Isiah Thomas reshared a post on Instagram where Kevin Durant is speaking on LeBron James‘ greatness.
“When you’re 39 in your 21st year in the league and then you played against 40% of the players that ever played in the league. It’s just, that longevity has to mean something. That has to be a standard.”
“If you really wanna know what greatness is like, of course you can accumulate championships and accolades in a short amount of time of can have a nice quick spurt if the moment. But I really appreciate somebody who has been in that sh*t a long time.”
“He showed up and that’s what I appreciate about Bron, that I overlooked and underestimated when it comes to him. His enthusiasm and love for the game of basketball. It’s that simple.”
Thomas has been one of James’ most ardent supporters over his career, so it’s not surprising to see him reshare Durant’s glowing words on James. Thomas has previously said he considers James the greatest of all time.
Durant’s words, especially the bit about accumulating accolades over a short time, are quite telling about how he views the LeBron vs. Michael Jordan debate. Given the steady increase of people, especially players in the NBA picking James as the GOAT, we may be headed for a permanent shift in the conversation. Although, Jordan is still widely considered the greatest.
LeBron James Is The GOAT Of This Generation
It’s hard to objectively pick James over Jordan, but that is because of the difference in their achievements. At the end of the day, whatever player inspires you more will be your pick. But if you isolate James from the modern generation of basketball, it’s quite unquestionable that James is the greatest player of this era.
In his 21 years in the NBA, LeBron has won four NBA titles, four MVPs, four Finals MVPs, all-time scoring leader, 20-time All-Star, 18-time All-NBA, and has so many more accolades that listing all of them would take hours. We haven’t even discussed the absurd playoff records he holds, with basically every major statistical category featuring James in the upper echelons, with many of them being No. 1.
He’s averaged 27.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.4 assists over his career.
The only qualm people have with James is his Finals record, as he lost six Finals and won only four. But the achievement of actually making the Finals 10 times in the modern era is incredible. He’s not the player he once was anymore, but we haven’t seen anyone even remotely close to his level at his age or with as many years of experience on their legs.
James will likely sign a multi-year contract this offseason, whether with the Lakers or a surprise new destination. It’s fair to say he will retire having played the most NBA seasons, and there’s a high chance he does it while still averaging over 20 points and playing alongside his son, Bronny.
The next generation of players will be compared to Jordan when evaluating how many titles they won in a short span, but they’ll also be compared to LeBron in terms of their career thriving way past what we consider a long NBA career. They’re both historic and there’s no questioning that.
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