“The LeBron James Effect”: Showering Praise on Lamar Jackson, Marcus Spears Once Compared the Ravens QB to NBA’s All-Time-Great

When it comes to making unusual comparisons between NFL and NBA superstars, Marcus Spears never disappoints. While his Patrick Mahomes-Michael Jordan analogy once garnered immense attention, a while back, the sportscaster drew another interesting comparison, this time between Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and LeBron James.

Spears claimed that despite being the best in the business, the gunslinger always got ripped, just like what has happened with King James in the NBA. Interestingly, Jackson scripted history by winning the MVP honors at just 22 years of age, but Spears believes he deserves even more than that as he is the best player in the competition.

Marcus Spears called Lamar Jackson the best player in the NFL, while comparing him to King James

To date, the Lakers star has four MVP awards to his name. His followers believe that James deserved more such titles but got robbed by the committee voting. Marcus Spears reckons that much like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, LeBron also outclassed his peers on several occasions but didn’t get as much recognition as MJ and Black Mamba.

Calling it the LeBron effect, Marcus used this analogy on Jackson while speaking highly about the comeback win of the Ravens against the Vikings in November 2021.

“This is the LeBron James effect,” Spears said, per Kevin Eck of baltimoreravens.com. “LeBron James could’ve been the league MVP for like nine years straight. Lamar Jackson is that. Sometimes when we’re watching it, and those guys make mistakes, we highlight that because we’re so used to their greatness. Lamar Jackson is not only the Most Valuable Player in the NFL; he’s the best player in the NFL,” he added.

The atmosphere was quite ecstatic in the Ravens’ locker room at that time, as Jackson made three back-to-back comebacks in the same season and became the new comeback king of the NFL.

Did Jackson get what he deserved?

Just like his scarcity of MVP titles, the quarterback was struggling to find an appropriate long-term extension with the Ravens. In fact, the Lamar Jackson contract drama continued to be a national issue for a very long time. Thankfully, it all ended gracefully after the management offered Lamar a whopping $260 million, five-year deal.

The deal ended up putting Lamar right on top of the list of QBs who will draw the maximum amount of salary in the coming years. Jackson has been grinding for a long time, and it would be fair to say that finally, his hard work bore fruit. It will be interesting to see how much success he brings to Baltimore in the coming years, especially after he has a new weapon in the form of Odell Beckham Jr. in the offensive unit.