Speaking on his self-titled podcast, former NBA guard Gilbert Arenas sparked debate for his take on why the older generation of superstars are still playing at such a high level. According to Arenas, guys like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry have enjoyed such lengthy careers because the younger players aren’t at their level mentally and lack a basic understanding of the game.”
“LeBron James, Steph Curry and these older guys are still dominating, the answer without offending anybody is because everybody is just stupid,” said Arenas.” They’re older, but because y’all don’t know basic things.”
It’s no secret that LeBron and Steph have above-average basketball intelligence and their knowledge of the game is often enough to give them a major advantage on the court. When you compare that to some of the players today, who don’t have the same level of intensity, work ethic, or IQ of the game, it makes sense why they are still head and shoulders above most other NBA athletes.
NBA Fans React To Arenas
While Gilbert’s statement certainly classifies as harsh, not everyone disagrees with his assessment. Every time LeBron plays, it’s clear that he sees the game differently than everyone else and this kind of advantage is obvious to notice for those who bother to pay attention.
This is true cause bron said the same thing on “the shop” about players not even knowing basic plays like flex.
Today’s game style is a copycat for every team. When you see Lakers versus Golden State it’s entertaining because they don’t play like everybody else.
— Real Sturdy 🧠👁✊🏽 (@KingSmoove009) February 1, 2024
Of course, it’s ultimately on the players to broaden their understanding of the game but some fans also blamed the coach for not properly training their guys on how to play.
https://twitter.com/nobullwarrior/status/1753126317971673171
The truth is, being able to know and understand the game at a complex level is a skill, just like shooting, defending, and playmaking.
This all plays into skill. Knowledge of the game is a skill
— Niko Jenkins (@neekojenkins) February 1, 2024
One of the symptoms of the modern NBA is higher scoring than ever before, and it’s hard not to think that a lack of knowledge and effort on defense plays a big role in the reason why. The NBA today is so much different than it used to be, and some of the older school players are learning to utilize the skills that are slowly dying out in the game.
LeBron James Is Breaking The Standard
This campaign, despite being 39 years old, LeBron James is setting a new bar for what it means to be successful in the NBA after 20+ seasons of experience. Despite the ridiculous mileage on his body, James continues to deliver MVP-like performances for the Lakers. This season, through 44 games, he’s averaging 24.9 points, 7.7 assists, and 7.5 rebounds per game on 52.0% shooting. As the primary playmaker, scorer, and ball-handler, James has the most responsibilities out of anyone on the Lakers and he’s taking care of business on all fronts.
This season, as the locker room leader and primary offensive initiator for the Lakers, James has been indispensable for his team and he keeps finding new ways to stay ahead of the competition. With no signs of slowing down, nobody knows when LeBron will finally step down from his playing career but there’s no reason to think he can’t keep going for years like this for years to come. Even today, 20 years after being drafted, LeBron remains in the top 1% of players, if for nothing else than his genius way of thinking and exploiting the game that he has been mastering for over two decades.
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