How Many Basketball Hall Of Fame "Careers" Does LeBron James Have?

[WillyJakkz]

*Inspired by the LeBron 1st Interviews Thread*

Looking at what he's done and STILL DOING at an incredibly high level it made me think from his first CLE stint to his current time with the LA Lakers.

Most look at it as 3 careers (Cavs as a whole, Heat, then Lakers) but for the first time TODAY I see it more like 5 as when you look at each juncture individually from each NBA stint to his Olympic play.

1

Cavaliers LeBron '03-'10 7yrs Total
2x MVP
'07 NBA Finals Appearance (4-0 L vs SAS)
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jamesle01.html

2

Heat LeBron '11-'14 4yrs Total
2x MVP
'11 NBA Finals Appearance (4-2 L vs Mavs)
'12 NBA Finals Appearance (4-1 W vs OKC)
'12 NBA Finals MVP
'13 NBA Finals Appearance (4-3 W vs SAS)
'13 NBA Finals MVP
'14 NBA Finals Appearance (4-1 L vs SAS)
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jamesle01.html

3

3x Olympian LeBron '04-'12
'04 Bronze Medal
'08 Gold Medal
'12 Gold Medal
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jamesle01.html

4

Cavaliers LeBron '15-'18 4yrs Total
'15 NBA Finals Appearance (4-2 L to GSW)
'16 NBA Finals Appearance (4-3 W to GSW)
'16 NBA Finals MVP
'17 NBA Finals Appearance (4-1 L to GSW)
'18 NBA Finals Appearance (4-0 L to GSW)
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jamesle01.html

5

Lakers LeBron '19-current 6yrs Total
'20 NBA Finals Appearance (4-2 W vs MIA)
'20 Finals MVP
'23 IST Championship
'23 IST MVP

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jamesle01.html

How Many Basketball Hall Of Fame "Careers" Does LeBron James Have?

[Kingdibs19]

All of them except the Olympic medals.

[GSWFan1994]

Just imagine all his stans and multiply by 5. That would be too much, no?

[Tor_Raps]

As many superteams he was able to manufacture?

[JN61]

1

[ellobo]

ESPN did an article like this for Tom Brady, making a case that Brady had three segments of his career that were each worthy of the hall of fame:

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/32472417/tom-brady-three-hall-fame-careers-case-enshrinement-seven-year-era-patriots-bucs

[WillyJakkz]

All of them except the Olympic medals.

I'll ask why you don't think what his FIBA and Olympic basketball career wouldn't be HOF?

1

Lol. Ok which 1?

[JN61]

All of them except the Olympic medals.

I'll ask why you don't think what his FIBA and Olympic basketball career wouldn't be HOF?

1

Lol. Ok which 1?

04-24

[WillyJakkz]

ESPN did an article like this for Tom Brady, making a case that Brady had three segments of his career that were each worthy of the hall of fame:

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/32472417/tom-brady-three-hall-fame-careers-case-enshrinement-seven-year-era-patriots-bucs

Yeah I can see that being a question as well but the NFL Hall of Fame has a MUCH HIGHER CRITERIA of entry vs the Naismith Basketball Hall Of Fame.

Brady's Bucs yrs although culminating in a Superbowl I don't think his 3yr stint allowed him to put up the numbers or stats but again Superbowl winner is heavily weighted.

In my Skip Bayless voice It'd be tough for Thomas Wayne Patrick Brady Jr to make it (though he'd say yes he does) lol.

Basketball has a lower criteria as it takes into account NCAA FIBA NBA and WNBA statistics accolades and accomplishments.

Some have made it off of their college and or FIBA careers alone which is why I personally believe LeBron has 5 HOF careers when looked at individually.

[ScrantonBulls]

All of them except the Olympic medals.

I'll ask why you don't think what his FIBA and Olympic basketball career wouldn't be HOF?

1

Lol. Ok which 1?

I'm pretty sure your question upset him, that's all

[ellobo]

ESPN did an article like this for Tom Brady, making a case that Brady had three segments of his career that were each worthy of the hall of fame:

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/32472417/tom-brady-three-hall-fame-careers-case-enshrinement-seven-year-era-patriots-bucs

Yeah I can see that being a question as well but the NFL Hall of Fame has a MUCH HIGHER CRITERIA of entry vs the Naismith Basketball Hall Of Fame.

Brady's Bucs yrs although culminating in a Superbowl I don't think his 3yr stint allowed him to put up the numbers or stats but again Superbowl winner is heavily weighted.

In my Skip Bayless voice It'd be tough for Thomas Wayne Patrick Brady Jr to make it (though he'd say yes he does) lol.

Basketball has a lower criteria as it takes into account NCAA FIBA NBA and WNBA statistics accolades and accomplishments.

Some have made it off of their college and or FIBA careers alone which is why I personally believe LeBron has 5 HOF careers when looked at individually.

The Brady article doesn't count the Bucs era as a separate "career." It was written after his first year with the Bucs and divides his career into 2000-2006, 2007-2013, and 2014-2020. For each segment it also compares Brady to the complete careers of other hall of fame quarterbacks.

As far as making LeBron's FIBA career a separate segment, I don't necessarily think it makes sense because it only includes 5 international tournaments (3 Olympics, 1 World Championship (bronze) and 1 Americas Championship (gold). Other international players who are in the hall of fame are in for a whole international body of work including domestic leagues and EuroLeague, in addition to the every four years tournaments. No one is in the hall of fame JUST on international tournaments because no player JUST plays in international tournaments.

[JustBuzzin]

In case y'all didn't notice Klutch is filming LeBron behind the scenes.

The Kings Last Dance will be bigger than MJs Last Dance just like Space Jam 2 was bigger than the OG Space Jam.

If you ask me LeBron just seems to be better at everything than MJ was.

[vxmike]

If you ask me LeBron just seems to be better at everything than MJ was.

Except winning NBA titles.

[JustBuzzin]

If you ask me LeBron just seems to be better at everything than MJ was.

Except winning NBA titles.

So Bill Russell is your GOAT?

[Onus]

I’m not sure separating these out any of these are hall of fame worthy.

1st Cavs stint definitely not.

The heat stint they were expected to win multiple titles, they only won 2. Kind of a disappointment.

The Cavs won 1, which was impressive while incredibly lucky at the same time. Bad timing running into curry.

The lakers won 1 in a bubble. The rest of the years were kind of underwhelming.

The Olympics is rather disappointing having a bronze medal.

The basketball hall of fame is rather a low bar but sure I guess you could make an argument for each. But each section is probably mired in disappointment and not meeting expectations with the team. I guess in totality some people see it has a goat tier resume though.

[One Last Shot]

I’m not sure separating these out any of these are hall of fame worthy.

1st Cavs stint definitely not.

The heat stint they were expected to win multiple titles, they only won 2. Kind of a disappointment.

The Cavs won 1, which was impressive while incredibly lucky at the same time. Bad timing running into curry.

The lakers won 1 in a bubble. The rest of the years were kind of underwhelming.

The Olympics is rather disappointing having a bronze medal.

The basketball hall of fame is rather a low bar but sure I guess you could make an argument for each. But each section is probably mired in disappointment and not meeting expectations with the team. I guess in totality some people see it has a goat tier resume though.

37.4 PER in 2009 playoffs, back-to-back NBA MVP and taking 2007 lottery team Cavs to NBA Finals is definitely not a Hall-of-famer type of run for you?
That 7-year stint was a much better career than atleast 99% of NBA players who played atleast a single game in history.

[art_tatum]

In case y'all didn't notice Klutch is filming LeBron behind the scenes.

The Kings Last Dance will be bigger than MJs Last Dance just like Space Jam 2 was bigger than the OG Space Jam.

If you ask me LeBron just seems to be better at everything than MJ was.

How's the kings last dance ending? Getting swept by the nuggets?

[Onus]

I’m not sure separating these out any of these are hall of fame worthy.

1st Cavs stint definitely not.

The heat stint they were expected to win multiple titles, they only won 2. Kind of a disappointment.

The Cavs won 1, which was impressive while incredibly lucky at the same time. Bad timing running into curry.

The lakers won 1 in a bubble. The rest of the years were kind of underwhelming.

The Olympics is rather disappointing having a bronze medal.

The basketball hall of fame is rather a low bar but sure I guess you could make an argument for each. But each section is probably mired in disappointment and not meeting expectations with the team. I guess in totality some people see it has a goat tier resume though.

37.4 PER in 2009 playoffs, back-to-back NBA MVP and taking 2007 lottery team Cavs to NBA Finals is definitely not a Hall-of-famer type of run for you?
That 7-year stint was a much better career than atleast 99% of NBA players who played atleast a single game in history.

The basketball hall of fame is a low bar so you’re probably right

[DaddyCool19]

You could split his career in two, one from his rookie year until his 4th season in Miami and that career part would make the HOF.

Then from his return to Cleveland until now. I think this part would also make the HOF. But I never heard of a player, who made the HOF by only playing 4 years. Did that ever happen?

[BlzMwt]

I’m not sure separating these out any of these are hall of fame worthy.

1st Cavs stint definitely not.

The heat stint they were expected to win multiple titles, they only won 2. Kind of a disappointment.

The Cavs won 1, which was impressive while incredibly lucky at the same time. Bad timing running into curry.

The lakers won 1 in a bubble. The rest of the years were kind of underwhelming.

The Olympics is rather disappointing having a bronze medal.

The basketball hall of fame is rather a low bar but sure I guess you could make an argument for each. But each section is probably mired in disappointment and not meeting expectations with the team. I guess in totality some people see it has a goat tier resume though.

Is the Hall of Fame based on whether you met expectations?

Seems like a new criteria you just came up with

Dudes got crazy stats, mvps, fmvps, multiple gold medals along with that bronze.

The only one I MAY consider not worthy enough is the Lakers stint. But if you consider it is six seasons with the Lakers with 1 ring, 1 fmvp, 6 allstar appearances, 6 all nba selections. Sounds HoF worthy to me. Hell, give it 10 years and people will consider the first IST trophy as a bigger deal than it is now.