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 changed 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 inconceivable. 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