LeBron James Stands Alone

By: Garret kryzanowski

February 7, 2023 will forever stand as the night NBA history was made. Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder LeBron "King" James finally passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA's all time regular season leading scorer with 38,390 total points after scoring 38 points in a 133-130 loss at home to the Thunder.

LeBron James has been considered by many to be one of the greatest players if not the greatest basketball player of all time. This opinion usually depends on when you were born. For those alive during the Michael Jordan Bulls era in the 90's they will say Jordan is the G.O.A.T. Anyone born in the 90's will usually say that LeBron James is the G.O.A.T. In my opinion, not that it matters, LeBron James is the greatest basketball player the world has ever seen.

He has been a dominant figure ever since he entered the league. He is a 19 time NBA All-Star, being one every year of his career except 2004, his rookie season, where he won the NBA Rookie of the Year award. On top of that impressive streak of All-Star appearances James has made All NBA First Team a stunning 13 times, and an All NBA Second Team three times and All NBA Third Team twice. He has also won 4 MVP awards and it could be argued that voters have suffered from voters fatigue regarding James. What I mean when I say that is he could win the award every year but voters don't want it to be the same "boring" player every year so they purposefully give it to others, even though James has deserved to win it much more than four times.

LeBron James is also a four time NBA Champion and a four time NBA Finals MVP, winning more Finals MVPs than anyone not named Michael Jordan. While also making eight consecutive finals appearances from 2011-2018 and has been to 10 finals total in his career. However, arguably the most dominant and ridiculous part about James is his ability to continue his dominance well after his "alleged" prime should have ended. Ever since the 2004 NBA season, LeBron has dominated, getting better every year. Even at 38 years old James is averaging 30.2 points a game, while averaging 7 assists and 8.4 rebounds per game, in his 20th NBA season. Remarkable.

LeBron has had his fair share of haters during his career, I know this because I have been in many heated LeBron James debates in my lifetime. Sadly for the haters you cannot deny the greatness of James, who has always said he is a pass first player, as he passed Kareem to hold the NBA scoring record. Kareem had held that record since April 5, 1984. That is 14, 827 days or almost 39 years. That is how long it took for the record to be broken and I can confidently say that the scoring record won't be broken for a lot longer than 39 years. Now I say that due to two reasons. First, LeBron is still playing at an elite level, he is currently averaging 30.2 points a game and has shown no signs of slowing down over the next few years, and he has at least three seasons left in him. Secondly, we have no one remotely close to his record that is active right now and I truly believe no one will ever dominate the way James has for the last 20 seasons. The players that dominate scoring won't be able to do it consistently for 20 plus years like we have seen James do.

I personally believe LeBron James is the greatest NBA player of all time. If you agree with me that is great, if not, that is okay. The reason it's okay is simple. Stats don't lie and LeBron James is now the NBA's All Time leading regular season scorer with 38,390 and counting. No amount of arguing can change that fact.

LeBron James won't be around forever and everyone, including myself, should appreciate LeBron while we have him because there is one thing for certain. There will NEVER be another LeBron James.