Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is unequivocally one of the best players to ever play the game of basketball. By most measures, he is the greatest to ever play, but even his detractors still put him in their top five.
That doesn’t mean, though, that James plays completely unscathed from criticism. In fact, he might be one of the most criticized superstars in league history.
James has seen complaints of all types over the course of his 21 years in the NBA. He has been told he’s not clutch, despite having some of the best crunch time numbers in the sport’s history. He has been panned for off-court actions like The Decision. But one of the strangest critiques is that he has no skill.
LeBron’s play-style has been discussed for years, with a faction of NBA fans saying that athleticism has attributed to the bulk of his success, not his skill. It’s a silly argument, as no one accomplishes what James has without skill, but the critique exists nonetheless. And James responded to it on social media recently:
LeBron on IG 🗣️ https://t.co/jwJoqzr9MU pic.twitter.com/TgZixAhScx
— LeBron History 🏀 (@bronhistory) September 7, 2024
The Lakers superstar has always been able to beat his opponents with either brute force or skill. What makes him so great is the way he can pick and choose based on the matchup which play style is better. In the 2015 NBA Playoffs — James’ first back with the Cleveland Cavaliers — he was truly dominant.
He averaged 30.1 points, 11.3 rebounds and 8.5 assists while helping lead the Cavaliers back to the NBA Finals, where they would ultimately lose to the Golden State Warriors in their first of four consecutive meetings. If LeBron truly had no skill, he would be able to get schemed out of a playoff series with ease.
Instead, he creates the scheme and dominates regardless of what is asked of him.
LeBron James instilled confidence in Stephen Curry during Olympics
The 2024 Olympics in Paris were special as LeBron James and Warriors star Stephen Curry teamed up for the first time to lead USA Basketball to another gold medal.
Things weren’t easy as Team USA faced some tough tests in the medal rounds, coming back to beat Serbia and then hanging on to beat the host France to win it all.
When it mattered most, it was James and Curry that came through for their team to avoid a disappointing finish to the tournament. That was important for Curry, in particular, as he was playing in his first Olympics and struggled greatly from deep in his first few games.
Curry would eventually catch fire though, as he usually does as the greatest shooter of all-time is not gonna struggle for too long. Curry credited James for instilling confidence in him to get out of the slump.
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