At the risk of stating the painfully obvious, LeBron James is LeBron James. Cam Newton is Cam Newton. While they are both spectacular athletes in their own regard, they are completely separate players (at different sizes) taking on different responsibilities in different sports. They’re also different people entirely, in case we need to make a statement for individualism.
But because they’re both on top of their respective games right now, and because Newton is getting ready to play in Super Bowl 50 on Sunday, they’re getting weird comparison questions. According to ESPN.com, Newton was asked at Super Bowl media day this week if he was “the LeBron of the NFL,” to which Newton responded, “Why can’t LeBron be called the Cam Newton of power forwards?”
James caught wind of this, and when asked Wednesday ahead of Cleveland’s game against the Charlotte Hornets if “he was the Newton of the NBA,” James replied, “I’m the LeBron of the NBA.”
If you really wanted to, you could make an argument that James is a basketball “quarterback” in that he basically runs things on the floor. He’s obviously the superstar and everything Cleveland does centers around him, much like a franchise quarterback.
But what James can do athletically actually does make him the only “LeBron of the NBA.” He’s a transcendent specimen in that he can play a number of positions at insanely high levels. He’s made every team he’s been on better, won a couple of NBA titles and damn near had a chance to win another by himself against Golden State last year. Other NBA players, and only NBA players, should be compared to him. He is this generation’s “it” player.
As for Newton, sure, he can have a LeBron-like impact on the NFL. There hasn’t ever been a quarterback who is as big and fast as Newton, but who’s also capable of being the best pure pocket passer in the league. That package simply hasn’t existed until Newton came along. It’s a foregone conclusion that Newton will be this year’s league MVP, and he deserves it in every sense.
James and Newton are once-in-a-lifetime athletes in their respective sports. That much is true, but the comparison stops there. Everything else — their physical sizes, their responsibilities, etc.— is a stretch. We should all be okay with celebrating what makes LeBron, LeBron, and Newton, Newton. It’s why we love watching them to begin with.
(Via ESPN.com)
