There is no question at this point that Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is one of the greatest players to ever play the game. While he may have his faults, no one can deny that no player has played at this level for this long as LeBron remains amongst the elite of NBA players in his 20th season.
But in order to do that, LeBron’s game has had to change over the years. While he is still capable of some ridiculous athletic feats, as he showed in the Lakers’ recent win over the Portland Trail Blazers, they are fewer and far between now as LeBron has improved both his outside shooting and ability to operate in the post.
James admits himself that he has had to evolve his game over the years as he no longer relies on just being more athletic.
“My game has evolved, and I don’t have to rely on superduper athleticism to be effective,” the Lakers superstar said recently. “Probably my first 12 years of my career, maybe 11. First 11-12 years, I was just super duper athletic. And I could not be as efficient and not be as dialed in on the actual basketball game I can go on just figure things out once I jumped in the air.”
“I knew of my first few years, I know if I can take off, I was gonna be up there a lot longer you. You were gonna land before me, then I figured out after that. But I’m also smart enough to know that in order for me to be the best player I needed to be, I got to continue to grow my game.”
James is flat-out a one-of-a-kind athlete. His combination of size, speed, and athleticism made him nearly impossible to stop from the moment he came in the NBA and he knew that. But his skill level wasn’t quite at the level of the likes of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant or NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady who were dominating at that time.
The league’s top coaches understood this as well and LeBron credits the likes of Gregg Popovich and Dwayne Casey for forcing him to improve because of how they defended him. “And a lot of teams and a lot of coaches helped me,” LeBron added. “Coach Pop helped me by going under pick-and-rolls constantly. Dwayne Casey, in his defense that he had on me, went against Dallas in the Finals in Miami, helped me.”
“Rick Carlisle is part of that as well. You know, so a lot of those coaches helped me get better. Because I knew that in order for me to be the best player that I can be, one of the greatest of all time. Could not have no weakness.”
These days with the Lakers, LeBron picks and chooses his spots. He can’t do the things 25-year-old James would do on a regular basis, but he has figured out how to still affect the game regularly without that. And every so often he reminds the rest of the league that he still has that athletic level in him when he needs to.
Giannis Antetokounmpo still sees Lakers’ LeBron James as face of the NBA
And even in his 20th season, James remains the standard for many across the league. Though he may not be the best player, he is still in that class and is one of the most popular players in the NBA as well. In fact, the player who many believe has taken the mantle from the Lakers’ star, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, still views LeBron as the face of the NBA.
Giannis was asked whether he feels like he is the face of the NBA and noted that he feels like he is one of the faces, but there are many others, and the first player he named was LeBron James, who will remain in that spot until the day he finally hangs it up.
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