LeBron James was labeled as ‘The King’ as he made his way into the NBA at the mere age of 18. Ben Simmons in turn, was labeled as ‘The Prince’. Their careers were intertwined the second that Simmons stepped foot on NBA hardwood.
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Their backgrounds were completely different. Simmons grew up in Australia before heading to Monteverde Academy and then LSU, 2 world class basketball programs. James on the other hand, took a relatively moderate SVSM high school team to the top in the early 2000s, with their games being nationally televised because of him.
The reasoning behind their constant comparisons was simple: Simmons played like LeBron. The way LeBron was compared to Magic Johnson, the Australian native could not escape the ‘Baby LeBron’ nickname.
Also read: Does LeBron James Throw Chalk Before Every Game Because of Michael Jordan? ESPN’s Omar Raja Explains
Colin Cowherd’s take on Ben Simmons and LeBron James resurfaces
Ben Simmons was drafted number 1 overall to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016 but missed his entire rookie campaign due to a foot injury. After having his official rookie season in 2017-18, he won ROTY honors by showing more than just flashes of who he is meant to be in the league.
By the time the summer of 2018 had rolled around, Simmons had established himself as someone who was very reminiscent of LeBron James. From the downhill pressure to the playmaking wizardry, Ben was looking like he was living up to James’s standard.
Colin Cowherd saw this and took it a bit too far as in 2018, he took to his show to say that if James wanted to leave the NBA, he could as the league had found his replacement in Ben Simmons.
There was also the added storyline of LeBron choosing what team to join next after the Cavaliers. Many forget that the Philadelphia 76ers were very much in the race to snag James away. That is of course, before Magic Johnson recruited him to the Lakers
Colin Cowherd was severely mistaken
Looking back at Colin’s take, it is one of the most atrocious sentences uttered in NBA basketball analysis history. With Ben Simmons now on the Brooklyn Nets, he’s yet to showcase the skills he was slated to possess as the ‘next LeBron James’.
He’s rehabbing a back injury that kept him out all of last season and he’s working his way through lackluster performances but it’s clear that he isn’t the same player he was back from 2017-2020.
On the other hand, LeBron is continuing to disrespect the concept of ‘Father Time’ as he’s averaging 26/8/6 in his 20th season in the NBA at the age of 37.
