The Best NBA Players Who Amazed the World

LeBron James (Luh-Bron James) has dominated the NBA for the past seventeen seasons and as a result, has inspired the up and coming generation of NBA players. They have all grown up watching LeBron play through his career lows and highs. Because of this, there is a wide variety of opinions about the King from the next generation of NBA pros. Today, we will be covering what young NBA players think about LeBron James.

Zion Williamson (Z eye-on William-son)

Zion Williamson seems to be the next big thing in the NBA.

He was the first overall pick of the 2019 NBA draft to the New Orleans Pelicans. Williamson is an athletic freak and a force at the rim. His playstyle and extreme hype has earned him countless comparisons to LeBron James. While the media has been trying to set up a rivalry between the two players, it seems they have no interest in a beef and would rather just be competitors on the court and two players that respect the others game off the court.

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After his first matchup against the King, Zion was quoted in an interview as saying “I used to watch him all the time, especially when he was in Cleveland the first time, he was just an incredible player to watch, he always held his own,'. He later added, 'Sometimes I feel he doesn't get the respect he deserves but it's not for me to decide.' It is clear to see that Williamson grew up watching and being a LeBron fan and that James had an impact on inspiring the way that Williamson plays the game.

With that being said, Williamson is not one to roll over when playing against James. Each match-up between the two has resulted in a great performance from both players.

Jayson Tatum (Jay-son Tate-um)

Jayson Tatum was the third overall pick of the 2017 draft. He has quickly risen to stardom in the NBA and has taken over the driver’s seat of one of the most storied franchises in all of basketball, the Boston Celtics. This year was Tatum’s first year as an All-Star selection player and was drafted to play on LeBron’s team. This alone shows that Jayson has earned the King’s respect which can be a difficult thing to achieve for a young player. This approval from LeBron seems to be something that Tatum has been striving for from a very young age. He is another young star that seemingly grew up a LeBron James fan. Tatum met LeBron when he was only eight years old. His father was friends with Larry Hughs who was teammates with James during his first run with the Cleveland Cavaliers. In this trip to Cavaliers practice, Tatum even got the chance to play against LeBron. When asked about this experience he said, “I remember I got to shoot with the guys, and think I played LeBron one-on-one or in a shooting game,” This led to Jayson getting a photo with one of his role models and the notorious photo would be posted on Twitter with the caption “@kingjames Follow back it’s Larry Hughs (Larry Hews) nephew from st. Louis and Abe and RJ Lil cousin and Justin son Follow Back”. It is amazing to see the progress since this photo and that only a few years after this photo, LeBron would be forced to play 48 minutes in a game seven against a Tatum led Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. It appears that this is more of a role model and mentor relationship than the relationship between LeBron and Zion.

Trae Young (Trey Young)

Trae Young has taken the league by storm with his sharpshooting and deep range. His game has gotten him comparisons to Stephen Curry and each year it is looking as if that comparison may not be too far off. Young like Tatum also made his first all-star game this year, however, he was selected by Giannas instead of LeBron. Despite this, it is very clear that Young and James are both fans of the others game. LeBron had deemed that Trae is a “very special player” even before Young had played in a single professional game. In terms of Trae, he may be the biggest LeBron fan out of every player that we will cover in this video. In the past month, Young has been the conductor of the LeBron James bandwagon. After the Los Angeles Lakers win against the Los Angeles Clippers, Young took to Twitter to tweet “The greatest ever #givecreditwherecreditisdue”. This is quite the claim that you do not hear out of many current or past NBA players. It is generally a uniform opinion around the league’s players that Jordan is the greatest of all time. However, it appears that Trae Young will be spearheading an up and coming counter-argument to the Greatest Of All Time debate. Recently, in light of the NBA season being suspended or possibly even canceled, someone in Young’s Instagram Live asked him who would have won the NBA title if the league was still going on as scheduled. He was extremely confident in his answer saying, “For sure. Bron was on a different mission… It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. That’s why he’s the greatest in my eyes, bro”. It is clear that both LeBron and Young both greatly respect the game and think very highly of the other.

Luka Doncic (Luke-a Don-chich)

Luka Doncic has quickly made a name for himself in the NBA. Even though he was only drafted in 2018, he has already been heavily discussed as an MVP candidate in just his second season. This type of dominance in such a young player is not something that we see very often. As a result, the media did as it usually does when the next big player comes onto the scene and before we knew it Luka was receiving his own LeBron James comparisons. However, unlike many players that see the comparison as an honor or something to continue to build upon Luka did not want anything to do with the comparison. He is another player who grew up idolizing James, so being compared to such greatness in only his second year was something he did not feel he earned yet. In an interview, he said, “He is one of the greatest ever, I’m nowhere near that. I’m 20 years old. This is my second year in the league. Anything can happen, so I have to prove a lot.” This was a very mature and professional outlook from such a young player. However, LeBron holds nothing back when talking about the European superstar. Calling Doncic a “Bad mofo” after their first on-court meeting. Even before Luka was drafted LeBron talked about how a couple of his friends that played overseas had nothing but praises for Luka. Lastly, in an interview, LeBron shared that he would even like to play with Doncic one day. This is the highest praise that LeBron can give a player and it is clear that Luka is someone that James would love to take under their wing and pass the torch of the NBA onto him once the time comes.

Ben Simmons (Ben Sim-ins)

Ben Simmons may have the game that is closest to LeBron in the entire NBA. They are both oversized pass first small forwards that have the ability to play and defend any position on the court. He is a two-time All-Star and in both of his appearances, LeBron has made certain that Simmons found his way onto the Team James roster. This even included a trade with the other All-Star team captain Giannis Antetokounmpo. While Simmons has not said much in the media about James, it is clear that James is a role model for him. He has been seen working with LeBron in almost every offseason since Ben joined the NBA. Also, he signed with LeBron’s agent company Klutch Sports. While Ben has not spoken much about LeBron to the media, James has not held back his praises for Simmons. Every chance he gets he hypes up the six-foot ten point guard from Austalia. It is alleged that James even told a rookie Simmons that if he did not skip any steps he will have the opportunity to be an even better player than LeBron ever was. This yet again is some of the highest praise you can give a player. Out of all of the young stars in the NBA it is obvious that LeBron has taken a liking to Simmons the most and Ben has continued to work towards being the heir to the throne once the King is retired.

Devin Booker (Dev-in Book-er)

Devin Booker is one of the best scorers in the entire league, notably scoring 70 points in a single game against the Boston Celtics. While NBA veteran Jard Dudley played on the Phenix Suns with Booker, after LeBron led the Cavaliers to a 3-0 lead against the Toronto Raptors, Dudley tweeted “Bron might be the goat” to which Booker responded, “How many times did I tell you that this year?”. Claiming and believing LeBron as the greatest of all time for a substantial time of his life is one of the highest praises that he could possibly give him. Also, Booker like many other young stars that have been complemented in the media from the King. He told reporters very early in Booker’s career that he would definitely be an All-Star one day. That prediction came true this season when after Damien Lillard became injured and Booker filled his spot on LeBron’s All-Star team.

D’Angelo Russell (D-Anng-elo Russ-ell)

D’Angelo Russell went to his first All-Star game last year, and could along with Karl Anthony Towns become a part of one of the best one-two duos in the NBA. Before this All-Star season, Russell reached out to LeBron for advice, in an interview he said, “I actually reached out to LeBron this summer” he asked James “What’s the best thing for becoming consistent?’ He’s like, ‘You have to be prepared mentally to go out and dominate every game, and then your teammates will follow that.’ In following this advice in the next season, Russell had his best statistical season. It was even rumored that if D’Angelo had not been signed and traded to a max deal to Golden State, he would have signed to join LeBron in a reunion with the Los Angles Lakers. This would have put together a trio of LeBron, Anthony Davis, and D’Angelo, that would have likely dominated that NBA for as long as that core stood together. It is clear that for Russell who formed a relationship with LeBron during his collegiate career at Ohio State is someone who sees LeBron as a mentor and someone he can come to with problems and for advice. It is clear that James and Russell have a strong relationship when Russell posted an image of him “dunking on James” with the caption “What this look like?” to which James responded, “I better block this quick or he gone block this s---”.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (Yawn-iss Auntay-toe-koum-poe)

Giannis is possibly the player that will be the face of the league after LeBron retires, and some believe that Antetokounmpo has already become the best player in the league. While the relationship between LeBron and Giannis is not hanging out and best friends off the court, it is one of the few relationships that LeBron has with a younger player that he sees as a peer. There is a sense of oneupmanship between the two stars that has taken place this season. In the two meetings between the players have been blockbuster events. With both going head to head for the MVP award, This rivalry showed its head in the first matchup this season when Giannis seemingly put a crown on his head going into a timeout. This is notable because LeBron is known as the king so this was Giannas metaphorically dethroning him as the best in the NBA. However, in the second matchup that that Lakers were the victors of, Kyle Kuzma put an air crown on LeBron’s head reestablishing order in his kingdom. While this has escalated into a rivalry both LeBron and Giannis have shown respect to the other in the media and it is clear that they both hold each other in very high regard and are not malicious with the words they use against each other.

Jordan Bell (Pronounced as spelled)

Jordan Bell is one of the few players that has a bad relationship with LeBron. Typically LeBron will talk up younger players and highlight their skills as not many players did that for him when he was coming into the league. However, James has been relatively silent to the media about Bell and Jordan dissed LeBron when he was drafted and traded to the Warriors. After he was traded a video was leaked of Bell repeated “F--- Bron Bron”. This is not the only incident between the two, however. In a finals game, there was a play that got physical between the two and Bell is the player that drew the foul. He was furious with the call and threw multiple expletives at the court that were likely aimed at James.

Final Thoughts

It is clear that most young NBA players think of LeBron as a role model and someone that they can go to for advice or someone that they can work out with. Interestingly, a fair amount of young NBA stars believe that LeBron is the best player to even play basketball. Which is the first generation that this is even generally accepted as a feasible option. Along with this, it seems LeBron always does his best to talk up the younger generation in the media and highlight their strengths, painting the next generation of the NBA in the best light. However, there are extremely rare cases that a player comes into the league not liking James or has a bad experience with him causing a disliking. However, as a whole LeBron has been a great ambassador of the previous generation of players ushering in the next stars that NBA fans will continue to follow for the next few decades. Stay tuned for more NBA content similar to this in the future.