LeBron James is often involved in the GOAT debate but his image of not being feared is hurting his case.
LeBron James is easily one of the greatest players ever, but there is a stigma that The King has never been feared by others over his career.
Just a few days ago, Shaquille O’Neal claimed that NBA players didn’t fear LeBron James like they fear Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant:
“I’ve heard players say, including myself, ‘I feared [Michael Jordan].’ I’ve heard players in [Mario Chalmers’s] generation say they feared Kobe,” said O’Neal. “I’ve never really heard any player say they feared LeBron.”
Even before Shaq’s shocking statements, former LeBron teammate Mario Chalmers came out to say that The King’s rivals never had an issue facing him in the postseason:
“I was basically saying that the players we went against didn’t fear Bron like the Danny Grangers, the Luol Dengs, the Jimmy Butlers. The people that we were seeing in the playoffs? They wasn’t fearing Bron because the media was killing Bron the year he came to Miami.”
What about the time Kevin Garnett, a famous LeBron James rival, stated what can be considered a jab by claiming the Celtics never worried about The King during a 2019 interview with Bill Simmons:
“Let me say something to you: The C’s, we didn’t give a f**k about LeBron. We didn’t fear LeBron, and we didn’t think that he could beat all five of us. And that’s how it felt. He was trying to consolidate because he didn’t want the pressure on him. You understand?”
Despite players with credibility coming out to shockingly say LeBron James wasn’t a feared superstar, we will debunk this theory by providing evidence of players who admitted that The King made opponents quiver in their boots.
George Hill Embraces Blasphemy
George Hill, a rival of LeBron James when the point guard was with the Indiana Pacers dealing with the Miami Heat in the East, had no choice but to make a shocking statement about The King:
“There’s only like one person who’s scarier, and that’s God.”
Clearly, George Hill would not come out to say that unless it was true. It might also be what the entire Pacers roster was feeling at the time because Hill was one of the leaders on the team and a direct extension from the locker room. To be fair, LeBron James with the Miami Heat after his first season was certainly scary to deal with.
Paul Millsap Admits LeBron Was The Beast In The East
Paul Millsap is a name that many in the NBA community are aware of, considering the forward is a four-time All-Star who made his name with the Atlanta Hawks teams that constantly fell the wrath of LeBron James. Per “The Athletic”, Millsap admitted he was worried when James followed him to the West after dominating the East for so long:
“I told him, ‘Man, I tried to get away from you in the East,’” Millsap told The Athletic in a phone interview. “‘Then you came to the West.’”
It is long reported how dominant James was to some teams in the East, including the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors among others, so Millsap’s comments were no surprise at the time.
DeMar DeRozan And Paul George Double Down On LeBron’s Dominance In The East
DeMar DeRozan was a great player for the Toronto Raptors. He made four All-Star Teams with the franchise and had five playoff runs. Unfortunately for DeRozan, he ran into LeBron James in 2016 (Eastern Conference Finals), 2017 (second round), and 2018 (second round) as he was bounced by the Cavaliers.
“I think the play that sticks out to me is Game 3, my last year in Toronto, where he went full court, shot the one-legged floater, and made it. That was it, that was like the end of my time in Toronto, that was it. We was down 3-0, obviously, we lost Game 4. I was out the game and I just remember him shooting that one-legged floater and it going in and I was just like ‘s***, this is it here.’ It was it. That one haunt me for sure.”
Paul George had six postseason runs with the Indiana Pacers, but he constantly fell victim to the LeBron James-led Miami Heat in 2012 (second round), 2013 (Eastern Conference Finals), 2014 (Eastern Conference Finals), and 2017 (first round). DeRozan and George also spoke about how James’ dominance essentially got them traded:
“I think he put me away too man. We played them first round, got whopped up and then they played y’all that second round… that was my last time in Indy. He got me up out of there, too.”
Yikes. While they seem to be laughing about it, many a true word is spoken in jest and their inability to defeat LeBron James resulted in significant changes in their careers.
Channing Frye Debunks Theory Nobody Fears LeBron James
Speaking on NBA TV this week, former NBA sharpshooter Channing Frye debunked the notion that nobody is scared of LeBron James:
“You know who fears LeBron James? Organizations, coaches — players fear him. Jordan and Kobe and even Shaq were feared because of the rules and you had to play them mostly one-on-one so they would embarrass you,” said Frye. “LeBron’s game is not like that. It’s cerebral, it’s like winning. So he’s gonna give you 50, 14, and 13 but it’s not gonna be the same. There are players who fear him in Game 7s. The Lakers this year, LeBron is almost 40 years old and nobody wants to be No. 1 and play the Lakers in the first round.”
If there is a player who made it as clear as possible, give full credit to Channing Frye because he broke it down very well.
Kendrick Perkins Comes Clean About His Celtics Days
Kendrick Perkins, now a major LeBron James supporter, was known to be the enforcer and starting center for the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference in the late 2000s and early 2010s. He came out on J.J. Redick’s podcast to claim, he was literally petrified of facing LeBron James:
“I got a confession. We played the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008 and it was a Game 7,” Perkins said. “We just had lost Game 6, and I ain’t going to lie, man. I was scared as hell going into that Game 7 against LeBron James. And this was the only time that I actually prayed that something happened to him at practice.”
It might not be easy for Perkins to say this, but he was the one who had to deal with a behemoth attacking the rim at full force time and time again.
Draymond Green Claims He Had Teammates Terrified Of LeBron James
Draymond Green, another major rival turned supporter, has made some very interesting remarks about his Golden State Warriors teammates and how they viewed LeBron James.
“I personally know people that were scared of LeBron James… I know a bunch of people who were and are in fact terrified of LeBron James. I’ve seen it. At times I’ve had teammates that were terrified of LeBron James.”
While social media can speculate about which teammates Draymond Green is referring to, we have to take his comments seriously because Green is the leader of the Warriors dynasty and clearly the most outspoken.
NBA Players Feared Michael Jordan And Kobe Bryant More Than LeBron James – But That Doesn’t Mean The King Isn’t Feared
We have seen cases of LeBron James being a feared superstar, with many credible players coming out to admit that. However, the fact that there are instances of players claiming James isn’t feared does raise some eyebrows. We can realistically conclude that it might be true James isn’t as feared as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
It mainly has to do with personality on and off the court. Jordan was a man of mystery off the court, regardless of his living in the pre-social media time. Jordan kept to himself, didn’t enjoy the spotlight as much as modern stars do, and had a mysterious aura that elevated his fear factor. On the court, there wasn’t a more competitive and more dominant player. That mix of personality and character made Jordan a feared future, and he was even elevated to near blasphemy by superstars such as Larry Bird.
Kobe Bryant was slightly less mysterious than Michael Jordan, but he was nasty on the court and in the locker room. His own teammates feared him, his opponents were dreading matchups against him, and Bryant wanted that. Bryant wanted the image of being a stone-cold killer and we only saw the softer side once he retired and even won an Academy Award for his short film, “Dear Basketball”. For the first time, we got to see a warmer side of Bryant before tragedy took his life.
LeBron James is simply not that type of character. He loves the spotlight, wants media attention, and is constantly in the news by his own doing or not. Crowning himself “Chosen One” early into his basketball career put a target on his back, and he has been criticized as much as he has been praised. James also uplifts and elevates his teammates and even opponents, showing he wants everyone in the NBA to succeed. His extroverted personality makes him a great leader, possibly a more likable one than Jordan or Bryant.
That does mean James isn’t feared as much as Jordan and Bryant. There shouldn’t be a debate about that, because his character is simply outgoing and the media attention he receives means he is hardly a man of mystery.
However, The King is still a feared player on the court. James’ early years in Cleveland were evidence of a young phenom who could score 21 straight points against the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 Playoffs. Even if he didn’t win, teams scrambled to handle an athletic freak who was guiding his team to the top seed in the East. James’ first season in Miami was a disappointment and players might not have feared James in 2011, but they did in 2012 when The King embraced the “villain” role.
James became a nasty figure on the court, winning the MVP award in the 2012 season and capturing his first NBA championship by posting 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game. He followed it up in 2013 with another title, this time averaging 25.3 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 7.0 assists in the Finals.
His return to Cleveland was even scarier, as he guided the Cavaliers to four straight Finals appearances, completing a 3-1 comeback against the Warriors in 2016. With many players such as Draymond Green and Kendrick Perkins stating James was feared, we can safely deduce The King has been feared over his career – even if it was never on the level of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.