CJ McCollum has apparently lost his mind.
There aren’t many players you can compare to LeBron James. He’s up there in the GOAT debate with Michael Jordan and is consistently in the top three all-time. In terms of current players, you can compare to James, the list is Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, maybe Luka Doncic gets there soon. Or if you’re CJ McCollum, the answer is Eric Bledsoe.
On a recent episode of his “Pull Up with CJ McCollum” Podcast, the Trailblazers guard said that Bledsoe plays like King James:
“I’m a big fan of Eric Bledsoe. He’s like a mini LeBron. Super athletic, explosive, can lead a team, can run a team.”
Oh, boy.
Is McCollum That Wrong?
I’m no stranger to saying dumb things on podcasts. I’ve got two, which doubles my opportunities to say dumb things and have terrible takes. McCollum probably meant that Bledsoe’s style of play is similar to LeBron, and so it’s hard to fault him for that. However, calling Bledsoe a mini-Lebron is pretty egregious.
A quick reminder of LeBron’s career accolades: 4x MVP, 17x All-Star, 4x NBA Champ, more individual records than he can keep track of. He’s even got a Space Jam movie, even if it was terrible.
Bledsoe is by no means a bad player. He’s two-time All-Defense, has career averages of 14.0 PPG and 4.7 APG. Bledsoe can help teams win, most recently being a solid contributor on some Bucks squads before their championship run. Even though he’s a good role player, I don’t think anyone would have ever compared him to LeBron James. Especially now, as Bledsoe ages and carries an 18 million dollar cap hit, no one is going to confuse him for LeBron.
So yes, McCollum is just a bit off with his LeBron-Bledsoe comparison. Maybe Bledsoe will put it all together as a Clipper this year, and we’ll be the fools instead of CJ.
