Miami Lebron is the best Lebron

So we all know Lebron James is legendary. Lebron at the minimum is one of the greatest players that ever played the game and at maximum the greatest we’ve ever seen. Lebron is a true master of the game. Which version of the King is the best one? Cleveland the first time around, Cleveland the second time around, Miami or Los Angeles? In my mind, it’s Miami Lebron and it’s not that close. The main reason I believe it's Miami Lebron is that that is the last time Lebron played consistent defense and was relatively at peak levels of athleticism.

Before I get into the details of why I think Miami Lebron is the best version of Lebron, I understand that his game has seen different transformations. Each version of Lebron has its key differences, whether positive or negative. I will more than likely venture into the other versions of Lebron at a later date, so I will mainly focus on Miami Lebron. Let's start off with some basic achievements and accolades that Lebron has accumulated in Miami. He has 4 all-star selections, 2 MVPs (both regular season and finals), 2 championships, 4 all-NBA 1st teams, and 4 all-defensive selections. In the regular season, he averaged 27 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block with a true shooting percentage of 62 and an effective field goal percentage of 58. In the postseason, he had 27 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block with a true shooting percentage of 60, and an effective field goal percentage of 54.

Now, these numbers do not really tell the story of how great Lebron was in Miami. His numbers with his other teams are definitely comparable to his other versions. The main difference is his defensive prowess. Lebron has 6 total all-defensive selections, but he attained most of them in Miami. This doesn’t necessarily mean Lebron wasn’t playing good defense before or after Miami, but I do believe that this is a solid indication of how engaged and consistent he was on that end of the floor. Lebron is arguably the smartest basketball player we’ve seen, so as he got older, he’s had to conserve more energy until high leverage moments required him to expend it. With the Heat, however, he was around the 25–29 years old range. This meant that he had the energy to play elite-level defense for the majority time of him being on the floor. This is also the time where you can arguably say that Lebron spent most of his time guarding the opposing team’s best offensive player. Trying to shift 260+ pounds laterally while starting and stopping has to be a lot of work I would imagine. That makes it even more impressive in my opinion.

Now Lebron has been an athletic freak for just about his entire career in the NBA. Listed at 6'9, 250lbs (sometimes reported to be 260+lbs), Lebron has freakish strength, speed, jumping ability, and durability. I believed he may have been at his physical peak his first go-round with Cleveland, but he didn’t lose much of it when he got to Miami. The lobs that he caught from Dwayne Wade in transition were a beauty to see, especially when he jumped over Bulls’ guard John Lucas III. When that freight train came down the lane, defenders were helpless to stop him and would just get posterized by him or have to foul him. Until his last few years with the Lakers, his durability was on another level as he played most regular season games while only missing a few minor injuries or to rest. The stamina he possessed to be able to play both ends of the floor is something that only his Cleveland version can come close to (1st time in Cleveland).

Those are the major reasons why I felt Miami Bron was the best Bron, they’re other smaller details why you could argue this is the best version of him. He arguably had his best season overall during the 2012–2013 season, his most efficient scoring years (statistically) came during his Miami run, he shot the ball from outside well and other little things. Each Lebron is legendary and in a future article, I will go more depth about the other versions to show greatness through the years. As it pertains to the greatest, however, Heat Lebron was a force unlike we’ve seen ever.

Thanks for reading. I’m currently in the process of setting up my socials and I’m not a big social media user. For the purposes of promoting what I do and having different ways for people to reach me, I will have that set up as I can. Once again, thanks for reading and I’ll be back soon with another one.