Quotatious wrote:I agree. I really don't know why some people are so low on 2012 LeBron compared to 2009, 2010 and 2013. I mean - 2012 was the first season when he started to use his post game a lot, his defense was outstanding (he didn't coast, he played with good effort all the time). Playmaking was a bit worse than usual, but it certainly wasn't a dramatic difference. His 3-pt shot was really cold in the postseason, but he still shot 50% from the field, and was able to go to the foul line 10+ times per game (averaged 2.5 FTA more, compared to '13).
Also, his mental toughness and "killer instinct", "will to win" (yeah, I know I sound like Skip Bayless right now, lol) were at its peak that year, too. In the playoffs, I never felt like he was going to lose, even as a Celtics fan at that time.
mischievous wrote:Btw, i have 2012 as Lebron's peak but if i had to choose between 09 and 13 i would give a slight nod to 2009.
lol. I mean I thought I broke it down rather thoroughly in the
posts earlier, but I guess not. I understand that everyone's got different criteria here, but I just don't get how you could have watched 2012 and 2013 (please feel free to explain
) and gotten the impression that 2012 was better?
Quotes, with regards to 2015 vs. 2012, IMO best case scenario for 2015 is they're tied, 2015 lacks the consistency/durability/stamina in the RS in comparison with 2012, and its debatable whether his better 2015 offense (I'll get into this below) can make up for it.
Now, let's get
REALLY thorough (I wish we had easy access to full-game footage, even if just PS).
First, let's consider something. What makes Lebron, Lebron? Above all else? It is his drive-and-kick game. Make no mistake about it, this is the core of who Lebron is, exceptional first-step quickness/explosion to beat defenders off the dribble, get to the basket and finish at 70-80% (which is Shaq/Barkley-esque, except being able to do this from the perimeter is perhaps even more significant). As a result, defenses MUST collapse (smarter defenses make more drastic adjustments, which can succeed or backfire, case in point 2013 Spurs games 1/2/3/5/6 vs. 4/7), which leaves shooters open and creates seams for cutters, and Lebron, with his exceptional vision and physical passing ability, is able to find these guys for easy, high-percentage buckets, or those guys can dish out a hockey assist to an even better basket (which is still created by Lebron's penetration).
This is where the bulk of his +/- or RAPM impact comes from, everything else (shooting ability, post-game, movement, etc.) is all secondary/tertiary, it is meant to complement/supplement this or to have additional options available (for both stamina and strategy).
I understand that this seems like I'm pointing out the obvious here, but reiterating all of this makes it easier to make my next point.2011 and 2012 Lebron
don't quite have this ability! Or better yet, drastically lack it to the degree that the other versions I'm specifically championing (09/10/13/14/15) do. Let's say the hypothetical perfect offensive player is a +8. Lebron's offense in his top years is in the vicinity of +5-6.5, and no player ever has really gone
too far beyond that range (Bird/Nash/Jordan/Magic). And let's say in 2009, at his slashing best, his drive-and-kick game makes up +2.75 of that 5-6.5. Here's how I would rate 09-15 relative to 2009.
2009 - 100
2010 - 98
2011 - 25
2012 - 35
2013 - 60
2014 - 80
2015 - 75
Before we move forward with this, my explanation as to
why 2011 and 2012 are so far below the pack is his weight gain. There's already been an extensive thread and extensive discussion on his athletic/explosive/quickness dropoff in 2011 and 2012. He added mass, lost his quickness and upper body control and diminished as a slasher (unable to blow-by most defenders unless he got a switch on a particularly immobile big, not agile at high/quick speeds to wind through defenses, lacking the body control to be the level of finisher he once was). In 2012 he dropped a bit of weight, and there was a minor improvement but nothing dramatic. 2013 OTOH, he dropped a considerable amount of weight, and then shed a bit more in 2014 as well, to the point where he was a drastically more effective slasher in those years.
HE CAN STILL LEAP OUT OF THE BUILDING THOUGH PLEASE LET'S NOT BRUSH THIS ALL OFF WITH HIGHLIGHTS OF LEBRON JUMPING OVER JOHN LUCAS III I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES MY ENTIRE ARGUMENTS HAVE BEEN NULLIFIED WITH SILLY DUNKING HIGHLIGHT VIDEOS.
Again, I wish we had better available game footage, but at least pay close attention to the highlights (maybe I'll try to dig out some examples that make this clear). 2012 Lebron is not frequently creating baskets through slashing; he's gotten very smart at finding backdoor cuts, he's dabbling in the post a little more than before, and but his jumper, while solid, is inconsistent and not quite as good as it was in the three previous years or the two following ones.
This means that his bread-and-butter as described above, the drive-and-kick game is
heavily diminished. Why should that matter you say? If he can still put up 27 and 6 assists on 61% TS and 30 and 5 assists on 58% TS against solid competition in the playoffs? Why should the method matter if he can still put up the production in other ways? Because those 27/6 and 30/5 are being produced on like 30 possessions, and Lebron plays 70-85 possessions a game (higher end in the playoffs), and the amount of impact he has on those leftover 40-55 possessions is greatly diminished when his primary offensive option is 35% as good as it once was.
That +2.75 from slashing has now become less than a +1. How would we rate out the rest of 09's offensive game?
2009-Improved jumpshot over previous years following the Olympics. This changes the way defenders cover him, because while they have to give him space to cover the drive, they can't give him too much because now he's better at hitting them with some space. Plus he's also a solid 3-point shooter so he can space the floor a little bit and occasionally pullup from outside as well. Let's say his improved jumpshot adds +1.
-Playmaking and pick-and-roll play. He can run/operate an offense from the top like a PG. He can manipulate defensive rotations to create ideal matchups for his teammates with playcalling, run the PnR with the threat to drive, hit the roll man, hit the pop man, or pullup himself with his better jumper OR sell any one of these actions, force a missed rotation/over-commital by the defenders and find an open basket or three-pointer. Let's say this is a +1.50.
-Primitive post-game, decent off-ball game (doesn't get to showcase much given how much Cleveland relies on him to create) He's better at both in 2010, I'd say these sum to break-even.
-Transition game. Best fastbreak finisher in the league, can finish in either direction, go through, over, or blow by defenders, and is arguably one of the best at finding leading AND trailing teammates as well. Even cleans up the glass on the trail on occasion. Still, fastbreak possessions are hard to come by and even more rare in the postseason. Let's say this is an additional +0.25.
SummarySlashing +2.75
Shooting +1.0
PnR/Playmaking +1.50
Transition +0.25
Post/Off-Ball +0.0
Overall +5.5. Best offensive player in the league in a season where Wade, Paul, Kobe are peaking
2010I think he's like a quarter step slower, but all skills have been refined, I would go:
Slashing +2.75
Shooting +1.25
PnR/Playmaking +1.50
Transition +0.25
Post/Off-Ball +0.25
Overall +6.0. Best offensive player in the league (Nash has a monster year as well) and entering offensive GOAT territory
2011-Major dropoff in athleticism. Halfcourt slashing game just isn't there anymore (
he can get to the basket with an open lane though), though in semi-transition with a head of steam he can still barrel through and get to the basket (though his offensive foul rate shoots up this year) but he's not quite as good a finisher as before or later either (too much upper body mass, not enough body control/contortion ability to avoid/dodge defenders/deterrence). All this means that defenses aren't as worried about his basket pressure, they don't have to collapse unless he attacks, and he doesn't really attack, and there's not a lot of preventive measures anymore either (strong side overload, packing the paint, heavy shading, icing the PnR, etc.), and thus the teammates off the ball are just not getting the kind of looks that the other Lebron's would be able to provide them with his penetration. I've rated his slashing +0.50, 25% of his 09 peak.
-Shooting is pretty much improved across the board except for a couple issues. The 3 point shot isn't quite as good as 2010, where he was so deadly off the dribble and spotting up. He's also not quite as good at actually using his dribble to create them because A.) he no longer has the threat of the drive to force defenders to give space and B.) the added weight has also affected his coordination, which hampers his ball-handling a little bit, so he can't use the dribble as effectively to create separation. But everywhere else he's clearly better, his jumpshot anywhere from 10-23 feet is crazy deadly, in the 2011 calendar year he was shooting nearly 49% from that range and following the all-star break, ~55% (!!). Overall, I credit him +1.25 for shooting, accounting for both shifts.
-ITO playmaking and PnR play, the slashing dropoff has just made his overall creation game weaker. Now he's relegated to pretty much only relying on defenders over-committing, and/or taking advantage of his better midrange jumpshot on the pullup. He's still got his vision/passing ability, so you can bet when he sees a seam or opportunity for a teammate, he's going to capitalize, BUT the problem is he's no longer
creating as many opportunities (Elgee actually used to track this, perhaps he still does). I rate this a +1.00.
-Transition game is interesting. On one hand, he's got better teammates to dish it to in Wade/Bosh (though Varejao, Hickson, etc. were solid finishers in their own right). On the other hand, he's not quite as good a finisher at the basket, although when he's got that head of steam, he's still pretty much unstoppable. I'd still rate him at +0.25 for transition offense, he's still probably the amongst the deadliest open-court players in the league.
-Post-game is weaker than 2010, when he had begun playmaking in the low-post (or draw fouls) and used the mid-post face-up game as he was able to use a quick explosive step to get to the basket. Off-ball game is slightly better later in the season, when he learns to take advantage of the attention Wade/Bosh can receive in their own two-man game or even just on Wade drives, and starts to find quick and easy cuts to the basket. I rate this about the same as 2010, gain in one area, loss in the other. +0.25
SummarySlashing +0.50
Shooting +1.25
PnR/Playmaking +1.00
Transition +0.25
Post/Off-Ball +0.25
Overall +3.25
Major dropoff (and one of the weaker offensive seasons of his career, IMO even 06 and 08 are better). Notice how much he relies on easy/opportunistic buckets, and his self-creation is limited to shooting.
THIS is the biggest reason for his major dip in scoring in the postseason. Luckily he was near his defensive peak. Also, just to be clear, this is still an
elite offensive player, heck you start seeing all-star selections at the +2.0 threshold overall, and Lebron's +3.25 on just offense. What it isn't is best in the league type of offense (In 2011 Wade, Dirk, Paul, Nash are absolutely better, Durant, Kobe are probably better, and guys like Rose and Westbrook are not far below him).
2012-The good: he's shed some weight, and isn't quite as inadequate as before AND he's also started to refine/add to his skillset in order to try to combat the athletic dropoff. The bad: that weight gain isn't enough, and his new skills aren't quite polished yet.
-Slashing, slightly better than 2011 but still pretty lacking. I still see him as incapable of consistently breaking defenders down off the dribble, and very rarely do we see blowbys (though unlike 2011, we at least see them). Again, with a head of steam from full or halfcourt (in semi-transition OR when he brings the ball up himself) he can manage to blow through defenders and get to the basket, but from a standstill in the halfcourt? Almost no chance, he's more likely going to just try and run PnR or isolate and jack up a jumpshot. Still very little drive-and-kick and again, this means fewer open shots created by him at large volume. He's a little quicker/better than 2011, he's smart enough to get advantageous switches on the PnR to draw bigs that he can occasionally drive by, but its nowhere near the same as what we're about to see in the next season. I give his slashing game a +0.75 for this year.
-Shooting is interesting. He starts off hot for the first few weeks, then if I recall correctly, injures his hand and doesn't quite look the same again for the rest of the season (and really struggles in the playoffs). He starts the season not shooting much at all, particularly 3 pointers, which I wasn't a fan of (a lot of those 3s just got replaced by long 2s instead), and then spends the rest of the season being really selective with his 3 point shooting, preferring to take wide open ones and often passing up those that would hurt his %. Typical intuition says that this is smart, but the problem is that he's often passing these up late in the shot clock for worse shots for his teammates, rather than simply dishing it to a better shot; in those cases I'd rather he just take them. This makes his % look rather nice, but he couldn't continue doing this in the postseason and it showed in the numbers. Mid-range shooting itself sees a similar struggle especially the long 2s, but he does improve his actual on-ball shot creation ability, incorporating rocker-steps, jabs, fakes, etc. to throw off defenders and buy himself some space. However, impressively, his inner midrange game (5-15 feet) thrives, and I'll get to this a little more when discussing the post-game. Overall though, I dock him from 2011 for his shooting, and the close-range shooting points will be awarded in the post-category. +1.00
-PnR/Playmaking. I don't see much change from 2011. Slightly better at taking advantage of seams created on the PnR because he's a little bit quicker than the year before, but his jumpshot is worse when trying to pullup. +1.00
-I've separated post-game and off-ball game now, as he's made decent strides in both. Lets talk post first. So, as Quotatious said, this is the first year he really starts utilizing this. That's a key statement because A.) it means he's not quite that great at yet it but also B.) it adds a completely new avenue in his game (new tool against defenses and a whole new way to playmake). So yeah he starts using this now, he's
really good at getting good and ideal positioning for himself because of his lower-body strength, and that also allows him to work against stronger defenders when he's down there, which means he can now very effectively be played at the PF. Of course we later see teams adjust to this positional change in the following seasons but in 2012, teams weren't quite ready for this. His game is relatively limited though, power-down weaker/smaller defenders and get inside and finish, tries the jump-hook but isn't consistent with it and doesn't use it game-to-game, loves the counter (the jumper over the right-shoulder) so much that it practically becomes his go-to option in the playoffs (and he's awesome at it, shot like 47-48% for the year from the 10-15 ft range) as he gets SO much elevation on the jumpshot. Kind of a problem though, because he just doesn't really go middle (though he's also got a nice little floater for secondary rotating bigs), and doesn't have the drop-step of later years when going baseline to be able to get right to the rim. He hasn't begun to gobble up attention yet, but he's still exceptional at recognizing when defenders will turn their attention to him (often from the weak side corner) and finds open shooters on reversal AND finds guys in position to pass it to an open[er] man (hockey-assist). This is a dynamic and important addition to the toolbox and one that would develop and thrive later on. +0.5
-Off-ball game is also blooming. He's gotten comfortable and frequent with the backdoor cuts and is better at
just moving, which, given his threat to finish (much easier to get to the basket off the ball than on it), can throw defenses into complete distortion. He's also starting to actively set screens, be the roll/pop man on the PnR (mostly with Wade - which is impossible to defend - but also a bit with Chalmers), and this is also the season where he was a presence on the offensive glass. This gets a +0.75.
-Transition is again about the same. Honestly it's probably been roughly the same year-in-year-out, he's pretty consistent on this front. +0.25
SummarySlashing +0.75
Shooting +1.00
PnR/Playmaking +1.00
Transition +0.25
Post-game +0.5
Off-Ball +0.75
Overall +4.5. Elite offensive player, best in the league level (Durant and Paul are rather impressive as well this season). Note that his assists are down due to A.) cut in slashing, B.) more frequent post-play so more hockey assists and C.) more off-ball play so less time spent playmaking from the perimeter.
Now let's get to the meat here, 13-15. From 2011 -> 2015, Lebron sheds weight in every single offseason. The most visibly obvious change came during the 2012 Olympics, 2 months after winning his first title, Lebron looked noticeably slimmer in the USA training camp. Once the games began, the effect was obvious, we saw him moving around with quickness, fluidity and agility that we hadn't seen in over 2 years, as well as making some highlight worthy athletic plays. Small sample though, so I wanted to see what would hold up once the real season rolled along and the results were stellar. While not quite 09 WTF levels of explosive, this was a considerable leap over 2011 and 2012; almost instantly, his entire game became centered around slashing again, and the effects of this on the team performance were pretty obvious. But what would come later as the season rolled along I really did not expect; Lebron had become better at literally every other thing on the offensive end as well.
2013-Slashing. Not quite his 09 peak, but not far off either (I gave it a 60 above). He's now essentially able to blow by 90% of defenders given he's faced with single coverage and average middle rotation, but somehow, he's managed to become an even better finisher (now finishing in the high 70s AND draining things around the basket as well in the 3-10 ft area). He's finding shooters left and right, especially against weaker teams that can only adjust to his insane finishing ability by collapsing, which means the plethora of shooters are just almost gonna be open. Smarter and better equipped teams start to build a wall inside (at a cost, you have to cheat somewhere, but well disciplined teams have the defenders trained to be able to recover quickly or to have other guys pick up the slack via positioning/mobility), and even this strategy has a cost that Lebron can typically exploit (Wade's movement when he's on the floor, shooters when he's not - though in this case they might prefer to play a bit more conservative. I give his slashing overall a +1.75, better than before, not quite 09/10 levels, and I don't want to over-credit him because the Heat/system spaced the floor so well this year, but he's gone back to being able to initiate the offense at the top and he's the best slasher in the game.
-Shooting is just a quantum leap forward. 13 and 14 are his best years no doubt on this front, his mechanics are just greatly improved. Mid-range game is better and because he's got his drive back he can A.) sell the drive and make space or B.) pullup ON the drive, but his ball-handling is also a bit better and he's better able to get to the spots he wants to off the dribble and just convert. 3 point shooting also drastically improved; he's not quite as good at pulling up as he was in 2010 (though its close, and he doesn't do it often so its not something to linger on too much) but he's absolutely insane spotting up, up top, in the corner, wherever (shot like 75% eFG% !!). So now he's immeasurably deadly off the ball, when he's not initiating up top or down low, he doesn't even need to be moving, he can just stand in the corner and draw defenders towards him and help open up the lane, because you don't want him to just knock it down at a 50% clip. Outside of just looking at the 3P%, this doesn't show up ANYWHERE in the box-score, and yet +/- will capture this, because the impact of spacing the floor is there, it makes the team offense more dynamic. This is the best shooting score of his career, +1.5.
-PnR and Playmaking. Better than prior seasons (but again I don't want to give him too much credit for the improved cast). Better at pulling up on the PnR, doesn't quite figure out how to play the load-up/wall in the paint perfectly until late in the SAS (though there were extreme circumstances IMO). I don't know that he's quite as great as 09/10, he's perhaps even smarter, but he's still not quite as good at collapsing defenses (though amongst the best in the league now). Clear jump over the first two Miami seasons though. +1.25
-Negligible improvement in transition (slightly better finishing, a bit more agile at weaving through defenders)
-Post-game is a bit better now. He's added the drop-step on the baseline now and can use it to get to the basket with ease, while also being able to knock down the shot he was using earlier. He's more dynamic in general, in increased quickness allows him to blowby certain defenders, while he hasn't yielded much strength with the weight shedding, so he can still overpower most guys that will be covering him down there. Doesn't use it quite as often though, but when he does its more deadly. Gave him the same rating for 2013, +0.5.
-Also a bit better off the ball, but a
good amount of that credit comes from his ability to space the floor, which I've already credited him with in the shooting department. Otherwise he's a little smaller at moving without the ball, and more diverse due to his improved shooting ability. He's also starting to frequently seal guys off near the basket, combating fronts in the halfcourt and taking advantage of single coverage in semi-transition and transition, and this leads to quick and easy buckets. His off-ball game makes his offense highly portable, and adds to the diversity of lineups that can be played next to him. I'll shift him up a bit to +0.75.
SummarySlashing +1.50
Shooting +1.50
PnR/Playmaking +1.25
Transition +0.25
Post-game +0.5
Off-Ball +0.75
Overall +5.75. Better than 2009, clear cut best offensive player in the league, starting to get close to GOAT level offense territory again.
2014-Offseason before 2014 he also sheds some more weight (not as drastic as before but noticeable). I see yet another improvement in his halfcourt explosiveness/quickness which ramps up his driving/slashing game again, the closest he's been to 09/10 since he left Cleveland and the best finishing season at his career (he's straight up at 80% now, which is inexplicably nuts). Slashing overall is up again, but by this point he's got so many tools at his disposal that he can't simply be doing it all at once. Still, got it up at +1.75 now.
-Shooting is about the same - his ability to pullup is perhaps even better, and he's reincorporated the 3 point pullup from 2010 (which diminishes his % relative to 2013 a bit, but he's just better from downtown now). Spotting up he's about the same, and he goes through a bit of a slump from midrange in the RS, though by the late season and playoffs, he's pretty much able to just rise up and hit from anywhere. Everything I spoke of from the previous season applies as well. +1.50 again.
-PnR/Playmaking, a little better on the PnR due to the improved basket pressure, and he's even smarter at manipulating matchups than before, not some massive leap but he's slightly better and closer to his Cleveland self.
-Post-game is improved, no two ways about it. He's quicker at recognizing and taking advantages of mismatches, he's more dynamic - he's comfortable with multiple options now, he can go middle and shoot, go middle and hook (though its not pretty), go middle and do that little flip shot, go baseline and shoot, go baseline and use his speed to get in, go baseline with the drop step and quickly go up for a basket - he's starting to use little head/pump fakes as well, got a little up-and-under move, footwork is more fluid and more polished, etc. etc. All these new options plus the added comfort of wanting to play in the post now also means his playmaking from down there sees an improvement and jump (hence the assist drop). Clear improvement over the previous season. However, we see this early RS and in the PS, but probably to avoid wear and tear, he avoids it for the middle of the season. Thus I don't give him a massive jump for this, just a bump up to +0.75.
-Off-ball same idea as above. 42% of his baskets are now assisted, he's frequently featured off the ball in Miaimi's system, screening for handlers and off the ball completely, moves around and has options from anywhere on the floor (curl in from either side, clear out to the corner, zipper up top to look for cutting action or initiate or pullup, etc.). Just like the post-game, this is a clear skill improvement that he can choose to turn on/off, and in the RS, he finds a good balance of creation with/without the ball. Up to +1.0 on this front now.
SummarySlashing +1.75
Shooting +1.50
PnR/Playmaking +1.25
Transition +0.25
Post-game +0.75
Off-Ball +1.0
Overall +6.5. By far best offensive player in the league, near GOAT offensive season (only a handful better IMO).
2015This season is up and down.
-Slashing's a very tiny bit weaker IMO. Back and knee injuries to start the season but then comes back healthy after two weeks off and propels the Cavs to
GOAT level play (his amazing defense has a lot to do with that as well). But he's also shed some weight and typically looks very quick on the drive, lacking a tad bit of lift on the finishes perhaps, but still much better than the early Miami seasons and IMO a tad bit above 2013 as well.
-Shooting is the major step down, I think he **** up his mechanics. Pretty poor from everywhere on the floor, can't space the floor with the three point shot anymore, can't punish defenses for leaving him open, defenders can give him more space to cover the drive, can't do much with the pullup, etc. It's a big blow. +0.75 on that end, worst of this pack easily.
-PnR/Playmaking is affected as well. While he retains most of his slashing ability and demonstrates that he can carry an offensive load like 09/10 to elite heights (+8 offense with Lebron in with RS+PS combined, +11 offense with Mozgov/Love/Irving IN). But still, talking about Lebron in a vacuum, the lack of shooting hurts here, mostly makes him less dynamic on the pick and roll. +1.25
-Post-game is about the same IMO. His counters are weaker, he's poor at hitting the turnaround jumpshots now due to the shooting, BUT he's a little more diverse at finishing and still has the speed/drop-step going baseline. In the playoffs we see him at times just turn to full-time low-post play, which we hadn't seen before, and we got closer to seeing the extent of his abilities and sustainability down there and it was rather impressive. It's a useful tool to maintain a high floor when a crucial fraction of the roster is absent due to injury. I've rated him the same. +0.75
-Off ball game is also hit by the shooting, and given the circumstances he has to trend away from it. He's still incredible at finding seams off the ball and knowing when and where to move, but the lack of a jumpshot hurts, he can't just pullup off a curl/screen anymore and he isn't nearly as valuable when he's standing in a corner; there's no need to give much defensive attention towards him. Fortunately he didn't spend a lot of time having to do that, as the Cavs needed him to be holding the reigns pretty much 99% of the time in the playoffs. A notch down from the previous high, +0.5.
SummarySlashing +1.75
Shooting +0.75
PnR/Playmaking +1.00
Transition +0.25
Post-game +0.75
Off-Ball +0.5
Overall +5.0.
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Comparisons2012 significantly weaker slashing game, but he's beginning to add skills to expand his game. However those skills are not yet refined and aren't collectively creating a large enough impact to overcome 2015's offense. That offense is comprised of MUCH better slashing ability, and a more refined off-ball/post-game, though massive dropoff in shooting ability makes it rather close (2012 4.5, 2015 5.0).
The argument then would lie on the defensive end. 2012's is better, but is the gap large enough to overcome the offensive one? IMO no, its not. I think 2012's major advantage is stamina/motor/consistency and rebounding (which is about even in the playoffs). In terms of smarts and rotational quickness/discipline, I think I slightly prefer 2015; more experienced and has better lateral mobility due to the weight loss. 2012 is also probably stronger, and more equipped to last on longer possessions on quick switches/rotations onto big men, as well as being able to front the post. I rate 2015 as a +2.0 on defense, 2012 as a +2.5.
If you're keeping track, that's a +7.0 for 2012 and a +7.0 for 2015. I'll say this though, I prefer 2012 over 2015 due to stamina/health/durability AND portability (2012 better shooting, slightly better defense, similar off-ball games).
As for 2013, I've made the offensive case already. Defensively, I think 2012 is slightly better due to full season consistency and motor (13 Lebron was getting visibly gassed at times). But in the late RS and playoffs in 2013, Lebron IMO was at his defensive peak. The kind of activity I saw him sustain for certain long bursts, with such few mistakes, was unbelievable; you could visibly see him imposing his will on games (see the ECF and Finals) on that end and completely driving Miami's runs through his defensive energy. Overall I rate this season very slightly lower than 2012, +2.25 vs. +2.50, so overall at +8.0 still clearly ahead of 2012 +7.0
09/10 defense-wise, I like his rebounding, and I think his motor is at least as good as 2012, if not a bit better (less weight to carry around, manages larger loads on the offensive end while not letting up defensively). I also think these years are his best for transition defense (screws up fastbreaks with his shotblocking, and is highly disruptive towards upcoming offensive players). I don't think his rotations/discipline is as sound as it is later in Miami but on the other hand, he's quicker and probably a bit more focused in 1on1 situations (moreso 2009 than 2010). I rate both these seasons as +2.0, and this puts their overall ratings as higher than 2012 as well, despite the advantage 2012 has on the defensive end.
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Alright I'm going to stop now, this is getting excessive.
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EDIT: FWIW, this process^^ is essentially how I grade and rate players and it's how I've come up with the ballot I'm using for this project. Obviously I haven't gone into as much written detail for each guy (I can if anyone thinks I need to substantiate my positions more), but this is how I go about it in my mind. I wouldn't mind the actual numerical values much, they just offer a base of comparison; their relativity is more important than their inherent value.
