10 Harsh realities about LeBron James

LeBron James is one of the greatest to ever step on the hardwood. Currently pursuing a 4th title with the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron has had an accolade-filled career which places him right there in the conversation for being maybe the Greatest of All Time.

Despite his nearly infallible game and his completely uncontroversial off-the-court dealings, there are several harsh realities about his career which are often glossed over when armchair pundits like us sit and discuss his career.

The following is a list of 10 harsh realities - unwittingly or willingly - from James' career, which need to be brought to the limelight and discussed more often.

#10 The Cavaliers became too good too soon with him

The tanking process wasn't nearly as perfect in the noughties as it is today. While Cleveland did tank to obtain a generational, transcendental superstar, they expected to be lower in the lottery places for longer, in order to pick up enough young talent to make a title push.

Inadvertently, LeBron James hurt this process, which the Philadelphia 76ers have pulled off so well over the duration of the last 5 years. It is not a direct knock on James' legacy because as a player you are supposed to give your 100% every time you set foot on the court, but the reality of the Cavaliers' situation is that because of LeBron's extraordinary influence right from his first year, it shortened this duration of tanking that was necessary to accumulate the right talent.

If the Cavaliers had been worse for just one more year, they would've had the chance to draft the likes of Chris Paul, Deron Williams or Andrew Bynum in the competitive draft class of 2005, instead of having to settle for one of the last lottery picks.

Cleveland is not a big market, and the best players in the league were never likely to join the franchise in free agency when faced with competing for offers from teams in better markets.

#9 The Cavs' 2007 Finals run was a fluke

The Eastern Conference really fell in overall strength after the offseason of 2005. The Cavaliers improved their record from 35 wins in LeBron's first season to 50 wins in his fourth. However, the rest of the Conference was afflicted by injuries, the decline of players who were aging and long past their prime and the lack of a supporting roster for the likes of Paul Pierce and Jason Kidd, who were languishing on mediocre teams.

The Pistons' feared fivesome of Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace was not nearly as awe-inspiring as it was in 2004. Sheed, Ben and Rip were on the wrong side of their careers, and although the way LeBron demolished the Pistons is beyond dispute, the magnitude of the challenge he faced is generally overplayed by newer fans of the game.

The emergence of the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic as superior playoff teams after this season prevented him from making another Finals series during his first Cleveland spell.

#8 He could be a better free throw shooter

James taking a free throw against the San Antonio Spurs in 2017

Among all-time great players who were a comparable size to James, everyone in his competition has been a better free throw shooter. Larry Bird shot 88.6%. Michael Jordan shot 83.5%. Magic shot 84.8%. Kobe shot 83.7%.

Clutch games slowed down by fouling tactics are a great recipe for winning basketball matches, as Brad Stevens' Celtics have proved time and again this season. LeBron's great basketball mind is indeed aware of this, and he has improved his conversion by a percentage point over the last 6-7 years.

James' 73.9% conversion rate means that he does not look to draw fouls from his primary defender. It also causes a mental block to him from getting fouled in clutch moments even when his team is in the lead. If he converted 80% of his free throws, defenses would not get away with fouling him in clutch time as often as they have.

Of late, LeBron has tried a number of adjustments to his free throw shooting routine, but he is still making a similar percentage to his career figures. If LeBron were an 80% free throw shooter, he would close out games way better than he is doing currently (or has done through the course of his career).

#7 He was over-reliant on his athleticism for a long time

LeBron's 2007 Finals numbers are lackluster

The San Antonio Spurs pulled off an exemplary defensive performance against LeBron James in the 2007 Finals. Aware that his unstoppable athleticism would allow him to do serious damage in the paint, the Spurs packed their paint with bigs through the course of the Finals series, daring LeBron to shoot mid-range jumpers and 3-pointers.

LeBron's efficiency took a major hit in that series, as he converted 35.6% of his field goal attempts and 20% from 3-point territory despite averaging 22 points per game in the 4-game sweep. Later on, the Celtics and Orlando Magic took advantage of this weakness in his game to close out series wins against the Cavaliers.

LeBron's game today is a far cry from what he was 11 years ago. He is now a much better mid-range shooter, an above-average 3-point shooter and poses a threat from a number of spots on the floor, making it difficult to guard him. But these advancements came more than 8 years into his time in the NBA, when he allowed his prime athletic window to pass by and had to adapt his game for the long term.

#6 The narrative he gave to his Cleveland return is clearly misleading

The city Of Akron Celebrates The Return of Lebron James

During the offseason of 2014, LeBron James opted out of the final year of his contract with the Miami Heat and became an unrestricted free agent, choosing, later on, to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He stated the following in his Sports Illustrated essay announcing the same:

When I left Cleveland, I was on a mission. I was seeking championships, and we won two. But Miami already knew that feeling. Our city hasn’t had that feeling in a long, long, long time. My goal is still to win as many titles as possible, no question. But what’s most important for me is bringing one trophy back to Northeast Ohio.

I'm not promising a championship. I know how hard that is to deliver. We’re not ready right now. No way. Of course, I want to win next year, but I’m realistic. It will be a long process, much longer than it was in 2010. I think I can help Kyrie Irving become one of the best point guards in our league. I think I can help elevate Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters. And I can’t wait to reunite with Anderson Varejao, one of my favorite teammates.

What is curious here is the fact that he doesn't mention anything about mentoring Andrew Wiggins here at all, despite the fact that the Canadian one-and-done talent was selected by the Cavaliers with the #1 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft.

Serious onlookers pondered whether he was being used as a makeweight for a trade, and their predictions came true when the Cavs traded for Kevin Love a month later. Bookies in Las Vegas promptly crowned the Cavs as favorites going into the regular season, and with good reason, for LeBron had again heavily stacked the odds in his favor.

Anderson Varejao was relegated to the deep end of the bench, Dion Waiters was sent to the Thunder and in came JR Smith and Iman Shumpert to take his place. So much for the talk of helping his teammates take the next step in their career progress.

The plain, unbiased reality is that LeBron saw the opportunity to conjure a better-equipped, younger Big 3 and extend his run of NBA Finals appearances during the offseason, and grabbed it with both hands. In doing so, he sided with an up-and-coming 2-time All-Star who was clearly already among the very best point guards in the league, and who didn't exactly need mentorship from The King.

Instead of taking time with the young pieces he had on his roster, LeBron went straight into win-now mode, despite repeatedly stating that he was excited by the challenge of guiding youngsters into stardom.

#5 He lost the chance to emulate Michael Jordan in June 2011

Tyson Chandler and Jason Kidd shut down LeBron James in the 2011 Finals series

Going into the regular season, the Miami Heat were the hot favorites to win the title over double defending champions Los Angeles Lakers. After the Lakers' elimination and the Heat breezing their way to the Finals series, oddsmakers were only giving 1/2 odds to people who wagered on Miami, while the Mavericks' odds were 8/5.

But LeBron James underperformed for the first time in his career during a playoff series. He was third in the Heat roster on points per game, and at various points in the series, even role player Mario Chalmers was outperforming him.

LeBron's underwhelming performances opened the door for the Mavericks, as they roared back from a 73-88 deficit with 7:14 remaining in Game 2 to win 95-93. LeBron and Wade's premature celebrations after Wade's corner 3 to make the score 88-73 in the Heat's favor were wildly ridiculed on social media.

He didn't show up in the 4th quarters of the 4 subsequent games, and his 8-point performance in Game 4 was his worst outing as a flu-ridden Dirk Nowitzki produced a Jordanesque performance to make the series 2-2. The Mavericks closed out the series with 2 resounding wins, and LeBron's performance in that Finals series was called out as the greatest superstar meltdown in any American sport.

Since then, LeBron has a 3-3 record in the Finals. But if he had performed to his usual level in that series, he would now be 4-4 or better, instead of owning a dubious losing record in Finals. His championship window is fast approaching its end, and it is exceedingly unlikely that he will exceed Jordan's total of 6 NBA championships.

#4 In a slightly different world, he would have less than 3 titles

Ray Allen making the greatest clutch shot in NBA history

At least twice in his career, LeBron's legacy as a winner has been on the line, and he hasn't been in control of it. His teammates have delivered at the perfect moment for his legacy to be what it is today.

There is absolutely no doubt that LeBron was the best player in both the 2013 and the 2016 NBA Finals. And yet, he would've had a record of 1-7 in NBA Finals if it weren't for Chris Bosh grabbing the rebound for the game-tying 3-point attempt in game 6 against the San Antonio Spurs in 2013, which Ray Allen knocked down from the right corner.

Or if it weren't for Kyrie Irving knocking down the game-winner and Kevin Love playing the defense of his life against Steph Curry in game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. After playing at superhuman levels on both ends of the floor for 6 games, LeBron was clearly gassed and missed 15 of his 24 shot attempts in game 7 at the Oracle Arena. It was Kyrie Irving's shot that took the Cavaliers over the line.

Yes, LeBron is a great winner, but he has carved this legacy by standing on the shoulders of giants himself.

#3 He hasn't defended well since his return to Cleveland

Durant dunks over LeBron James this January

LeBron James, a former 6-time All-Defensive team selection, became a league-average defender during his first season with Cleveland for the regular season. Since then, every year he is exerting less and less effort on defense, till the point when this year he had the worst Defensive Real Plus-Minus of any player during a 19-game spell from Christmas Day.

The eye test also says the same thing. LeBron is barely exerting any effort at all, instead choosing to stand as a weak-side defender while letting the rest of the players guard the perimeter. He does ramp up the intensity in the postseason, but even there his effectiveness has been reducing every year.

Last year, Kevin Durant torched LeBron James to the tune of 35.4 points per game on 55.6/47.4/92.7 shooting in the Finals series. A number of times, James was caught napping on defense, and it was this lethargy that granted Durant an open, game-winning 3-pointer in game 3 - the series could've been tied 2-2 after 4 games if LeBron had exerted the requisite effort.

This lethargic attitude rubs off badly on his teammates as well, as the Cavaliers have finished progressively lower in defensive efficiency for the 4 years that he's been back in Cleveland, and are currently 28th in defensive efficiency. Defense wins championships, and needs players to buy into a defensive mindset fully. LeBron's Cavaliers teams in his second go-around have embraced a defense-first mentality mainly due to his lethargy on the less glamorous end of the floor.

#2 He hasn't really made his teammates better

To the people who gasp with fury while seeing this heading, I must make one distinction clear: Making a teammate look great is not the same thing as making him better than he was. Yes, LeBron's faultlessly unselfish play allows other players to shine on their own as he rifles pocket passes to them for open shots. They look their best selves while playing alongside The King because he times his passes perfectly for them to perform at best efficiency.

But none of the players to have played with LeBron added much to their skill set during their time in his team. They were either specialist brought in to do carry out specific roles - Mike Miller, Ray Allen, and Shane Battier spring to mind - or they are less-than talented players whose roles are reduced because of the amount of ball-hoarding done by LeBron.

Plainly put, these players are not pushed over their limit by LeBron in training or during games. They either have the ability to do stuff, or they don't. Contrasting this with Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, who have whole rosters saying they improved while playing alongside these two, we can clearly see that LeBron's effect on his teammates isn't even close to these two.

Jordan would make Scottie Pippen play one-on-one with him after practice to help improve Pippen's skills. Kobe would pull out game film from the same game during halftime to help teammates create better shots for themselves. These are clear examples of how these two greatest guards of all time improved their teammates. We don't find similar tales of LeBron floating around because there are either few or none.

#1 He has needed at least 2 other All-Stars to win every title

Referring to the Cavaliers' recent slump of form in February and March, LeBron James lamented the loss of a key player and fellow All-Star Kevin Love in his lineup with the following statement:

It’s been a long time since I haven’t played with another All-Star on my team. So, having Kev out has been very challenging for all of us. Kev has a big usage rate on our team. He’ll get the ball when things get tight, chaotic; we can throw it to him in the low post and get some things going.”

This forces us to look back to the last time James played without an active All-Star alongside him, which was 2009-10. During this season, James lost to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and bolted to South Beach to team up with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade - two of the best two-way players in the league at their respective positions.

Indeed, without co-stars to shoulder the load of isolation scoring, LeBron-led teams have been unable to win games on a consistent basis. This is primarily because of the failure of his teams to develop a system in which every player thrives irrespective of who is on the floor.

LeBron-led teams need LeBron to do all the playmaking and facilitating, while also needing another iso scorer to keep defenses from double-teaming him consistently. Contrast this with the Warriors and Spurs, who play the same style of basketball with or without Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard, and win games.

You could go further back to the Lakers and Celtics in 2010 - even with their superstars sitting, these teams played at a high level and did not need an All-Star roster to maintain leads because of their systemically strong defense and high-IQ offense.