Is playing with a top-rated point guard necessarily the best fit for LeBron James? The answer just might be no.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Clevelanders always hear that LeBron James, the fifth game against the Celtics aside, "just wants to win." It is the conventional wisdom that he will make his decision on free agency with that in mind.
Many think Chicago has the inside track, because point guard Derrick Rose was the recipient of many compliments from James in the first-round series between the Cavaliers and Bulls.
There are a few if's and but's to that scenario, however.
If James relinquishes the ball to a real point guard, what does that do to his major claim to leaving a historical imprint on the game, the triple double?
The comparisons between James and Oscar Robertson are valid, although neither James nor anyone else is ever going to average double figures in points, rebounds and assists over a whole season, as Robertson did in 1961-62. Possessions were higher, and points were freer then.
It is worth noting, however, that James had the highest assist average of his career (8.6 per game) this year with the best supporting cast he has ever enjoyed. It was also the highest assists per game of any forward ever.
LeBron James' ability to pass makes it difficult to determine his best position on the floor, and could argue against joining a team with a strong point guard, like the Bulls' Derrick Rose, says Bill Livingston.The catch is that James is not really a forward. He is one of those multi-positional, new-age players who can play anything from point guard to power forward. Magic Johnson was the first; James could be his rival as the best.
But to do so, he has to have the ball.
It is wrong to cast the argument simply in terms of stat-sheet stuffing, though. James has said many times that he gets more enjoyment out of a great pass than a great shot. Larry Bird, who held the record for forwards and actually played the position all the time, was that way too.
The pass is the vehicle by which James changes basketball from a sport to a kinetic art form.
Oscar piled up assists in conventional fashion. In fact, everything Robertson did was economical and without frills. Bob Cousy and Guy Rodgers were around, sprinkling magic dust over the fast break, but it was mainly the era of the two-hand chest pass.
Stylistically, James belongs with the creative passers who gave the game a spark of life with their imagination -- "Pistol" Pete Maravich; the short, sensational years of Ernie DiGregorio; Magic Johnson and Bird; Isiah Thomas, who could make half-court bounce passes for alley-oop dunks; Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Steve Nash.
They were the trigger men for momentum baskets and avalanches of crowd noise, for seeing-eye passes to finishers flying in for "Play of the Day" dunks. No wonder so many loved this game.
James is very good at all aspects, so he can finish the fast break with a slam that is like cymbals clashing. But he is even better at orchestrating it.
He has proven that he can play off the ball with a dynamic point guard, winning the gold medal with set-ups from Paul and Kidd. But that was a quick-hitting campaign, a couple of weeks in Beijing. It was not for 82 games.
He improved at cutting from the weakside to the basket for passes this year, but still did not post up enough. His comfort zone in the crunch seems to be with the ball, in the middle of the floor. Would he adapt as readily over 82 games to not having the ball in that position as he did in China for a fortnight?
Wasn't James' greatest success here in the Finals run of 2007 due in part to Drew Gooden, a forward who could finish and also keep defenses honest from mid-range?
Can't J.J. Hickson, a James favorite, become that kind of player here? Hickson's athleticism makes him, potentially, even better than Carlos Boozer, whom a previous Cavs regime inexcusably bungled away.
Isn't Anderson Varejao's constant movement off the ball perfect for James' passing? Couldn't Antawn Jamison's poor Boston series, at least offensively, have been a result of trying to fit in on the fly with Shaquille O'Neal? Shaq won't be back.
James will get a lot of latitude to handle the ball wherever he goes. But he won't have more than here.
If it's all about winning, the armory isn't without weapons here, either.