LeBron James was called “the king” when he entered the NBA at the age of 18. Ben Simmons, in turn, has been referred to as “the prince”. Their careers intertwined the second Simmons set foot on the NBA hardwood.
Their backgrounds were completely different. Simmons grew up in Australia before joining Monteverde Academy and then LSU, 2 world class basketball programs. James, on the other hand, took a relatively moderate SVSM high school team to the top in the early 2000s, with their games nationally televised because of him.
The reasoning behind their constant comparisons was simple: Simmons played like LeBron. The way LeBron has been compared to Magic Johnson, the Aussie native couldn’t escape the nickname ‘Baby LeBron’.
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Colin Cowherd’s take on Ben Simmons and LeBron James resurfaces
Ben Simmons was drafted No. 1 overall from the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016, but missed his entire rookie campaign due to a foot injury. After having his official rookie season in 2017-18, he earned ROTY honors by showing more than just flashes of who he’s meant to be in the league.
By the time the summer of 2018 rolled around, Simmons had established himself as someone very reminiscent of LeBron James. From the downhill pressure to the magic of the game, Ben looked to be up to James’ level.
Colin Cowherd saw this and took it a bit too far because in 2018 he used his show to say that if James wanted to leave the NBA he could because the league had found his replacement in Ben Simmons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWq2_krdIEk
There was also the added storyline of LeBron choosing which team to join after the Cavaliers. Many forget that the Philadelphia 76ers were really in the hunt to catch James. This is, of course, before Magic Johnson signed him for the Lakers.
Colin Cowherd got it seriously wrong
Thinking back to Colin’s catch, it’s one of the most excruciating sentences uttered in the history of NBA basketball analysis. With Ben Simmons now on the Brooklyn Nets, he has yet to show the skills he needed to possess as the “next LeBron James.”
He’s rehabilitating a back injury that kept him sidelined all last season and he’s working his way through poor performances, but it’s clear he’s not the same player he was from. return from 2017-2020.
On the other hand, LeBron continues to disrespect the concept of “Father Time” as he averages 26/8/6 in his 20e season in the NBA at the age of 37.
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