For the past 20 years, LeBron James has given fans one blockbuster year after another. James has surpassed new heights every other season, setting new records and cementing himself in the record books. But when talking about which version of LeBron James is the best, fans may have a spirited debate on that. However, The King himself cannot decide which version of himself is the better one.
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Recently, the Los Angeles Lakers star shared a post of himself on his official Instagram account. The post compared two seasons of The King, the first one being the 2011-12 season with the Miami Heat and the other one being his second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2017-18 season.
The post was originally shared by the official account of ESPN that also had highlights of LeBron James throughout the two years. James went on to share the post on IG stories, captioning it, “WOW, ummmm…I CAN’T EVEN PICK WHICH ONE MYSELF! Hahaha!”
LeBron can’t decide between these two versions of himself pic.twitter.com/nkssdjJcfz
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) February 8, 2024
Breaking down LeBron James’ two seasons, let’s dive deep into the first one. The 2011-12 season was the one where LBJ won his first NBA championship with the Miami Heat after suffering a loss in the NBA Finals the year before.
James was a man on a mission that year, averaging 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game that season. The 20-time All-Star led the Heat in all the stats above along with blocks per game, total minutes played, field goals attempted and made, along with free throws attempted and converted.
James won his third MVP award that year as well as his first Finals MVP after winning his first ring. LeBron even went home with the USA basketball Male Athlete of the Year in 2012. Apart from that, his entire postseason run that year was also ranked the second-best in modern NBA history by ESPN.
Now onto his final year with the Cleveland Cavaliers during his second stint with the team. The 2017-18 NBA Finals marked LeBron James’ eighth consecutive year making it to the finals. Unfortunately for the Cavs and The King, they got swept by the Golden State Warriors in the end.
But looking at James’ numbers from that year, he played the entire season, starting in all 82 games. He averaged 27.5 PPG, 8.6 PRG, and 9.1 APG that year. He led the Cavs in points, assists, blocks, steals, free throws attempted and made, field goals attempted and converted, along with total minutes per game.
The 2017-18 season was when LBJ won his third All-Star MVP award. That was the same year when he led the league in minutes played per game for the second straight year. He also went home with his third Associated Press Athlete of the Year award.
James put up mindboggling numbers in both years and the decision of which year was better sure comes down to preference and perspective.
Chris Bosh and Victor Oladipo give their verdict on LeBron James’ GOAT status
Whether LeBron James can decide which year was better than the other or not, other NBA stars sure gave their two cents as to how it was facing The King during those seasons. Here is what Victor Oladipo had to say when he faced the 2017-18 version of James.
“He knew exactly what he needed to do every game. I think that playoff series he averaged 45. And he knew which games he needed to do more in. Game 1, early on, we came out and I think we surprised everybody when the way we won Game 1 on the road in Cleveland.”
“In Game 2, he went on a 15-0 run to start the game by himself. He understood what was needed of him but I think the most important part is when it was needed.”
On the other hand, former teammate and 11-time All-Star Chris Bosh felt that the 2011-12 version of James was ‘Peak LeBron.’ According to TheScore, Bosh made a case for the Miami Heat James being the epitome of The King while on the Old Man and the Three podcast.
“He’s transformed so many times, but I feel that second year, yeah, I think he was on another planet.”
To wrap up which version of LeBron James was better is again a debate that may come down to certain factors. So, instead of giving you our take, we’ll leave that for you to decide. Which year do you think is the best version of the leader in most points in NBA history?
