LeBron James has a long list of achievements that will overshadow several Hall of Fame careers if compared individually and even some others if you take two players’ careers at once in that comparison.
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That is what the 38-year-old King means to the NBA. If Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic-Bird, and Michael Jordan were its pillars for the previous years, James has been it for the most part of the last 20 years.
His recent injuries should not blind you from the fact that he was once the Iron Man of the league. If it has, Rachel Nichols is here to make things clear for you.
Rachel Nichols brings forth an astonishing LeBron James longevity stat
Former ESPN analyst and one of the best female sports journalists ever, Rachel Nichols, speaking to former All-Stars, DeMarcus Cousins and Paul Pierce about the longevity of LeBron, brought forward an astounding statistic that shows the difference between him and every other player.
“Over LeBron’s first 15 years, he missed 71 games total. Over the last 5 years with Lakers he missed 98 games and counting” Nichols said on What’s Burnin.
Rachel is right in what she is saying. However, 99 games (counting the OKC win last night) missed in 5 years by a man who had completed 15 years in the league when he was 33 years old is still impressive.
That’s over 62 games a season. He is built differently actually. That is why we have this huge expectation from him irrespective of the fact that an average star in the NBA still plays fewer games a season than him as of now.
LeBron compared to an average NBA player
To put this all in perspective, an average star in the league now misses 20–28 games a season in this age of load management.
Speaking of load management, guess how many times Kawhi Leonard has played over 62 games in an 82-game season? Five.
Now, do you understand why we would need two HOFs or current NBA stars of the current generation for comparison with James?
Also read: “Great Win Fellas”: LeBron James Showers Love for Lakers Hard Fought Win as He Watches From Home
Keeping all that praise aside, he has got to take care of his body more on the court like he takes off of it if he wants to be in a championship-contending team and also stay fit enough to play with Bronny when the time comes.
It’s time James really took a backseat behind AD or even another player in his team who is having a good day and keeps himself from jumping a row or two of the courtside to save a ball in a regular season game.
