[Dark Horse]

No matter how talented individually, when I look at Kobe and Lebron I get the feeling they would have been better team players, -as in able to improve the players around them-, if they hadn't skipped college. Almost as if a whole dimension is missing from their game. Compare to Jordan, Bird, Magic, Nash, Shaq.

Kobe and Lebron are on the floor to be the superstars first, team players second. Kobe has been trying to become a better team player in the past couple of years. So far without any success. He has definitely not made the players around him better. Lack of talent on the Lakers team? Perhaps. But, meanwhile in Phoenix, previously average players (Bell, Diaw, etc) have been having career years under Nash's guidance.

Thought on this?

[onlooker]

I think Lebron should be excluded from this discussion. He was a much better all around player then, lets say, Kobe, KG and the rest of the high school boys. They were skinny little kids that needed major improvement.

Lebron seems to get his teammate more involved then the others.


But yes. I would of loved to see Lebron in the NCAA tournament.

The NBA rule, will make the NCAA's much better in years to come. Because the kids will be going to college for at least a year, and possibly more. Not worrying about making a NBA squad.

[Dark Horse]

Listen to what these college coaches hammer in: team spirit, team spirit, team spirit. How can that not sink in?

And what has been the NBA advertising around the world? Superstars, superstars, superstars.

You do the math...

Lebron is extremely talented. But I could still imagine him much less selfish if he hadn't skipped college. I haven't really seen him make the players around him better. Even if he does learn to do so in the coming years, that road may have been much shorter with college experience.