“You got an issue if Bron really wants to guard you” – When Iman Shumpert claimed LeBron James was the toughest player to match up against
LeBron James has been in the headlines recently thanks to his former Miami Heat teammate Mario Chalmers, who questioned why opposing players never talked about fearing the LA Lakers forward.
Despite the fact that James has scored more than 40 points against every single team, stories aren't told about players fearing him like they did Michael Jordan, Chalmers contended. To Chalmers, that seemed strange, however, his comments also led to players leaping to James' defense.
That brought up comments made about James by former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Iman Shumpert last year. As someone who played both with and against James, Shumpert was able to provide a unique perspective.
"The most you can say about that dude is, you know, in the clutch he's folded a few times, but he puts himself in enough positions to correct that later on, so if I gotta call a spade a spade, I haven't had to deal with anything else like that," Shumpert said. "The most skilled offensive player I've had to deal with? Cool, Kevin Durant.
"I've never got a rebound, came down, seen him like – you got an issue if Bron really want to guard you. Now, if you want to go all out for a possession, you got a real issue on your hands. He can literally do everything. He can guard your center. He can guard your point guard. He can deal with one through five. He can play one through five."
You can see his comments in the video below beginning shortly after the two-minute mark.
What exactly did Mario Chalmers say about LeBron James?
During a recent interview with Playmaker HQ, Chalmers spoke about a multitude of topics, including whether or not he called LeBron James a "b**ch".
When it came to the topic of players fearing Jordan, Chalmers spoke about James:
“Nobody fears Bron. Nobody’s like ‘(expletive), I gotta go play against Bron tonight.’ Nobody said that. I don’t know why. Because I seen people be scared when they actually lined up to him, but they’re not scared thinking about that matchup, right?
"You hear anybody from that era talk about going against (Michael) Jordan, there’s a fear. So, when you have people that fear a player, then that’s telling you something different already. Like, Jordan is just that guy.”
ESPN's JJ Redick fired back, shutting Chalmers down, given that James has crushed the championship dreams of plenty of players. With the all-time scoring record, four championships and a lengthy highlight reel, James checks all the boxes.
Whether or not he'll be able to return to the court and help the LA Lakers win another championship this year is another story.
You can view Chalmers' comments about LeBron James in the video below.
"Nobody fears Bron"
LeBron’s former teammate Mario Chalmers says NBA players aren’t scared to face Bron 😳
(via @playmaker)
https://t.co/odNNa84oa1