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LeBron James: It’s Time We Appreciate His Greatness

By Aaron Mah

Jun 11, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the third quarter of game four of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 11, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the third quarter of game four of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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As I sat in my room in a delirious state, with the staining aura of nausea and vomit still hanging over me, I decided to whip out the iPad and utilize it as a mind-numbing form of therapy in effort to sleep off the agonizing effects of food poisoning.

I then turned on my YouTube app, and not surprisingly, the list of recommendations the video-sharing conglomerate presented me consisted of nothing but basketball-related clips — something I’m sure every basketball junkie can relate to.

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But — and I’m blaming this wholly on my unhinged state — I decided to watch a series of Trainwreck trailers, a romantic comedy starring Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, and Cleveland Cavaliers point forward LeBron James. Needless to say, not my proudest moment.

However, as I played bedroom movie critic and appraised LeBron’s acting, I managed to stumble onto this gem:

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My pupils dilated as I scoured through the more than 17-minute exhibition of inhuman athleticism. The breathtaking end-to-end speed, the out-of-nowhere chasedown blocks, the bionic one-footed takeoffs; simply put, the league has never experienced the unadulterated athletic force in which a young LeBron — circa 2005-10 — played with on a nightly basis.

Suddenly, I realized how old I was getting. With a blink of an eye, James’ athletic prime is now behind him. Over the past handful of years, we — the NBA universe — have spent so much wasted time condemning LeBron that we have lost sight of just how rare of a player the 6’8″ locomotive is.

He is the walking definition of an once-in-a-lifetime athlete.

Here’s some food for thought: through the first 12 seasons of every player in NBA league history, James ranks No. 1 in regular season VORP (value over replacement player), No. 2 in BPM (box score plus-minus), No. 3 in PER (player efficiency rating), and No. 5 in WS/48 (win share per 48 per minutes), per Basketball-Reference.

Likewise, the two-time Finals MVP also ranks No. 1 in WS (win shares) and VORP during the playoffs, and trails only Michael Jordan in postseason BPM, and MJ, as well as Shaquille O’Neal, in PER.

The usual suspects that appear when comparing the statistical feats of the Chosen One are Jordan, Shaq, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Wilt Chamberlain — the holy grail of NBA legends.

Yet, if you scroll down on the above attached video, and read some of the NSFW comments, it’s truly mind-boggling the amount of undue bashing the Akron, Ohio, native gets.

“He’ll never be MJ!” and “look at all the travels” are some of the cleaner sentiments most novice fans share. More brutally, a particular brash commenter feels so much vitriol towards Bron-Bron that he created a user account called “LeBron Likes To Lose In The Finals,” and makes comments like “LeBron sucks donkey**ls“.

Does he flop a little too much? Does he take the extra step on the applicable occasion? Yes, but so does every other superstar in the league, including your favorite player.

On the other hand, you may hate him for being disloyal; but is it really a matter of allegiance when he simply made a series of smart business decisions? Are you just mad because he found a way to circumvent the modern day cap system? Shouldn’t he be praised, alternatively, for being a pioneer?

By all accounts, LeBron is loyal and faithful to the things that really matter in life: his childhood friends, his high school sweetheart, and his extended family. Are those not traits worth celebrating? Characteristics worth emulating?

If you rewatch some of his old classics, and analyze his career trajectory, you’ll quickly come to the depressed conclusion that LeBron’s athletic peak — and more importantly, peak as a player — are over.

He will still improve as a cerebral assassin and perfect the little nuances of the game as approaches his early 30s, but we’ll never get back the LeBron who went 95 miles an hour for the full 48 — swatting shots, playing the passing lanes, and penetrating at will.

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Rumored draft target could 'pave way' for scoring G.O.A.T. to join Boston Celtics
Rumored draft target could 'pave way' for scoring G.O.A.T. to join Boston Celtics /

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    • Much like Kobe Bryant, the NBA society has spent so much needles energy comparing, and lamenting, the fact that he’s not Jordan — because, let’s face it, for anyone who’s watched MJ, there will be no “next” — that we quickly disregard the kind of paradigm-changing specimen LeBron is/was.

    He’ll never go six-for-six in the finals, that ship has long sailed; but he’s building his own legacy — straying away from the unattainable precedent Jordan has set forth. Making five straight finals — albeit in a historically weak Eastern Conference — should mean something. 

    The accomplishment should serve as a testament to his unremitting resolve and stamina to play nearly 100 games in each of the past five seasons.

    It was just yesterday when Kobe turned 31 after capturing back-to-back championships in 2010. Fast forward to present day, he has failed to play more than 40 games, in total, over the past two years.

    As much of a physical beast LeBron James is, there will come the day when his body breaks down, especially when considering the amount of wear and tear he has put on his cyborg-like limbs since entering the association straight out of high school.

    It is time we lose this obsession of constantly measuring the King to an unachievable pedestal; instead, we should begrudgingly accept Nike’s advertising premise, become witnesses of his authentic greatness.

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