Brad Daugherty, And His Back, Thinks His Cavs Could Have Checked Lebron

I love discussions of completely different eras within Sports, but this might be my favorite. While many are in awe of the way Lebron James and the Cavs roll through the Playoffs, there's one person who doesn't seem that impressed. That person is former Cavs Center, and current ESPN Nascar analyst, Brad Daugherty. Brad conducted an interview with his own employer, for an ESPN Media website called the Water Cooler, and had this to say about King James....

“It’d be very difficult matching up and defending LeBron, much like the problems we had to guard Michael Jordan,” said Daugherty, whose teams were eliminated from the NBA playoffs multiple times by Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. “LeBron continues to groom his outside shot, being able to make 15 to 18-footers, and that’s what’s making the difference in him being the player he is today as opposed to the player he was three years ago.

“If we played them, and he started making 18-foot shots consistently, he’d be a problem. But I think we could have altered some of his shots, and we could have thrown a couple of really top-notch defenders at him. Larry Nance could guard out on the perimeter, he could guard a 3 or a 4, and “Hot Rod” Williams was an excellent defender. When you got past them to go to the basket, the game was still on because they could come from behind you and block your shot.”

“LeBron offers all kinds of problems for anyone who has to guard him, but I think with our basketball team, especially if we had Ron Harper, there’s just no way that they could have matched up with us to stop our offense because we were too efficient,” Daugherty said. “But like I said, it’s ok for me to sit here now and say this.”

The Cavs teams of the late 80s were pretty strong defensively, but there was not a person like Lebron in the NBA back then. It is a good debate though, because Daugherty's supporting cast was definitely better offensively than Lebron's. I'm still thinking Lebron would go for 40, 12 and 8, and the current Cavs would win in six games, but I'm rooting for any team that has Mark Price on it.

LeBron vs. ESPN’s ex-Cav Brad? Let the Debate Begin! (Water Cooler)