Since he came into the league in 2003, LeBron James has been stunning basketball fans with his versatility and his ability to fill in naturally at any position on the basketball court. During this past season, James has continued to do the kind of stellar ball-handling and playmaking most NBA teams would love to get out of their starting point guard while logging significant minutes at the power forward and even center spots for the Miami Heat.
James is not only tremendously skilled, but has the strength and unmatched athleticism to be a facilitator in the half-court and a scorer on the block, using his quick first step to drive past his opponent and his tremendous finishing ability to battle against the league's best shot-blocking big men.
When James gets a head of steam, there is not a player on the court that could slow him down. For his career, he's averaged 27.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game while being his team's go-to offensive option and best defensive player.
In a game this season against the Portland Trail Blazers, James spent a good chunk of time at center, guarding and being defended by Marcus Camby, one of the NBA's premier defensive centers. James notched 38 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals while shooting a blistering 59.1 percent from the floor. This year in particular, James has finally been going to his post game regularly and using his physicality to overwhelm opponents.
In the playoffs, with Chris Bosh injured and the Heat lacking enough quality fours and fives, James has spent a good deal of time at the four spot against a very large Indiana team. He has still found his way to crash the glass hard and score both inside and out either by bullying his way to the hoop or using his ball skills to create separation from his defender.
As evidenced by last year's playoffs, James is more than capable of shutting down some of the NBA's quickest and most explosive guards. He covered Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo very effectively at times, using his length and quickness to disrupt their flow and bring their offense to a standstill. An old basketball adage is that in order to play a position you must be able to guard it and James can certainly lockdown any position on the court.
People claim that Miami's roster has too many holes to win a championship as currently constructed, but as long as they have James, who won his third MVP award this year, they only need to have their stars playing at high level to win it all.
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