It's a myth that he's an elite on ball defender as well.
He's declined I wouldn't say he's elite anymore. '09 is one of the greatest defensive seasons ever by a wing. Go ahead and look up some opponents numbers against LeBron and some defensive advanced stats they tell the narrative that he was definitely elite from '09-'13.
What teammates has he made better?
This myth has been going on forever, but the FACTS are that nobody he's played with (players of note) have had their best seasons playing alongside LeBron James.
Carlos Boozer? Best seasons were with Deron Williams
Zydrunas Ilgauskas? Best season was in 2003.....before LeBron
Ricky Davis? Best season was in 2003...before LeBron
Larry Hughes? Best seasons were with Gilbert Arenas
Ben Wallace? Best seasons were with Chauncey Billups
Delonte West? Best seasons were with Paul Pierce (and with Gloria
)
Mo Williams? Best seasons were with Michael Redd in 07 and 08
Antawn Jamison? Best seasons were with Gilbert Arenas
Shaq? Best seasons were with Kobe
Hell, Anderson Varejao? Best seasons were after LeBron left
Dwyane Wade? Aint been the same since LeBron came to South Beach
Chris Bosh? Aint been the same since he left Toronto. Went from putting up 24 and 10 to putting up 16 and 6
Ray Allen? Hasnt shot this low from the field in over 5 years.
Facts are Facts.
Dont kill the messenger.....kill the myth
#LWO
LBJ was a rookie when he played with Boozer, also Boozer benefited less from Williams and more from Jerry Sloan's pick and roll heavy flex offense. Deron Williams benefited heavily from the system as well he's never looked the same as a passer.
Zyndrunas Ilgauskas best season was '05-'06 with LeBron, he also made one of his lone All-Star appearances playing with LeBron in '04-05. He would go on to decline because of age and all those foot injuries he had early in his career caught up to him. Big Z loves LeBron and would laugh at this thread.
Ricky Davis dawg, seriously? Dude played 22 games in LBJ's rookie season, extremely talented player but an idiot.
Mo's best season was with LeBron in '09 when he made his lone All-Star appearance, now you're just trolling was never the same after.
Larry Hughes was a chucker in Washington, inefficient player injuries derailed his career missed most of the '06 season and missed the whole '07 Finals.
Wallace was never an offensive player, he still gave Cleveland rebounding and defense another guy who battled injuries and was older...
Jamison was past his prime when he played with LeBron, also he was traded to Cleveland midseason they never even developed chemistry.
Yeah Shaq was in his prime when he played with Kobe, with LeBron he was well past it
LeBron and Varejao have ridiculous chemistry, you'd be a fool to think he doesn't make him better.
D-Wade put up some of his most efficient season in terms of TS%, his raw numbers were expected to dip playing with LeBron. '11 is actually one of the best seasons of his career next to '09 and '06. Wade sacrificed just like any second banana, not to mention he often dealt with injuries.
Bosh's role changed because of Spoelstra, he's probably a better player because of it as he's developed a three point shot, become a strong help defender and is a better crunch time player than he was in Toronto. His numbers dipped playing next to LeBron and Wade, he made sacrifices, he also put up his most efficient seasons playing with LeBron.
Ray Allen well past his prime dudes just a shooter now...LBJ makes him better he's one of the best passers to shooters off of doubles.
Almost none of these nikkas competed for championships with LBJ, with him they did