Tale of the Tape: Is Lebron the Anti Shaq?

Now I could easily start this off joking how of course Lebron is the anti Shaq since Shaq has rings and Lebron..well you understand. But that's not what this article is about. Throughout Shaquille O'neals career, he was called for little fouls on other players but drastic fouls on him were ignored. The refs reasoning was that Shaq was so big it was hard to tell when a foul really occurred because he can power through most. The same is said for Dwight Howard now days.

As for Lebron, he seems to get the exact opposite effect. Regarded as the prime physical specimen in NBA history by some based on his size and athletic ability, Lebron gets ALOT of calls. On offense a good amount of Lebron's game revolves around initiating contact and finishing at the rim. Yet unlike Shaq and Dwight, even with his size advantage, Lebron gets foul calls in his favor. Some could say its because he is a bigger star than Dwight, but bigger than The Big Aristotle? I think not.

Defense was no different as last nights OKC/Heat game. On the last play of the game for OKC, down by 2, Lebron blatantly fouled Durant. Had it been anyone else, a call would have been made. Could Durant have still made the shot? Sure, but the foul or non call of one changed the game.

Should players be penalized for being bigger than their competition? And if so why doesn't Lebron seem to have the same area? Not to say Lebron never really gets fouled but the calls in his favor are sometimes BIGGER than the game..