LeBron vs. Luka - The Ultimate Comparison.

Luka Doncic is a phenom, and LeBron is one of the greatest ever. Naturally, a lot of people have started comparing them, and we'll do it too. Here are the four biggest similarities and three key differences between Luka and LeBron. Similarity High IQ Having Luka or LeBron on your team makes it easy to be a basketball coach. Give them the ball and everybody else move out of the way. Classic basketball positions are a thing of the past. NBA GMs are searching for all-around players who can play and guard multiple positions on and provide their coach with various tactical opportunities. There aren't many triple-threat players who can dribble, pass, and score equally well, but Doncic and James are some of them. From the age of 17, Luka had the ability to run the pick-and-roll and be an offensive Swiss Army Knife. If the passing lanes are closed, Doncic has the ability to finish one-on-one. If the defense collapses or closes his driving routes, he will find open teammates with surgical precision. And that proved to be both Luka's and LeBron's greatest strength. A deep understanding of basketball geometry and the ability to dominate with their brain. If they want to score the ball, there's not much the defense can do, and they'll finish with 30. If the defense decides to double-team, they'll carve them up with their passing. When you're playing against a guy like Luka, you can't be one-dimensional. Draymond Green said in the 2022 Conference Finals, You can choose the best type of defense against him, and let's say it works. But if you linger too long with one type of defense, a player like Luka will figure it out. LeBron and Luka have basketball intelligence and playmaking ability that are incredibly alike. They both force the defenses to collapse and rotate on every position, and control the pace of the game. It's uncanny how they scan the floor to hunt mismatches, and keep finding different solutions to the opponent's tactics. They essentially play the same position, point forward, and are extremely easy to coach. Just give the ball to Luka, or give the ball to LeBron, and let them figure it out. Difference. Errors. LeBron entered the NBA in 2003, when Luka was just 4 years old. To understand the differences and similarities between Luka and LeBron, we have to look at the difference in eras. As rookies, Luka and LeBron had nearly identical stats. 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists for Luka. And 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists for LeBron. However, all stats are not the same. In 2003-2004, LeBron's Cavs played with a pace of 91, which means they had 91 possessions over the course of a game. Luka's Mavs had the pace of 99 possessions in 2019, which means Doncic and the Mavs had 8 more opportunities to score. 2004 Cavs averaged 93 points per game, compared to 109 for the 2019 Mavericks. Cleveland played with two traditional big men, clogging the paints, and the whole team made only 247 threes in a season. Steph Curry now makes 247 threes in half an hour of shootaround. And in the 2019 season, the Mavericks made over 1,000 threes, with more than 40% of their total shots coming from deep. By his second season, LeBron averaged 27-7-7, while Luka averaged 29-9-9. But again, the Cavs were a horrible offensive team with zero spacing, while Doncic's 2020 Mavs posted the best offensive rating in NBA history due to the insane shooting ability of almost any player on the roster. While both players won Rookie of the Year, and were leading the team with phenomenal performances and nearly identical stats in their first four years in the NBA, it was much harder for LeBron to come up with his numbers than it was for Luka. LeBron had to go through multiple 7-footers in the paint if he wanted to score at the basket. Pick and roll was used three times less, with no three-point shooters around him to stretch the floor. Also, offensive players weren't as protected as they are now, especially not on jump shots. So 30 points in 2005 were not the same as 30 points in the modern era, and that's why LeBron's numbers carry more weight. Similarity, Old LeBron and Current Luka In 2022, LeBron is not the same athletic beast he used to be. Sure, he's still a fabulous player, which his 30 points per game would suggest, but his athletic ability is not in the 99th percentile anymore. James' first step is a bit slower, and he can't finish in traffic flying above everybody like he used to. Despite the obvious drop-off, the King is still one of the most athletic players in the NBA, and even at the age of 37, LeBron is more athletic than Luka is now. Dang, he's likely to be more athletic than Luka at 40. The point is that this version of LeBron is much closer to Luka than the prime version of LeBron. In 2022, James got to the rim at the lowest rate of his career. Because repeated drives to the basket are too taxing for his 19-year-old NBA engine, LeBron is taking more threes than ever. With the Lakers, James is averaging 6.7 three-point attempts per game, and in 2022, he shot a career-high 8 shots from deep. Luka averaged 8.8 attempts behind the arc, and that's why their games are much more similar now than ever before. Old LeBron is now using more tricks, because he can't always rely on athleticism. He'll bump off players and use his size to create separation. He seals off defenders with his body to prevent steals, and he's using more stepbacks and fadeaways, just like Donchich. Luka has never been athletic, and his whole game is centered around bumping off players, using his weight and footwork to keep defenders off balance. Donchich is extremely nimble in tight spaces, using his dribble to get defenders off the wrong foot, and playing with his back to the basket with his size, skill, and shooting touch to get easy shots. LeBron is now doing the same thing, and as he ages into his 40s, their style of play will become even more similar. Difference Defense While Luka can use his craftiness and shooting to be as effective as LeBron offensively, he will never catch up to James on the defensive end. His lateral movement is too slow, his speed in defensive transition is often underwhelming, and his balance is subpar. And we're not even comparing him to LeBron here. We're talking about league average. LeBron was a plus defender from the moment he stepped foot in the NBA, due to his insane combination of size and athletic ability. His chase-down blocks were one of the best defensive highlights you could ever see, something that Luka will never be able to do. After a few years of experience and tutelage of defensive coach Mike Brown, LeBron understood defensive positioning better than almost anybody ever. James learned the opponent's offensive sets to a point where he was instructing opposing players and giving advice on where they should stand on offense. When he moved to Miami, LeBron's added strength allowed him to guard all five positions. He was a perennial All-NBA defender, and in 2013, was probably robbed of a Defensive Player of the Year award. We will never be able to say that about Luka. In the 2022 playoff series against the Warriors, Luka's defensive weaknesses were heavily exploited, and he was often the first point of the Warriors' offensive game plan. Jason Kidd and the Mavs' coaching staff had improved the team's defensive rating significantly, from 20th in 2021 to 6th in 2022. However, they couldn't mask Luka's slow-footed coverages in the playoffs. The Warriors often hunted him in the pick-and-roll, and exposed his defensive deficiencies. European players like Jokic, Snrkic, and Saric will never beat anyone in a foot race, but each of them has learned to position themselves well to be at least averaged defensively and even have a positive impact on defense. Doncic was a defensive black hole in his first couple of years in the NBA, and even though he improved in 2022 under Jason Kidd, it's still not enough. He needs to further improve his strength and conditioning, which will allow him to play defense for a full 24 seconds of the opposing possession and 48 minutes of a playoff game. He could start doing yoga or similar stretching exercises to unlock his hips and improve his lateral quickness. And finally, he needs to understand positioning and learn the opponent's tendencies better. He'll never hound opposing point guards as LeBron did in 2011 to MVP Derrick Rose. He won't scare anybody in transition with his chase-down blocks, and he'll likely never provide any substantial rim protection from the help side, which LeBron did perfectly for years. Even after his 35th birthday, LeBron is still one of the best wing defenders in the NBA. Luka will likely never be as good of a defender as LeBron is now, let alone in his prime. But he can improve, and he has to, if he doesn't want to be hunted in the playoffs again. Similarity, Size, and Strength Doncic is listed at 6'7", but it's not your usual 6'7". He's extremely wide and sturdy, with big strong legs which allow him to bump and push off players. His big posterior is perfect for playing with his back to the basket, using his strength to get a good shot in the paint. What is even more impressive is Luka's wingspan of 7'2". Long, strong arms allow him to dribble the ball lower to the ground, and a big reason why he's averaging over 8 rebounds per game. Long arms also make it harder to block his shot, and his combination of skill, shooting ability, size, and length make Doncic one of the best ISO scorers in the NBA. LeBron is listed at 6'9", with a 7-foot wingspan. Just like Luka, he's using his strength and size against smaller defenders, and he'll either post them up or shoot over them. Both players weigh between 250 and 260 pounds, and it's game over when they get a defender on their hip, because he'll simply bounce off them. In the 2022 playoffs, Doncic bulldozed through Chris Paul. Even the 7-foot DeAndre Ayton would get bumped off Luka. Doncic is not as athletic as LeBron, but Slovenian Wonderboy is like a rhino. You can't stop him after he gets ahead of Steam. Difference. Transition. Once he catches a defensive rebound, Luka immediately starts the break, either by whipping a quick pass ahead to an open teammate, or using the open space to push the ball himself. Now you'll probably say, wait a minute, that's spot on LeBron, and the King does the same thing. And yes, you're correct. Luka and LeBron are similar in transition offense, but the big difference is again, LeBron's athleticism. With just half a step of advantage, LeBron can take off and nobody can catch him anymore, and it will result in a powerful dunk at the other end in less than three seconds. When Luka goes into transition, it's much slower and more methodical. Doncic makes great use of a large frame to force contact, and he'll exploit backpedaling defenders by bouncing off them. LeBron, on the other hand, will simply outrun everybody or run through the defense. In semi-transition, LeBron is probably the most dangerous player in the history of basketball, other than maybe Giannis. With Luka, he can exploit the unsettled defense, but due to his lack of speed and verticality, he'll much less often hunt for defensive gaps and explode to the rim. Similarity. Usage. We already said that Luka and LeBron have nearly identical stats, but that's also true for advanced statistics. Luka has one of the highest usage rates in league history, and he's using 35% of all Mav's possessions. LeBron's career usage rate is also extremely high, at 32%. If we look at their numbers per 100 possessions, they are averaging nearly identical stats, with 38 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for Luka, and 37-10-10 for LeBron. They're both good, but not great free throw shooters, and they shoot an identical 73% from the line in their career. And even though Doncic is considered a much better shooter from deep, he's only better than the young version of LeBron. For their career, both players shoot at a 34% clip from three. Luka is already a top 10 all-time in triple doubles, and he's likely going to eclipse LeBron someday, who is fifth on the list. In conclusion, Luka and LeBron are extremely similar in their size, basketball IQ, and style of play. The only difference is that LeBron is arguably the most athletic human who ever played in the NBA, and Luka is not. But to even be compared to LeBron is the biggest compliment, and that's pretty fly for a white guy.