RealGM

Now I know LeBron is a much better player now than he used to be but I couldn't help notice how much more agile and smooth his game used to be before he bulked up so massively over the past couple of years. Now instead of being a swingman he kinda become a hybrid player with the size and strength of a power forward and the speed of a point guard. I personally don't find his game which has now become entirely about getting into the lane and overpowering his opponent as aesthetically pleasing as his rookie year when he beat players with grace and skill. Its crazy to think that he was listed as 6'8" 240 as rookie and looking at old video clips of him and comparing him to todays version of LeBron, I swear he's gained at least 25 lbs and an inch. LeBron has got to be at least 6'9" 265 right now, if he really was 6'8" 240 as a rookie.

Here is a little reminder for those who forgot. Note there are some Kobe highlights interlaced with rookie LeBron highlights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=905LFfxA ... re=related

LeBron "finished" with so much grace at 41% shooting. I like current LeBron.

No way.

In his rookie year, all he did was go for passing lane steals and try to beat the defense down the floor for dunks after missed shots.

He played absolutely no defense and he airballed 2-3 shots a game. He was also wildly inconsistent, but I guess you should expect that from an 18 year old right out of high school.

By his 2nd year, he was an elite player though. The only thing I miss about rookie LeBron was that he had Carlos Boozer on his team.

No. I think current LBJ is a much more complete and better player to watch than the rookie version.

I do prefer rookie Melo over the current version though.

You must be hallucinating, the current LBJ is so fun to watch.

Current Lebron is more fun to watch than rookie Lebron. I miss watching the old Kobe though.

I like 2nd year LeBron

the current lebron is much better, but as someone else said, i so miss the young kobe. he was so, so athletic.

i really miss the young version of him, T-mac, and vince (when he still cared). and if were on the topic of guys who seemed to lose their athleticism too soon, i gotta give a mention to hill.

LeBron still does all those things in the video expects he shoots closer to 50% than 40% now.

he doesn't have the speed of a point guard ... Guys like Tony parker, Chris paul or Tj ford are 3 times faster.

LeBron is amazing. He's still got exceptional speed. He might be the only NBA player capable of being an NFL linebacker(physically, obviously not there mentally because he's never played LB in his life, and hasn't played football since soph year)

667Club wrote:he doesn't have the speed of a point guard ... Guys like Tony parker, Chris paul or Tj ford are 3 times faster.

He's definitely as fast if not faster than Paul

I prefer not to watch him continually brick jumpers.

Why would we miss the rookie LeBron?

He gets better every year.

I liked him without the beard. It was kinda cool to realize, "Holy eff, this is an 18 year old kid doing this..."

I do miss when he was a rookie and not an arrogant prema-donna.

LeBron is amazing. He's still got exceptional speed. He might be the only NBA player capable of being an NFL linebacker(physically, obviously not there mentally because he's never played LB in his life, and hasn't played football since soph year)

Off topic but Lebron is waaaaaay too tall to ever be an exceptional linebacker. There are serious leverage issues with being over 6'4 or so in the NFL unless you are a lineman or a WR.

War3player wrote:I do miss when he was a rookie and not an arrogant prema-donna.

??? You do realize that he called himself "King" James before he even played a NBA game. If that is not arrogant, I don't know what is.

Icefire10304 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-


He's definitely as fast if not faster than Paul

He's not as quick, but if it were a dead sprint, I'd put LeBron up against just about anyone.

War3player wrote:I do miss when he was a rookie and not an arrogant prema-donna.

I don't think that ever changed.