Is Lebron James Already "The Greatest Player Without A Ring?"

Lebron James is on pace to have one of the greatest overall seasons in NBA history and no one seems to care just because he does not have an NBA championship.  The media is skipping past the regular season and straight to the postseason, what this attitude reflects is Lebron has nothing left to accomplish in the regular season.  So this begs the question with all of Lebron’s regular season accolades and unquestioned dominance in the regular season.  Is Lebron already the best NBA player ever without a ring?

When this debate comes up the obvious names that come to your mind are:  Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Elgin Baylor and George Gervin.  All of these players were ranked in the NBA’s “Top 50 Players,” but can any of players match Lebron’s accomplishments thus far.

Karl Malone and John Stockton I immediately do not count in this discussion because they played together an made one another looked better than they were.

Patrick Ewing could never overcome Michael Jordan during his career but was still a great player with 11 All Star game appearances and was the 1986 Rookie of the Year.  However, making only one NBA first team damages him because was not even the greatest center of his era.

This brings us to the “Iceman,” George Gervin who before Michael Jordan may have been considered the greatest scorer in NBA history.  Being scoring was his main talent and Lebron averages more PPG for his career and Lebron is a more complete player, he is out.

This brings me to one of the most controversial players in NBA history, Charles Barkley.  Barkley at only 6’6 was a great rebounder averaging 11.7 RPG, could score and play defense.  However, Barkley consistently could not bring his team to the playoffs and famously demanding a trade after missing the playoffs in his last season in Philly.

Finally you have Elgin Baylor and he to me poses the best argument against Lebron, averaging 27.4 PPG and 13.5 RPG which is the best statistical case for this honor.  With all of these accolades Baylor never won an MVP and that is a huge argument against him.

Now for Lebron, he has been considered for a few years now to be the best player in the NBA and with Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade playing now that is quite an honor.  Lebron averages more PPG than any player on this list and he also can pass and rebound, no player on the list had a talent for all three.  He also has won two regular season NBA MVP’s and the only player on this list to do that is Karl Malone but, Lebron is on his way for a third. 

That brings me to this season, Lebron has the highest PER, so far, ever in the NBA.  The PER is the, Player Efficiency Rating, it takes it consideration every stat and puts an overall value to a player’s season and according to this statistic he is having the best season ever.

Although Lebron may receive this dubious distinction, he might not keep it for long considering his Heat may win an NBA championship this season.  Even though he may not be in the discussion for long it is still fun to talk about.