The longer LeBron James continue to ball out at a mind-boggling level at such an advanced basketball age, the harder it’ll be for prisoners of the past to acknowledge that he isn’t the GOAT ahead of Michael Jordan.
Even if championships don’t continue piling up for The King, he’ll have enough longevity-based achievements to stake a real claim as the best player to ever hit the hardwood. Furthering that quest in a season in which he already willed the Lakers to the inaugural In-Season Tournament crown, LeBron crossed the 40,000 career points threshold on Saturday night against the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
Didn’t take long, either. LeBron entered the night only needing nine points. An efficient start to get the Lakers out to an early lead preceded the decisive field goal. The 39-year-old embarked upon a sweet drive in the lane, hit the Nuggets with a spin move, and finished with the left hand to hit 40K.
In addition to the Lakers’ official Twitter point guard shouting out LeBron for the achievement, Crypto.com Arena’s jumbotron had something special in store during the ensuing timeout.
A beautiful video montage stretched all the way back to LBJ’s early days as a Cleveland Cavalier, and spanned the rest of his illustrious career. It’s really absurd that in his 21st NBA season, LeBron entered Saturday with averages of 25.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 7.9 assists, and 1.2 steals a night. Mind you, that volume of scoring is accomplished on 52.5% shooting from the field, and almost 41% from 3-point range.
All the mileage on LeBron’s legs shouldn’t allow him to have one of his best perimeter shooting seasons ever. Another sign of unfathomable stamina and a drive to continue playing at an elite level well beyond any reasonable expectations.
It’s clear the NBA is having a bit of a problem pulling fans in. Not helping the cause was a dull All-Star Game that the players almost couldn’t have cared less about. LeBron is one of the few superstars who can draw a lot of eyeballs on an odd Saturday night in the middle of the regular season.
This comes not long after he just pulled off a seriously unbelievable comeback against the Clippers.
Witnessing another piece of history never goes out of style, does it? Well, when it comes to LeBron, because of the ongoing GOAT debate with MJ, a lot of people struggle to appreciate anything he does anymore. Or it’s, like, tainted because scoring is up so much in the NBA nowadays. That’s what I bet the haters’ latest consensus angle will be.
I personally find it fun to take in all-time greatness as it’s happening. Poo-pooing LeBron’s accomplishments for trivial reasons seems childish. He’s been around for so long that people must just be tired of him. Can almost guarantee those plebs will wish they didn’t take him for granted once he’s retired.
For now, basketball fans should agree to make celebrating LeBron James cool. Because what he’s doing this season is pretty damn cool.
