Chase Cone
Contributing Writer
There have always been talks about who the greatest basketball player is, but there is no doubt when LeBron James retires that there will be talks about how he will be the greatest basketball player of all time.
Over the last 15 years, James has advanced to the playoffs 14 of those 15 times and only missed the playoffs once. He has made it out of the first round each time and has been to the NBA Finals 10 times. This shows how great of an impact he has on the teams he plays for.
James knows how to lead his teams to victory and turns every franchise into a winning franchise, and is known to have winning in his blood. He has never missed a postseason game and has always been his team’s leader in pretty much every category.
He has also been known to be clutch in the playoffs with having more game winning buzzer beaters than any other player in NBA history. When it comes to elimination games and game 7’s, he has the NBA highest career scoring average with 34.9. When it comes down to the wire, he shows up to play and proves why he is clutch and is proven to win games.
James has 12 NBA final stats with more than 25 points, more than 10 rebounds and more than 5 assists. Nobody in NBA history to play this game has more than four times. Also, he has been named to four finals MVPs, second just shy of Michael Jordan, and is the first player to win NBA finals MVP with 3 different franchises.
With just the postseason stats, this just shows you how great James is and what he does to change the culture of a franchise to a winning franchise. He is a 16 time all-star, 16 time all NBA team, 6 time all time defensive player, 4 time MVP, and lastly he received rookie of the year in 03-04.
With plenty in the tank still, he is 3rd in the all-time scoring list and is moving up that list quickly. People are saying he is at his best at the age of 36 and is aging like fine wine, and plans to be in this game until his body tells him that is enough, but that does not look like it will happen anytime soon.
Even at age 36, he is averaging over 30 minutes per game and is still putting up numbers averaging 25.4 points per game, 7.9 rebounds and 7.9 assists. These numbers are what the young people in the NBA are putting up, and just to think at age 36 he is still putting up numbers like this.
James also ranks fourth in all time for triple doubles with 99 and definitely can add more to that and move up the list. Putting the statistics and his postseason statistics away, he is destined to put a franchise into a winning culture, because he tends to make people around him better.
His basketball IQ is one of the greatest and that’s why he is so successful. When his time is up in the NBA, that’s when the talks will start to begin about who is definitely the greatest basketball player of all time. At age 36, let’s see what else James can accomplish before his time.
