In Year 19, LeBron James continues to show the world that he has no intention of slowing down and firmly remains in the mix as the best player in the NBA.
Although the Los Angeles Lakers have struggled to win during the 2021-22 season, James has been one of the few bright spots as he remains the engine on offense. James leads the Lakers in scoring at 29.1 points per game. In their loss to the Golden State Warriors, he set another historic milestone after passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record for points scored between the regular season and playoffs.
Head coach Frank Vogel has praised James constantly for his feats and called him the best NBA player ever. “It’s incredible,” Vogel said. “Everything the guy has done throughout his career is remarkable. That’s why I believe he’s the greatest to ever play. I did not know of that potential milestone tonight, but hopefully, he gets it. That’d be really fun.”
Vogel went on to praise James even more after he reached the historic milestone.
“That’s awesome. Obviously, he hits milestones every x-amount of games. We continue to see it. To me, he’s the greatest player ever to play and Lakers fans are lucky to have him in a Laker uniform. I still believe he’s going to lead us to great things this year. It’s just awesome to see him hit another milestone like that.”
Comments like Vogel’s are often met with pushback as the GOAT debate among NBA fans is hotly contested. Michael Jordan is usually the universal answer when discussing who the greatest player ever is. Still, at minimum, James has a claim to that title given his lengthy resume of accomplishments.
Even at 37 years old, James shows no signs of slowing down, and he is on pace to break several more records if he remains this productive in the twilight of his career. Sitting at third overall on the list, the Lakers star is on track to surpass Abdul Jabbar’s regular-season scoring record, and it would be poetic for him to do so in a Purple and Gold jersey.
While James is undoubtedly aware of the records he can break, he will need to focus on righting the season for Los Angeles as they try to climb back into playoff contention. Unfortunately, none of his achievements this year will amount to much if the Lakers fall short in the postseason.
LeBron James says Lakers are not at Bucks’ championship level
After a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks before the trade deadline, a frustrated James sent a message to the organization when he declared the Lakers were not on their level as far as being a contender goes. It was shocking to hear James be so blunt, but there was nothing wrong with what he said and a signal to the organization that things needed to change right away.