Pierce on how athletic a young LeBron was during his first stint with the Cavs: "He was built like a power forward but played as a guard"

Pierce on how athletic a young LeBron was during his first stint with the Cavs: “He was built like a power forward but played as a guard” originally appeared on Basketball Network.

Just as Paul Pierce‘s Boston Celtics were slowly climbing out of the bottom of the Eastern Conference, a new force was also rising in the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Pierce entered the NBA in 1998, but it wasn’t until 2002 that he got his first taste of the postseason. A year later, an 18-year-old named LeBron James joined the Cleveland Cavaliers, and after they missed the playoffs in his first two years, Cleveland became a threat in The Truth’s conference.

During his recent appearance on Julian Edelman’s “Games with Names” podcast, Pierce talked about how good the young James was during his first stint in Cleveland.

“He’s a physical specimen,” said Pierce. “He’s built like a power forward but playing guard. If he’s born 10 years earlier, he would have been a power forward. He the same size as Ben Wallace. Everybody knows who Ben Wallace was, how big he was and strong, athletic he was. And he played guard. And the way he could move was just like something that you really didn’t see from guys his size, the athleticism, the IQ, and all of that.”

“The Chosen One”

LeBron came out of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio, as the most-hyped prospect in the game’s history. At 6’8” and built like a freight train, James wowed the nation with his uncanny ability to play the small man positions, including point guard.

Not only did he lead the Irish to an incredible 81-1 record versus Ohio opponents and won three state titles, but Bron also showed out with 31 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in the first nationally-televised high school game since 1989 when St. Vincent – St. Mary faced Oak Hill, cementing his status as the game’s “Chosen One.”

In 2003, LeBron entered the NBA Draft and was picked first overall by his hometown Cavaliers. Despite his doubters, including several teammates who did not believe that an 18-year-old would lead an NBA team to the promised land, King James defied unrealistic expectations, and at the age of 22, he led an unlikely group of players wearing the Cavs uniform to the 2007 NBA Finals.

Russell likened a young James to Johnson

Similarly, one year before James took the Cavs to the championship series against the Spurs in ’07, the late Celtics great Bill Russell compared a 21-year-old LeBron to Magic Johnson. The reason was LBJ’s unique skillset at his size, and after he averaged 35.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game in Cleveland’s first-round series win against the Washington Wizards in the 2006 NBA Playoffs, the 11-time champion was impressed.

“How old is he? Twenty-one? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player that good who is this young except for maybe me,” Russell said before unleashing his famous high-pitched laugh. “He reminds me of Magic Johnson because he’s so big and he handles the ball so much, he is so hard to guard. He has all the talent, and when he gets the experience, who knows where he’ll go.”

Well, LeBron has gone farther than anyone in NBA history. Barring any change of plans, he will be playing in his 23rd season in the NBA during the 2025-26 campaign. It’s not only that.

Bron is coming off a Year 22, in which he still made the All-NBA second team, and continues to add to his NBA all-time scoring record with each point he scores. And even if Jordan backers say he will never be the GOAT, James has given doubters enough reason to challenge MJ.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 21, 2025, where it first appeared.

Pierce on how athletic a young LeBron was during his first stint with the Cavs: “He was built like a power forward but played as a guard”

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