There are people who, for one reason or another, don’t want to give LeBron James the credit he deserves. Or they begrudgingly give him credit, but insist that they don’t like him.
It’s always been difficult for me to figure out why that is. He’s never in trouble. He’s a family man. His list of charitable contributions and foundation programs is probably more massive than most realize.
I do understand the complaining issue. I don’t fully agree with it, but I understand it. James can be very visible when he thinks the referees missed a call or that he doesn’t get the same treatment from the officials as most other players. To be clear, he’s correct. James plays through contact more than just about anyone since Shaquille O’Neal. He is essentially penalized for being as strong as he is, because contact that would derail another player doesn’t appear as harsh when it’s committed against LeBron.
But so many players complain about calls that to nitpick that as a reason to dislike James is a bit ridiculous. It probably just appears to be more from him because he plays more and has the ball more than anyone else in the game. James just wrapped up his 15th regular season in the NBA, in which he played all 82 games and more minutes than anybody in the league. He has led the league in minutes per game the past two seasons at ages 32 and 33. He’s only sat out 71 games in his career, which comes to fewer than five per season.
For comparison’s sake, Dwyane Wade has also been in the league for 15 years. Everyone seems to love Wade and considers him a warrior on the court, but he has missed 232 games. That’s 151 more than James — almost two full seasons. Wade has played 33,888 minutes; James has played 44,298. So 15 years after each was selected in the top five of the NBA Draft, James has logged 33 percent more court time than Wade, not even including the playoffs.
Who doesn’t love Steph Curry? Nobody, right? But in nine seasons, Curry has missed 91 games, which is still pretty good considering the ankle issues that worried some teams when he entered the league, but 20 more than James. Curry also does his fair share of complaining and ref glaring — and unlike Curry, James has never hucked his mouthguard into the crowd, to the best of my recollection.
People can cheer who they want, boo who they want and like or dislike anyone they choose. But at some point, we’re all going to come to the realization that LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of all time. Yes, Jordan has more championships and I’ll never downplay how amazing Jordan was.
LeBron is better.
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were incredible to watch and Magic revolutionized the game, as well as the point guard position.
LeBron is better.
It’s impossible to watch what he does now and not reach this conclusion. I don’t need the analytics to tell me (which they do) or for him to set virtually every statistical record (which he is) to proclaim James as the greatest of all time.
From a total talent perspective, this Cleveland team is almost certainly below Golden State, Houston, Boston, Oklahoma City, Toronto, Utah, Philadelphia, Washington, New Orleans, even Minnesota and Milwaukee. Yet LeBron has them a win away from another NBA Finals appearance.
Now, this all being said, I think Boston wins today. Oh, to be a Celtics fan right now. As much as I can’t stand it as a die-hard Knicks supporter (in need of some support, myself), this Boston team is so much fun to watch. If they can hold serve and win at home today with Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward in street clothes, it will be one of the more phenomenal postseason showings I can ever remember from such a young team.
But discounting LeBron’s chances in a one-and-done scenario isn’t wise. Hopefully his numbers this postseason (33.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, 8.8 assists in 41 minutes per game) aren’t lost on those less-enthusiastic LeBron watchers, because it’s going to be a shame when some realize they spent the most amazing parts of his career gritting their teeth for no real reason.
•••
David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
