The 41-year-old Lakers star LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul, recently recorded an episode of his podcast ‘Game Over’ with Max Kellerman and spoke about whether this is James’ last NBA season, and made an eye-opening claim about it.
He also addressed LeBron James’ floor right now, which means the least he can contribute to the Lakers, even on a bad day. He compared that to the Jazz veteran Karl Malone, who was second in the league’s history in scoring behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar before James took over the record from them both a few years ago.
“I made a comment before I said that obviously the ceiling is who he is, or who he has been for his career. But the floor is Karl Malone,” said Paul.
He went on to explain how efficiently James could produce if he played the same role as Karl Malone did for most of his career, which is setting screens for John Stockton and rolling to the rim.
Paul explained how, when Deandre Ayton is the one setting the screens for Luka Doncic, the Slovenian star often gets blitzed, forcing Ayton to decide at that time. If you replace Ayton with James in that position, he is more likely to make a better decision.
NBA fans saw this claim on social media and expressed their opinions about it. None of them seemed pleased with this comparison. Some called out Paul and Kellerman for speaking too highly of James, while others did not appreciate the comparison to Karl Malone.
“Noooo, Rich Paul, don’t compare LeBron to Karl, man.”
“Ew, never compare us to that freak.”
“I wonder what MVP Karl Malone’s numbers looked like against top ten defenses that season. According to Rich, it has to be worse than Bron’s.”
“Year 23 LeBron is Prime Malone 😂😂👌.”
“Prime Karl Malone was a two-time league MVP. Come on, Rich, the more he talks, the worse he gets 🤣🤣🤣🤣.”
“Okay, you’re getting disrespectful now, Rich… Inflated stats ≠ impact. Prime Karl Malone was an MVP candidate and led his team. On the Lakers, that player is Luka. Just enjoy the numbers and relax.”
While I agree that this comparison may be absurd and out of line, it is also potentially usable in the game. James’ efficiency from beyond the three-point line has only fallen in the past two seasons.
Becoming the primary screen setter on most plays might be more beneficial for him, as he is much more efficient inside the paint as well.
Rich Paul On If This Is LeBron James’ Last Season
Rich Paul also went on to talk about LeBron James’ future when Max Kellerman claimed that James could elongate his career even further if he reduced his game to playing like Karl Malone.
“Everyone’s like you know, do the farewell and his last year this and that. Like, I don’t know what it is, but I hope it’s not his last year. I don’t talk to him about it,” said Paul in a startling confession.
Of course, if he did know something about it, he wouldn’t say it on his own podcast since he’s still on James’ payroll. But the fact that he claims he can give him advice about what to do on the court, but doesn’t talk about the end of his career as James’ agent, is indeed shocking if true.
But it seems that James’ representation at least acknowledges that people want LeBron James to do a farewell tour before retiring. Hopefully, this is not his last season.
