The NBA Finals is upon us all, and the one question most basketball fans have in mind right now is whether the Cleveland Cavaliers have what it takes to win against the All-Star-laden cast of the Golden State Warriors. Los Angeles Lakers legend and all-time scoring leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, however, is pondering on a completely different equation.
In a recently-published article over at The Guardian, Abdul-Jabbar asks if LeBron James is now at the point where he can be described as better in basketball than the Lakers center was. Abdul-Jabbar spent the early portions of his piece gushing at LeBron’s longevity and how the four-time league MVP continues to break records along the way, including the Lakers great’s all-time field goals made record in the playoffs.
LeBron James, 33 years old and finishing his 15th season, continues to break records, including my own all-time field goal postseason record, as he gets ready to play in his eighth straight NBA finals.
I often get asked about LeBron. How does his play now compare to when he was younger? How long can he keep playing? What does it take to stay in the game so long? Is he the best player who ever lived?
Without really giving a concrete answer to the question he posed in the title of his column, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar simply made it clear that each player is different and that they are all products of their eras and basketball environments.
In sports, a player develops his style, his skills, his sensibilities based on the time period he grew up in. The way basketball is played today is different to what it was 10, 20 or 30 years ago. Then along come game innovators – whether players or coaches – and the sport evolves. LeBron is one of the best players now and his intelligent combination of team leadership, brawny lay-ups, dominating rebounding, and surgical passing is elevating the game to its next level.
LeBron James can add to his greatness beginning Thursday night when he and the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals.