First of all, watching Lebron play remarkably well in the Eastern Conference Finals had made me realize that Lebron may be one of the first athletes whose ceiling is SO high that literally anything the guy does, even surpassing some of the greatest to ever play the game, is always followed with a "but..." Even Jordan hadn't accomplished anything close to what Lebron has done by 22. Any player who has done a comparable amount in the NBA at an earlier age (Kobe, Magic) both had dominant centers close to their primes in Shaq and Kareem and there just is not a comparison when you look at the team that Lebron is playing with (I mean, Daniel Gibson? Damon Jones? Donyell Marshall? Are you kidding me?)
Second, you have to love the way Lebron just keeps going to the rim fearlessly at the end of the game. It's made me realize that almost as essential to a dominant NBA team, it seems, to a great center is a fearless 2-guard or small forward (Kobe, Wade, Ginobli/Parker) that just will not ever stop going to the hole at the end of a game. This is one of the main reasons that Vince Carter was never able to turn the corner to a truly great NBA career and why McGrady (probably because of his bad back) also will not be able to do so in his career. But it's also one of the reasons that you have to say with strong certainty that Lebron is a lock to follow in the paths of the Jordans, Wades, and Kobes and eventually will get a ring or at least get to the finals (ala Iverson and Drexler).
Speaking of Vince Carter, I think I've realized that he is officially the Anti-Dominque Wilkins. No loyalty to any team or fan-base, overrated and overhyped, and absolutely used an NBA team for his own advantage and personal gain. Then you get Dominique; loyal to a fault to the Hawks organization. The minute the Hawks were finally contending in the East after Jordan retired right after he was one of the first players to fully battle back from successful ACL surgery to get back to his old form and what did the Hawks do? Trade him right before the trade deadline to the Clippers (!!!) for Danny Manning. This was the Clippers circa 1994, that was like basketball purgatory. Not to mention he probably lost millions playing for the Clippers besides robbing him of one of his best opportunities to win a title in his career. Besides that, he has to be one of the least mentioned superstars of the last 20 years for some reason that doesn't seem to have any rational basis.
Third, when did Oden become a bigger center prospect than Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Shaq? I just don't see how anyone can back up the claim that you have to go back to Ewing to find a dominant center to compare him to. Shaq had huge expectations coming into the league and probably less question marks at a similar age to Oden as to whether he was going to become one of the great centers of all time. Shaq was basically no risk back in 1992, I just don't think you can say that with the same certainty about Oden at this point. Granted, I still take Oden over Durant, if partly just because everyone always talks about players having to fill out like Durant desperately needs to and often times that just never really happens. Often times this doesn't really matter (Garnett is still a rail and that's worked out pretty well, Tayshaun Prince too), but sometimes players just can't seem to put on weight and this can be catastrophic (see Shaun Livingston and his "gumby-esque" knee injury). The point is that Durant is going to have a huge adjustment to the NBA and you just never know, personally I'm a huge fan already, but you have to acknowledge the risk there.
--dwyermaker
Other perspectives:
LeBron James to World: Kiss my ass
Let me be the first to say I think this story has no merit whatsoever, simply because it takes significant time to get the kind of injury Oden did. But I guess Portland fans need something to do other than whittle wood all day. Portland's all sports radio station - 1080AM The Fan - has started a rumor that Oden may have gotten his injury from playing too much Dance Dance Revolution. According to them, Oden is quite the fan of the stupid Japanese game.
