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Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey called James a "calming presence" in late-game situations. And James' leadership has been a large reason why all five of their wins have come in clutch time (final five minutes, score within five points), including two now over a Knicks team that had won six straight in the series entering the season, including a second-round playoff sweep en route to the NBA title. "At the end of the day, he's LeBron James," Maxey said. "So it's just like he can do stuff like he did tonight, a couple of big buckets." It was the first 20-point game of James' Sixers career as he finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. He has now scored 20 or more points in 68 games since turning 40, more than every other player age 40 or older in NBA history combined (67). James also tied Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the fifth-oldest player (41 years, 304 days) in NBA history with a 20-point game.
There is Gasol (16), Mikan (99), Abdul-Jabbar (33), Chamberlain (13) and O’Neal (34). “You know, obviously, there’s a certain legacy that comes with being a Laker big,” said Kessler, who wears No. 14. “But honestly, it’s just what an opportunity this is to play for a franchise that has had just historic bigs. I think that Lakers fans, when their bigs are at that level, they fall in love with them. So, what an opportunity.”
Jorge Sierra: Longest streaks of consecutive Top 6 MVP finishes: 14 years: LeBron James: 12: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; 10: Bill Russell; 9: Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, BOB PETTIT. A true NBA great. May he rest in peace.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: You played center during the most physical era of basketball, going toe-to-toe with Hall of Fame bigs every single night during your stretches in Sacramento and Detroit. How would the frontcourt battles of the 1990s translate to the current style of officiating and spacing? Olden Polynice: Oh man. Well, again: same sport, different game. The rules have changed, and we were allowed to play basketball. We were allowed to be physical. Sometimes it bordered on wrestling, I get it. And I don’t think it was really pleasing to the eye because I still remember David Stern talking about how the game was a little too rough with the physicality aspects. We were wrestling with a basketball for a while, I get that. But we were still able to score. Especially early in my career, all the teams could score. Then there was a lull where the scoring averages dropped, and that’s when they were like, “Hey, we need to figure something out.” That’s when they started incorporating all these rules—no hand-checks and everything. But as far as the low post, my god! My first game was against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Like you said, I faced a Hall of Famer every night! It was insane.
James Brayshaw: "Is LeBron James in your view the greatest player ever?" Richard Jefferson: "There is no GOAT in basketball because there's multiple levels. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar I think had the greatest career, Bill Russell won the most championships, Michael Jordan is the icon, and I think Kobe Bryant and what he did mentally for the game and really for athletes all around the world. But I would just say if you were to build a basketball player, you could not build a better basketball player than LeBron James. There's no skill set he doesn't have, there's no physical ability. So for me, if I was building a basketball player, mentally and physically, he would be the person that I would build."
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The statue will be unveiled April 9, 2027, before the Lakers' game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. .... Jackson will be the ninth member of the Lakers with a statue at Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Chick Hearn, Magic Johnson, Pat Riley, Jerry West, O'Neal and Bryant (who has two). The statue was commissioned by the Lakers to be designed and created by Omri Amrany of Rotblatt Amrany Studio.
Shaquille O'Neal has been a staunch defender of LeBron James' move from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason, squashing any criticism of NBA's all-time leading scorer being a ring-chaser. "The man is not chasing rings. The man has already gotten rings the right way," O'Neal told FTW and USA TODAY Sports. "Towards the end of your career, if you could join up and help somebody else get a ring and continue to get rings, I call it ring continuancy." But one thing the Lakers legend won't do is sugar-coat James' time with the purple and gold. One championship was good, but it wasn't good enough to put him at the big table with past Lakers champions. "The good thing for LeBron, he did win one," Shaq said. "But you know, Kareem got six, Magic got five, Kobe got five, I got four, Rambis got three. So you know, he's at the party, but he's not on stage."
Shaquille O'Neal on LeBron James: He’s loving the fact that he’s the number one scorer in the league. But guess what? I’mma put this sh*t so far out of reach nobody will ever do it. I ain’t going to lie when I was playing looking at Kareem’s number. I was like, man, 36 thousand, 38. I’ll never get to that. I looked at it the other day. LeBron’s at 45. He still averaging 20. He going to mess around be at 50,000 points. Guess what? Me and you both will probably be dead before somebody passed it up.
Derek Fisher on LeBron James: I don't like I don't know why we so strongly just go so hard in the paint towards the negative. Cody Decker: We really do. And you know what? I want to take that that type of argument about the quote-unquote ring chasing that he does that again everybody is ring chasing. Fisher: But you're not ring chasing when you're the guy that creates the rings. Like go back in NBA sports history. It's not about where like what team the guy is on. It's about what team it's about where he is, not the city or the team. Lew Alcindor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He didn't chase rings. Where he went, the rings followed.
Who is your GOAT? Cooper: “My GOAT is Kareem. He is an unstoppable player. You look at three things for a GOAT. One, can they score at any time at any point in the game? Kareem was unstoppable, even double or triple-teamed. If you triple-teamed Kobe, LeBron or Magic when they come across the floor, they’re going to pass the ball. But with Kareem, you couldn’t double or triple team him. He had the Skyhook. Next, a GOAT makes others around him better. Kareem made others better. No one other than Magic made others around them better when they were double or triple-teamed. For a GOAT, if you foul, will he make his free throws? Kareem shot in the 80s in crunch-time free-throw shooting. So that’s why Kareem is my GOAT.”
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The six-time NBA champion made it clear that his comments were not intended as criticism of Clark herself. Instead, he argued that placing any second-year player above a generation of established superstars diminishes what others have accomplished. "Don't get me wrong: Clark is a very good, possibly even a great, player," Abdul-Jabbar wrote. "But calling any one player the face of the league, absent the sort of on-court and cross-platform dominance of a Michael Jordan or a LeBron James, is an insult to an awful lot of great players."
Derek Fisher: "I think some of it, you think about the greats of Lakers past, many of those guys were kind of born and raised as Lakers for the most part. You think about James Worthy, number one draft pick. You think about Magic Johnson. Even though Kareem was traded to LA, he spent a considerable amount of time here in Los Angeles and really felt like a piece of the fabric of LA. And so many greats, even Shaq, eight years here. It is as though people forgot he played in Orlando as well. But it is the years here in LA that changed everything. Obviously Kobe being here for 20 seasons. And so I think other stars felt more like they became who they were as Lakers and I think a lot of Lakers fans had a difficult time receiving the fact that LeBron was already LeBron before he got here. He didn't owe Lakers fans anything. He was already LeBron. And I think fans had a hard time reconciling how to fully support a guy that didn't need support for anybody."
NBA Courtside: Paul Pierce says if LeBron James goes to the Sixers it takes him totally out the GOAT debate: “No player that we consider that’s been in a GOAT debate has been a fourth option. No, seriously. Like Jordan, even when he went to the Wizards, was still the first option. Kareem was second option. Worh Magic. Like when we start having these debates about the GOAT and we say, we’ll, you know, Philly won a championship, but he was fourth option. He has five rings but fourth and fifth option, like so it’ll do something to his legacy. I really believe that.” (Via @NFGShow)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: @KingJames LeBron was a winner on and off the court, and Laker fans should appreciate his performance for the last 8 years. If LeBron goes home to Cleveland, it won’t matter if they win the World Championship or not because his hometown fans will get their opportunity to say their goodbyes to one of the greatest ever. And who knows one day he may become Mayor of Cleveland !!