LeBron Makes Pass to Greatness

When the Magic-Cavaliers series begins tonight, two of the better passing big men will be on display: Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu and Cleveland's LeBron James.

At 6-foot-10, Turkoglu is a tough matchup for opposing defenses, and his ability to find teammates was a big part of Orlando's Game 7 win over Boston on Sunday. In that game, Turkoglu had 12 assists.

But we really want to focus on James here because, after all, it's his passing that has put him into an elite group of players. It's fair to say that James, all 6-foot-8 of him, is already one of the greatest passing big guys to ever play the game.

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When you talk about Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Rick Barry, all wonderful passers at 6-foot-7 or taller, James now belongs on that exclusive list. He is a little different kind of passer than those other three, but he's every bit as effective when it comes to playmaking and setting up teammates.

For the most part, James doesn't throw passes like Magic, Bird and Barry. Let's face it, those guys were a little prettier, a little more precise and just a tad better at threading the needle and finding cutters.

They might even have an edge on James when it comes to court vision.

But James can do some things that set him a little bit apart, like his ability to elevate and get a different look-see at the court or his gift of throwing bullet-like passes that actually get to teammates a split-second sooner than just your average pass.

Most basketball people will tell you that you shouldn't leave your feet to throw a pass. But James challenges that conventional wisdom.

James can get up so high and he can cover so much ground in the air (cover ground in the air?) that he actually seems to get a different perspective, along with different passing angles, when he's in the air.

The way James does this isn't quite as polished as the way Barry used to do it, but it's every bit as effective.

Barry could go up for his jumper and then at the last moment find an open teammate under the basket with a pass. This sometimes happened with three or four defenders staring awkwardly up at the basket waiting for a shot from Barry that never ended up coming.

Before Bird came along, Barry was considered the best – or certainly one of the best – passers and playmakers from the forward position. Now James is in there. And, of course, Magic, even though he was technically a point guard.

But James puts the ball in teammates' hands faster than those other three could. There is something very real about Johnson, Bird and Barry seeing a play before it developed. Their ability to be a step ahead of the play was nothing short of basketball genius.

James has a little of that, too, but isn't quite there with the other three. But what James is able to do is make a decision and execute a play – or pass – faster and more quickly than anyone else playing the game right now.

Here's a little stretch of an analogy ... Bird, Magic and Barry were sort of like quarterback Joe Montana, someone who knew where a receiver was going to be before the receiver actually got there and then deliver the ball to the spot where he'd end up.

James is more like a Dan Marino, who had an incredible ability to stay in the pocket, then rifle a pass to a teammate who had gotten open at the last possible moment before Marino was going to go down.

Two different quarterbacks, two different styles. Both great.

On the statistical side, James' assist numbers have to be acknowledged. James has averaged at least 7.2 assists per game in each of the past two seasons, and he also averaged as many in 2004-05.

Barry averaged more than six assists per game plenty of times during his career, but he never got to seven. Bird averaged 6.3 assists per game for his career, and one year handed out 7.6 per game.

Of course, Johnson's assist numbers were better because he played the traditional point guard role.

But any way you cut it, James is right there in this group.