Right after LeBron James won his 4th NBA title at the Orlando Bubble, former Lakers legend Jerry West called “The King” the “smartest basketball player” he had ever seen.
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LeBron James is arguably one of the greatest players to lace up on the basketball court. For over 18 years now, King James has been putting on a show every single night he set foot on the floor. His unique gameplay, versatility and durability are unparalleled, due to which is compared to Michael Jordan for the GOAT debate.
LBJ has a very celebrated and highly-decorated basketball career. In his 18-year professional career, Bron has put together a rather surreal resume with 17 All-Star appearances, 17 All-NBA selections, 4 NBA Championships, 4 Finals MVPs, 4 MVPs and will surely be a first-ballot Hall-Of-Famer once he decides to hang his boots.
Apart from having such a dominant all-around game, Bron is even one of the smartest players the league has ever seen. Having such a high Basketball IQ has helped the Lakers forward throughout the course of his illustrious career. Teammates, opponents, coaches and many more have been left in awe of James’ intelligence on the court. Jerry West is just one of many to recognise this natural trait LeBron has.
“LeBron James is someone who’d be fun to play with because he plays the ultimate team game”: Jerry West
A week after the Lakers lifted their 17th NBA Championship, and LeBron won his 4th Finals MVP award, Jerry West made an appearance on the “SiriusXM NBA Radio” and spoke about LeBron. “The Logo”, who has been a LeBron James fan ever since the King entered the league, gave out some huge compliments to the Lakers megastar.
“Well LeBron James is just an amazing player,” said West. “When you watch him play, he leaves nothing on the table in terms of his personal investment in the game, his work ethic. He’s maybe the smartest player I have ever seen play basketball.”
“Along with his enormous size, skill level, I’m a huge fan of his,” West continued. “And he’s someone who it’d be fun to play with because he plays the ultimate team game.”
“He plays the ultimate team game”
ICYMI: Hall of Famer Jerry West tells Justin Termine and Eddie Johnson why he thinks so highly of LeBron James pic.twitter.com/4b0vPedENh
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) October 18, 2020
Well, “Mr Clutch” isn’t wrong at all. Apart from being one of the most brutal forces and athletics scorers, LeBron James can read the defense better than anyone, has a detailed knowledge of all the players in the league, has carefully analysed his teammates’ advantages and disadvantages in order to make them better players, and is even dedicated enough to study the game pretty often.
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On numerous instances in his career, LeBron James has made it pretty evident that having overlooked intangible assets like intelligence and a high basketball IQ will surely pay off.
