Joe close to LeBron?

Mike Kahn of foxsports.com has made an interesting comparison with two members of the U.S. national mens team selection pool - Joe Johnson and LeBron James. He claims that Johnson (in his estimation the NBA's 5th-best shooting guard) has a "combination of size, strength, ballhandling ability and shooting range which make him the closest player to LeBron James."

Although Johnson is no longer a mystery to NBA observers, his performance in the Hawks' first-round playoff series loss to the Celtics cemented his status as one of the top shooting guards in the game today. At 6-foot-7, 235 pounds, his combination of size, strength, ballhandling ability and shooting range make him the closest player to LeBron James. Questioned for his leadership ability and sometimes vanishing act, in his three seasons since coming to the Hawks from the Suns, Johnson has averaged 22.0 points, 5.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds — frequently rotating between point guard, shooting guard and small forward. With the reconstruction of the team and its success a year ago — plus a training camp with point guard Mike Bibby, who was acquired at midseason — Johnson, 27, should have an even great comfort zone at shooting guard and more productive season.

The LBJ-JJ comparison made me pause.
While I know Kahn is not making a direct comparison, saying Johnson is the closest player to James in physique and skill-set is suprising when I remember the Joe I saw play 10 years ago.
As a student journalist, I reported on Johnson when he played at Little Rock Central High School 1997-1999. At 17, he was a skinny kid, like most kids that age. Physically, he was no where near the freakish "beastliness" King James had attained by the same age. That may make Johnson's ascent all the more impressive, though. For fun, let's compare the two with hard data. Here's a quick side-by-side of the two players from when they were aged 17/18 and last year:

Joe Johnson 1998-1999
L.R. Central senior
Height: 6-6 Weight: 215
18.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and two steals a game.

LeBron James 2002-2003
St. Vincent-St. Mary senior
Height: 6-8, Weight: 235
Averaged 30.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.9 steals a game.

Joe Johnson 2007-2008
Atlanta Hawks All-Star
Height: 6-7 Weight: 235
Averaged 21.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1 steal a game.

LeBron James 2007-2008
Cleveland Cavaliers All-NBA
Height: 6-8 Weight: 250
Averaged 28.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.8 steals a game.

As you can see, LeBron is superior to Joe in every statistical category. Still, that is not surprising for somebody who was the most hyped prep ball player of all time and may go down as the greatest forward the game has ever seen.

Joe has traveled much farther - and worked every bit as hard as LeBron - to achieve his current stature.

He's done quite well for someone who was rated the 39th best H.S. player in the nation the summer before his senior year.