Time is a thief that steals away your youth before you know it. That’s true for all of us… except if your name is LeBron James.
w, 41, is and enters 24 time in the NBA When James’ new team — the 76ers — plays its season opener Tuesday night against the reigning champion Knicks at Madison Square Garden, it will be nearly 23 years to the day that James stepped onto the court in Sacramento to play in his first NBA regular season game.
I first wrote about James in the fall of 2003, when I was an 18-year-old high school student in Ohio. I wrote about it again in 2006 as a sophomore in college. Like many to come in the following years, the focus of that story was whether James could one day surpass Michael Jordan. the The sports icon of my childhood.
And now here we are, two decades ago. James, 41, is a father and has been bitten by the golf bug. That is where the comparisons between James and 1 end. But the comparisons between James and Jordan? As we showed twenty years ago, they are not going anywhere.
Jacob’s unheard of length
James was once asked if he could live up to his unprecedented hype. has, 10 times
His laundry list of accomplishments includes four NBA titles (with three different franchises), four league MVPs, playing in an unfathomable eight Finals lineups, being part of the first father-son duo in the NBA, and being the catalyst behind the greatest Finals comeback in NBA history.
James stands alone at a distance. He is the NBA’s all-time leader in points and games played. He is a charter member of the 40K/10K/10K club (40,000 career points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists).
Ironically, James’ most famous play is not a basket, rebound or assist. It was his post that helped end Cleveland’s 52-year title drought.
It should also be a great trigger. He finished sixth in MVP voting in his age 40 season. Last year, James led the Lakers to a playoff series win after injuries sidelined Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. James is ranked No. 19 on CBS Sports’ list of top 100 players entering a new season. The only NBA player who can even remotely compare to James in terms of length is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who is still a quality starting center with the last two NBA titles won in 40 and 41.
Where Jordan vs
The generational divide is usually debated with James-Jordan.
NBA fans who watched Jordan’s seasons used to struggle to hand the crown to James or anyone else. We believe that we have seen the greatest player who played the game on a level that has never been seen before and has never been seen since. I was just looking at Jordan… different Otherwise, too.
Allen Iverson can say it best in his Hall of Fame induction speech: “I remember the first time I played against him. I walked on the court, I saw him and for the first time in my life, a real man didn’t look at me.”
It’s just a matter of time. Jordan had more “moments” than any athlete in history. There’s the 63-point game in Boston in ’86, the slam dunk title (back when this is happening), the game-winning shot in Cleveland in ’89, the jaw-dropping layup in the ’91 finals, the 35-point first half points in the ’92 finals, the 55-point performance in the ’93 finals, his first championship since baseball, and his fatal death in the ’91 finals, 35-point first half points in the ’92 finals. A 55-point performance in the ’93 Finals, the first in a championship since baseball, and a tragic death in the ’91 Finals, which marked the shooting of his title.
Jordan is not just superhuman, so is his team, the Chicago Bulls, who ran the NBA for most of the ’90s.
No one knows this better than James, who was one of the millions of kids back then who grew up idolizing Jordan. To the credit of James he makes peace with his legate, both in court, and he must. He doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone. He never really did, but the drive to do it undoubtedly helped him become what he is today.
Why the fifth title besides MJ could beat LeBron
For the younger generations, James is their Jordan. But those of us who remember Jordan, and still refer to him as CHAPEL, will also have to grant that honor to James himself. at the age of 42 — He wins his fifth title with the fourth franchise that hasn’t won a total since 1983, the year before James was born.
James won’t take solace in a single playoff series win in Philly. He said how much by the 76ers’ midday.
“I don’t want to lose my family in the second round,” he said. “I know for sure.”
James feels good about it this way, because if he is to definitively pass Jordan as the greatest player of all time, it will take more than winning a playoff series or two. He will take it and the 76ers will win it all.
James would still be one championship behind Jordan, of course. But five balls with four different franchises, plus an unusual length, would make James CAPRARI’s case stronger than ever.
James and Jordan’s rivalry will never end, but the 2026-27 season gives James the best opportunity to add to his CHAPEL case he’s had in some time.