LeBron James longevity

[JJ_PR]

I don’t think people realize how crazy his longevity is. He’s about to do something that has never been done, and that is play year 23.

There were people saying that he was too reliant on athleticism to have a long career back when he was with the Heat.

He keeps defying odds and doing things never done before, like playing with his son in the same game.

LeBron’s longevity is one of the most impressive things I’ve seen in this league. And he’s not just playing, he’s still putting up all-star caliber numbers. Pure insanity.

[CumberlandPosey]

its just the king doing his thing.

[SlimShady83]

ok

[TheGeneral99]

Yes, it's very impressive and only a handful of athletes have done this:

I think the gold standard is still Tom Brady who at 40 years old won MVP, and led the Patriots to the SB and then at 44 years old he finished 2nd in MVP voting, won a SB and won SB MVP with a different team.

Jagr was still an elite level player in his early 40s in the NHL.

Serena Williams at 40 was still elite.

[AleksandarN]

Kevin Willis was impressive playing till he was 43

[whitehops]

lebron needs to play 50 games this season to break robert parish's 28-year old record of most games played, and he averaged 4 PPG the last 4 seasons he played. he needs 350 more field goals to break kareem's record for most field goals made, which lebron should accomplish if he can play those 50 games. he could challenge kidd for the 3rd most assists of all time this season.

[NyKnicks1714]

It's not just longevity but sustained greatness. Wherever you ranked him the last couple of seasons, he played at an All-star level. 23 seasons is impressive as ****, but the real story is 21 or 22 seasons playing at an All-star level.

[Kobeskillz]

Playing the way he did at his age and the numbers is nuts. If you are a basketball guy despite what you think of him you know that it's absolutely nuts. Like historic and unmatched.

[NyKnicks1714]

lebron needs to play 50 games this season to break robert parish's 28-year old record of most games played, and he averaged 4 PPG the last 4 seasons he played. he needs 350 more field goals to break kareem's record for most field goals made, which lebron should accomplish if he can play those 50 games. he could challenge kidd for the 3rd most assists of all time this season.

He would need 2 seasons to surpass Kidd. If he does play two more seasons, he has a good chance of doing both that getting into the top-5 on the all time steals list.

[Wolveswin]

James longevity is impressive. And adds to his GOAT argument.

Problem is this specific James accolade is tainted in rumors. Rumors of James being on HGH or some other PED. Which would directly lead to an increase in longevity.

It’s kind of like if Jordan’s accolade - like jumping - was tainted with rumors he had calf implants or something (not sure how one improves jumping via a questionable means). But I think you get my point.

[CumberlandPosey]

71103 minutes logged in the League.thats 15000 minutes more (aka a whole career for humans) than nowitzki who is fifth on the list.just another universe...

[1993Playoffs]

If healthy I still think he can firmly be in the top 10 if he paces himself

[YogurtProducer]

It's not just longevity but sustained greatness. Wherever you ranked him the last couple of seasons, he played at an All-star level. 23 seasons is impressive as ****, but the real story is 21 or 22 seasons playing at an All-star level.

lets be honest - 23 seasons of all-star level play.

As a ROOKIE, he was top 10 in MVP voting, improved the Cavs by 18 games, and put up 22/5/5 in the slow era of 03/04.

[whitehops]

lebron needs to play 50 games this season to break robert parish's 28-year old record of most games played, and he averaged 4 PPG the last 4 seasons he played. he needs 350 more field goals to break kareem's record for most field goals made, which lebron should accomplish if he can play those 50 games. he could challenge kidd for the 3rd most assists of all time this season.

He would need 2 seasons to surpass Kidd. If he does play two more seasons, he has a good chance of doing both that getting into the top-5 on the all time steals list.

he's 508 assists from passing kidd, and lebron has put up 589 and 575 assists the last two seasons so he's definitely within reach, but he'd have to play closer to 70 games than like 50 to pass parish for most games.

[Wolveswin]

Longevity like James brings me to an idea of mine - for all sports really but let’s stay within basketball.

The reason the greats need to retire is the grind of the regular season…which is different than playoffs. Some will say one is a marathon and other more of a sprint. The greats would love to still play playoff basketball but not suffer through the regular season.

What if NBA allowed for 1-2 players per roster to be deemed Legends. Said player(s) could play in playoffs and not be required to participate in regular season.

To accomplish, I think the regular season would need to be revamped. I think the ‘regular season’ would be 70-85% of total games played. Followed by an all-star break. Then a SOS/seeded Playoff Series for remaining games would be conducted. This is where Legends would jump in to start playing.

Based on a point system from Regular and Playoff season - Championship Series would commence with top 16 teams to determine NBA champion.

[Mazter]

It's not just longevity but sustained greatness. Wherever you ranked him the last couple of seasons, he played at an All-star level. 23 seasons is impressive as ****, but the real story is 21 or 22 seasons playing at an All-star level.

I would rather say at an All-NBA level, which is top 15 of the league by the critics. All Star is top-24 something with a a bit of popularity factor. Players have been chosen to start the ASG without playing a single minute.

LeBron just had his 21th All NBA season. Which is 6 more than Kobe and Kareem who are tied second with 15. If talking about the most unbeatable record.

[NyKnicks1714]

lebron needs to play 50 games this season to break robert parish's 28-year old record of most games played, and he averaged 4 PPG the last 4 seasons he played. he needs 350 more field goals to break kareem's record for most field goals made, which lebron should accomplish if he can play those 50 games. he could challenge kidd for the 3rd most assists of all time this season.

He would need 2 seasons to surpass Kidd. If he does play two more seasons, he has a good chance of doing both that getting into the top-5 on the all time steals list.

he's 508 assists from passing kidd, and lebron has put up 589 and 575 assists the last two seasons so he's definitely within reach, but he'd have to play closer to 70 games than like 50 to pass parish for most games.

It's not impossible but I really don't see how he can play 70 games again. IIRC the majority of those 12 missed games was a result of the groin injury. I think he missed something like 4 games due to load management. That number needs to be 10+. That and I expect his assist numbers to drop playing with Luka for a full season.

[Dominator83]

Yea even being an MJ homer, even i can't deny Lebron's greatness and how impressive it is to hold up over this insane amount of time.

Only guy left from his draft class and still playing like an all-star. To make it even more impressive, look at the next 5 drafts AFTER his...

2004: nobody left

2005: only CP3 whos hanging on by a thread these days

2006: only Kyle Lowry whos completely washed

2007: only picks #2-5 still remain. Durant, Horford, Jeff Green, Mike Conley. The latter 3 of which are washed

2008: Westbrook, Love, Brook Lopez. All washed

So from Lebron's draft, and the next FIVE drafts after him, only 9 guys remain. Kevin Durant is the only player left that still matters. The other 8's days of being all-star players are far behind them and have been for a while now. Thats pretty wild that we hold Lebron to superstar standards still when he should have been washed years ago.

[Mazter]

I think the most impressive part, besides his regular+playoffs combined stats, is that he is still agressive in the paint. People were saying he would have to adapt in his thirties as his athleticism would decline. He would need to become more of a jump shooter. And than at 40 he just made 287-of-386 shots in the restricted area. Breaking Malone's record of oldest player with 2 FG's made in the RA by 3 years. And another Jazz legend Stockton's record of most FG's in de RA by a 40 year old by 103 FG's. He also had 71 dunks, breaking Kevin willis' record (22) of dunks by a 40 year old.

And the fact he is doing that while his regular season-play offs combi in games, minutes and points blows everyone away is even more impressive.

[JinKaz69]

I think the most impressive part, besides his regular+playoffs combined stats, is that he is still agressive in the paint. People were saying he would have to adapt in his thirties as his athleticism would decline. He would need to become more of a jump shooter. And than at 40 he just made 287-of-386 shots in the restricted area. Breaking Malone's record of oldest player with 2 FG's made in the RA by 3 years. And another Jazz legend Stockton's record of most FG's in de RA by a 40 year old by 103 FG's. He also had 71 dunks, breaking Kevin willis' record (22) of dunks by a 40 year old.

And the fact he is doing that while his regular season-play offs combi in games, minutes and points blows everyone away is even more impressive.

Huge spacing + 3 def sec rule + non-stop mismatch hunting.
It's easier than ever to get to the rim nowadays.

Still a good stat.