Golden State Warriors rookie Eric Paschall is a pretty impressive physical specimen at 6-foot-6 and 255 pounds.
Yet, he discovered during the preseason that he’s still no match for the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James.
Paschall told Howard Beck the moment he realized it while on the “Full 48” podcast.
“My welcome to the NBA moment was my first preseason game and I didn’t expect to be the first one off of the bench so Coach [Steve] Kerr was like, ‘Eric!’,” said Paschall. “He laughs in my face and just goes, ‘You got A.D. (Anthony Davis)’ I had to guard A.D. and I had to guard LeBron. I feel like that was something that really helped me out with my confidence that he really had trust in me to go guard him.
“I played alright. LeBron bullied me the first time. I thought I was a strong guy until I met him. That was kind of crazy. The next time, I bumped him just so he didn’t bully me again so I took a foul on that one. I feel like I ended up playing well against him.”
James is one of the greatest physical specimens in the history of basketball, if not all sports. He’s listed at 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, and he has a truly unique combination of brute power and tremendous speed.
He has the ability to make NBA players with lots of size and strength, such as Paschall’s teammate Draymond Green, look like mere mortals.
To his credit, Paschall has had a nice rookie season, averaging 14.0 points a game in 27.6 minutes while shooting 49.7 percent from the field. He is one of several promising young players that have given the Warriors hope that they will be contenders again once Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both return to the lineup.
Paschall had a strong outing in his last contest against James and the Lakers on Feb. 27, scoring 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Unfortunately for him, L.A. crushed the Warriors that night, 116-86, and that was with James not playing.
