‘Don’t think LeBron James would be as successful in 80s-90s’: When Rasheed Wallace claimed Lakers star wouldn’t survive in the Michael Jordan era

LeBron James

LeBron James is getting a new coaching staff this offseason, and the changes continue with Rasheed Wallace being hired as the new assistant coach.

The Lakers are trying to make up for a disastrous season last year, and the changes started right at the top with head coach Frank Vogel being fired.

Recently, the Lakers hired Darvin Ham as their head coach, and they just filled in the assistant position as well with Rasheed Wallace.

The hope is that with a new regime, the trio of Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, and LeBron James can reach their full potential. However, there is a lot of work to be done to reach that goal. After finishing 33-49 last year, the Lakers made it clear that the issues went beyond just the coaching.

LA will have to make moves in free agency to construct an ideal roster around their three stars, and that’s where the real fun will begin with this team this offseason.

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Rasheed Wallace felt LeBron James wouldn’t have been as good in the 1980s-90s

The biggest question that comes in debates between current NBA players and older ones, namely LeBron vs. Michael Jordan, is whether player A could have been as good in player B’s era and vice versa.

Rasheed Wallace was once asked about LeBron being as good in eras past, and he very defiantly believed the King wouldn’t have been able to dominate the way he has in the current era.

“He probably would’ve done good with his physical stature, with him being bigger than the majority of the rest of the players,” Wallace reasoned. “So he probably would’ve held his own, but I don’t think he would be as successful as he is now. It’s a whole different era back then. I couldn’t necessarily say that he would’ve been a beast, but I think he would’ve held his own.”

Wallace played in the NBA from 1995-2003, so he knows a thing or two about life was back then, but it’s still hard to imagine anyone accurately being able to judge how a player might have done in a different era.

Especially with someone like LeBron, it’s hard to predict, because the way he plays the game now is so different than how forwards of his time used to play it. His shooting and facilitation skills are leagues above other small fowards of the time, and so it’s worth wondering if he could have been equally as good.

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Post Edited By: Ashish Priyadarshi
LeBron James Los Angeles Lakers NBA rasheed wallace

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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