Los Angeles Lakers: A real LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard comparison

The Los Angeles Lakers play the Los Angeles Clippers on opening night for a months-long race to the NBA title. Right now let’s compare the best players on the respective teams. Those players are Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James. Who’s better at what and why!

The wait is finally over for the Los Angeles Lakers fanbase. LeBron James has the superstar and the roster of shooters around him, so he’s happy. Now the Lakers have a legitimate chance to make an exciting run in the playoffs for the first time since Dwight Howard was wearing No. 12 on his jersey.

The NBA offseason has set the fans up for excitement for the next two to three years and we have one man to thank for this. His name is Kawhi Leonard.

Sure there are Lakers fans that will boo him all over Los Angeles every time they see him. Come to think of it, they actually did. But guess what Lakers fans, Kawhi Leonard did the entire NBA a favor. Like LeBron James said a few months back, the winner of free agency is the Staples Center. Guess what, the first payment of the money-bag is on October 22nd, 2019. Opening night.

The NBA is back baby! Cue the Prince music, “Let’s go crazy”!

With the Lakers and the Clippers making their run, sure the media will be focused on Kawhi and LeBron’s sidekicks, Paul George and Anthony Davis, but the storyline is the guys on the marquee.

What do we know now?

LeBron James: 

LeBron James is labeled by many to be the greatest small forward ever, and to his fanbase, the best player in the NBA. His combination of athleticism, power and speed is something that no one has ever seen before (Zion comparisons will not be heard!).

Couple that point with his hunger for knowledge and basketball I.Q., his impact on the game transcends all eras. Three championships, three NBA Finals MVPs and four regular-season MVPs through his career is quite a resume. Eight straight trips to the NBA Finals hasn’t been done by anyone outside of the Boston franchise.

For an 11 year span, James was the undisputed “King” of the NBA. Only one thing.

Last year, LeBron James stunk. Here’s where the LeBron stans break out the 28/8/8 argument and this is a LeBron hater article. But to many Lakers fans, they knew that he just wasn’t that good.

His defense fell off a cliff (More on that later!), and at times, he looked disinterested in the roster construction after the trade deadline. Where do you think the “Revenge Season” thing came from? Now that LeBron’s decline is a topic of conversation, it allowed another player to get into the discussion.

Kawhi Leonard:  

Like LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard is also a multiple-time NBA Champion and Finals MVP. What makes Kawhi Leonard a threat to LeBron’s undisputed throne is he is the REIGNING NBA Champion and Finals MVP.

Now the narrative is starting to change around the NBA. ESPN and Sports Illustrated both rank Leonard higher than James on their respective rankings. Now many NBA fans wonder if Kawhi is actually the better player head to head. Thanks to his ability to shoot efficiently from the floor and play lock-down defense that extends to the bench during timeouts seemingly at times.

After sending the 76ers home in the playoffs last year on one of the greatest playoff runs in NBA history, Kawhi in many people’s eyes has had more success when the game is on the line.

They might have a point.

Lake Show Life is going to put to bed who is the better player right now. Is it LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard? This discussion is about them. Sure it’s a team sport, but there are too many debates to be had about these two, not to get our two cents in first.

This layout will be different, this is not about statistics that can be manipulated or teammates each player had to carry. This is about these two players, breaking down numerous aspects of their games and comparing them.

Let’s get started.