NBA Comparison: Magic Johnson

Strengths: His vision and passing skills are what sets him apart. A player with his combination of size, and point guard skills is very rare. The only player to have this in the past was Magic Johnson. There are no more than 5 players in the NBA that have the vision and passing skills of LeBron. On top of all this he's a physical specimen. The sky is truly the limit. He has developed his body to make it a great strength, he is a legit 240 pounds and has very little body fat. Has an "NBA body" at 18. He has all the gifts to play PG, but he will likely have to start at the 2 and 3 positions before he can really run a team from the point guard position. But when you have a player with his type of passing skills, you want the offense to run through him every time down the floor, making point guard his natural position. He has met and surpassed the hype every step of the way. The game just comes so easily to him, he's the epitome of a hoops prodigy. He has canged the face of highschool athletics with Nationally televised games being carried by ESPN. He has lived up to the hype and then some every step of the way. Carmelo Anthony has a better jumpshot than LeBron, and a NCAA title under his belt. But LeBron has far superior upside.

Weaknesses: All the hype at such a young age is inconcievable. Can he stay focused and continue to work hard to improve his game? His free throw shooting must improve. Defensive intensity must get better. Right now, he's under 70%, but this should definitely improve with experience. LeBron still tends to go for the spectacular at times when a solid play is all that's necessary. But it's probably nitpicking as he likes to put on a show, and usually only brings out tricks when the game is in hand. Which for him on the HS level is usually the entire game. No one has ever had to overcome this kind of hype as a highschool player.

-Aran Smith

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Strengths: Smooth player who makes things look effortless no matter how difficult ... Shows unbelievable ability when it comes to passing the ball. Simply has that uncanny court vision and knack for seeing plays develop before they occur ... Possesses very good motion on his long range jumper as he does an excellent job of keeping his body square and his shooting with his elbow tucked in ... Owns a quick first step and solid ball handling ability to get past most defenders ... When penetrating to the basket, he shows tremendous body control as he can adjust his shot according to the defense ... Shows remarkable shot selection as he doesn't force too many shots ... Solid rebounder who understands how to position himself well under the boards to gain easy rebounding opportunities ... Shows great poise and leadership on the court ... Has a very good body, although not NBA ready. James definitely can put on 10-15 more pounds quite comfortably ... Excellent finisher when running the break where he can take opponents off the dribble and rise up for the quick dunk ... Defensively he shows solid anticipation skills when playing the passing lanes ... Plays the baseline very well where he is often the recipient of a quick pass for the alley-oop dunk ...

Weakness: At this point in his career his defense isn't the best but he does have the physical tools to be an outstanding defender ... Has a bad habit of overplaying his man for the quick steal which can leave his player open for the easy shot ... Struggles on the free throw line, however getting a free throw routine and experience would be of great benefit to him, plus establishing a sharper mental focus ... His ball handling ability is very good at the high school level, however he still needs work on maintaining better ball protection and has a tendency to get careless ... Perimeter shooting from mid-range isn't as developed as his long-range shooting ... Doesn't exploit his body size enough as his post-up game offensively remains unutilized ... Sometimes he can be a little too flashy at times as he gets caught up in the moment ... His shooting off the dribble leaves a little to be desired from 18 feet out ... Some have questioned if he has bought into all the hype about himself but to his credit it takes a certain level of brashness to handle it all ... Not a blindingly quick player so lateral quickness on defense should be worked on ...

-Matthew Maurer

SEASONS

Games

FG%

3PT%

FT%

SPG

BPG

RPG

APG

PPG

1999-00 SVSM H.S.

27

.562

31.6

79.7

3.1

0.8

6.1

3.8

18.1

2000-01 SVSM H.S.

25

.578

39.5

70.7

3.6

1.7

7.3

5.9

25.3

2001-02 SVSM H.S.

27

.551

32.0

60.0

3.3

1.7

8.3

5.9

28.8

2002-03 SVSM H.S.

25

.560

38.2

67.8

2.9

1.9

9.7

4.9

30.4

Totals

104

.558

35.8

67.6

3.2

1.5

7.8

5.1

25.6