Theory on pro basketball

[SoCalDomer]

There's Kobe, Garnett and LeBron, all stars who came straight out of highschool and definitely have skill as players. All have been the best player on their team at one time or another. But, none have won a Championship while they were the best player and supposedly the team leader of their team. (Note: I consider Shaq the best player and true team leader on the team when Kobe won the with the Lakers. Notice Shaq has won since they parted and Kobe has not.)

So, my theory is that guys who come straight from high school miss out on the leadership training and never learn the meaning of team by skipping college.

But I don't know enough about the NBA and who came straight from high school (or spent only a year or two in college), was the best player on their team, and either won or never won a championship while in that role. I only know of those three.

What say you? (If the first person to reply debunks my theory, I will be sad. So wait until #2 to do that.)

 

[mbooch]

Let's not call this "debunking" just "qualifying"...

Personally, I think it's too early to make the call on James. He came up to a Cav team that was nothing EXCEPT him. You are dead right about Kobe vs. Shaq. Now, as for the exception to the rule...remember what Moses Malone did for the Sixers back in Dr. J's hey day ? "4, 4 and 4 !"

 

[SoCalDomer]

Let's not call this "debunking" just "qualifying"...

Personally, I think it's too early to make the call on James. He came up to a Cav team that was nothing EXCEPT him. You are dead right about Kobe vs. Shaq. Now, as for the exception to the rule...remember what Moses Malone did for the Sixers back in Dr. J's hey day ? "4, 4 and 4 !"

Quite alright. I don't know enough about Moses Malone to know whether he was the best player on his teams when he won. I think Dr J may have held that role on the 6'ers.

You're right about James possibly being the one to break what seems like a trend. he did take his team to the championship game last year, but was beaten. And yes, he's too early in his career to know whether he has the leadership qualities.

 

[mbooch]

You're right that Julius was the "marquee" Sixer of the era. But he couldn't win it all. Then Philly traded for George McGinnis, and there weren't enough basketballs for he and J. Then came Malone, a veteran who played most of his career for Houston...STRAIGHT OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL. IN his first year with Philly, they very nearly swept all three post=season series they played in (hence "4, 4 and 4"). Actually, they went 4, 4 and 5.

The line on Malone was "Moses: he led them to the Promised Land". Great center, and a real class act.