LeBron James at 37: where he is among the greats of the NBA

[Zorro]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Omaha Steve (a host of the General Discussion forum).

Less than three weeks before turning 37, LeBron James became the oldest player to record a 30-point triple-double when he finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against the Orlando Magic. December 12. He broke his own record 16 days later with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against the Houston Rockets in another landmark performance that saw him surpass 36,000 points for his career. It was his fifth consecutive 30-point performance, a streak that included 39 points against the Brooklyn Nets on Christmas Day.

Even with a little gray in his beard, the king can still rule his court.

James takes on a huge load for a rebuilt Lakers roster in his 19th season, and the wear and tear is starting to show. As the Lakers star celebrates his 37th birthday on Thursday, we take a look at his career development over the years.

One of the few things left for James in his career is claiming the NBA all-time scoring record. Starting the Lakers’ journey against the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies this week, James was 2,418 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who has scored 38,387 points in 20 seasons.

James is in his 19th season with no sign of imminent retirement, making Abdul-Jabbar’s pursuit of the record a matter of “when” rather than “if”. Yet few of the game’s elite have maintained the type of production James seeks this late in their careers.

https://noooracademy.com/lebron-james-at-37-where-he-is-among-the-greats-of-the-nba/

He's not only a great player, he's also a great human being.

[Boomerproud]

1. My cousin was his math teacher at St Vincent/St Mary.

She said he was a bright, sweet kid.

[JT45242]

2. If you ignore...

His entire HS and early pro career. I will preface this as a former teacher at St Vincent St Mary before he got there and as a former assistant assistant coach elsewhere.

When he was in high school he flagrantly broke all the rules against taking money from agents. He was so brazen as to have a sports illustrated article that showed several hundred thousand dollars worth of jerseys in his closet in addition to the Hummer that his unemployed mom was driving.

When a petition from most of the other coaches in the Ohio High School Athletics Association requested that he be banned from playing for obvious violations of policy , the commissioner rejected the petition on the basis that James would make the organization too much money to turn him away. As he would just go to one of the prep academies that turn a blind eye to such things.

He didn't go one and done because the NCAA had informed coaches that recruiting him was a de facto violation.

He advised the guy who took booster money at USC when he was a high schooler.

Let's not ignore his flaws (and I have passed over his tampering with players under contract and team jumping) because he plays well. He has been more active in the community with positive things lately, but let's not sanctify him or deify him.

[hunter]

5. High school and college "amateur" sports are a cruel farce that ought to be ended.

Let the professional teams organize their own damned youth and minor leagues they can harvest new recruits from.

[ARPad95]

8. If all of that happened when he was under 18 years old, then he cannot be blamed. He would not have

been able to enter into any contracts as a minor. Blame the adults in his life for their flagrant breaking of the rules. Now that he's enjoyed 19 years adulting and knows the rules of the game , he should be held to account for any and all things he does that break the rules.

Side note: My son's AAU basketball team played a team from Ohio coached by LeBron's aunt. To say it was a blowout would be an understatement.

[we can do it]

10. Pathetic stab at someone who actually gives back to Akron.

Walking thru StV/M parking lot any day during those years, you’d see countless cars worth more than the Hummer they purchased after he signed with Nike.

Considering the work he put into his accomplishments to climb out of poverty he was born into, you should be ashamed.

[Diamond_Dog]

3. He has always given back to his community.

His “I Promise” school in Akron is a shining example.

[True Dough]

4. There are oodles of stats that can be analyzed

but let's just look at some aspects of the top-3 career scoring leaders.

Abdul-Jabbar needed 1,560 games to reach 38,387 points.

Karl Malone (currently #2), took 1,476 games to hit 36,928 points.

Lebron stands at 1,334 career games and 36,038 points.


If Lebron were to score at a pace of 25 points per game, he'll need another 94 games to surpass Kareem. That would give him the all-time scoring title in 1,428 games, which is considerably faster than Kareem's pace.

That's already reflected in career points-per-game, where Lebron is at 27.02 compared to Malone's 25.02 and Abdul-Jabbar's 24.61. Michael Jordan leads that category, by the way, at 30.12.

Then if you look at rebounds, both Malone and Abdul-Jabbar have a sizeable, and likely insurmountable, lead on Lebron. Kareem finished with 17,440 career rebounds, Malone with 14,968 while Lebron stands at a "mere" 9,924.

However, if you turn to assists, Lebron is tops among the three by a wide margin with 9,858. Kareem only had 5,660 while Malone amassed 5,248 assists.


So what does this all mean? I dunno, but Lebron is a helluva player. Arguably the greatest of all time.

[edhopper]

6. Probably at #2

behind Jordan.

[Johnny2X2X]

7. He's #2 all time

His longevity is better than Jordan's, but he's still behind Jordan because Jordan was better at his peak. Just ahead of Kareem, Russell, Wilt, and Magic.

[bigtree]

9. he's playing against teams whose rosters are full of replacement players due to covid

... but, yeah.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/fantasy-basketball-are-players-who-stepped-up-during-covid-outbreak-legit/ar-AASfaho

[Omaha Steve]

11. After a review by forum hosts....LOCKING

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