career, but it's key to long-term success.

When LeBron James' work ethic becomes more publicized than his partying, I'll be a believer in the next great player of our generation.

If not? He's this generation's Tracy McGrady.

Do work, LBJ.