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LeBron James, a 17-time All-Star in his 19th season, has been in the league for nearly an entire generation. In fact, Tuesday marked half a lifetime of playing professional basketball for James, who will turn 37 on Dec. 30. In celebration of his historic greatness, the NBA on Tuesday released a video highlighting James’ Top 75 stories in his career.
The video starts with James’ first career dunk, alerting the audience to the beginning of utter greatness. Containing many stories and examples, the video articulates his knowledge of the game and insurmountable basketball IQ.
LeBron James and his basketball IQ
In explaining James' dominant longevity, former teammate Channing Frye recalled a playoff game against the Detroit Pistons:
“This man’s mind is a stinking computer… ”
LeBron, even early in his career, explained to Frye how the opponent was going to structure its substitution patterns. Frye recalls LeBron explaining:
“Hey, in two minutes they're bringing in Aron Baynes, and they’re taking this out. So let’s go on a run, when Baynes comes in, Channing's gonna come in …”
The coaching adjustments unfolded just as James said they would. Frye explained his surprise at how well-versed the young star was on the opposing team, as he watched the same videos James did.
Frye reminisced about James’ greatness on the court further in outlining James’ ever-growing basketball IQ.
Frye remembered, when LeBron James was playing Toronto in the Eastern Conference finals, a situation where Toronto comes out of a time out and Kyle Lowry throws his hands up. Someone said, “Dang, I didn’t see the call.” In noticing the lack of awareness from his opponent, LeBron replied:
“You’re supposed to be in the corner, then you’re gonna cut across," said Frye as he remembered James giving instructions. "He’s going to set a down screen. You’re gonna come over. We gonna switch that, and Kyle’s gonna have to play me one on one.”
Lowry ended up playing James one on one.
LeBron James has earned "The King" crown
Averaging 27.0 points per game in 19 seasons, James ranks third all-time in career scoring (with 35,860 points, trailing Karl Malone's 36,928 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 38,387). He is a four-time NBA champion, with four NBA Finals MVP awards and four MVP awards. He's also been the All-Star Game MVP three times.
Across an entire career of saucy slams and quick, aggressive offense, James has not shorted himself on the other end of the court. “The King” is a six-time All-Defensive team selection, with five first-team selections.
James, as a leader of the court, has a basketball IQ that simply cannot be explained numerically.
Forward Draymond Green, who has won three NBA titles and been on five All-Defensive teams, described James as:
“Probably the smartest player in our game.”
One can only imagine the difficulty in narrowing down 75 stories from James' career, but the video is structured well. Although his statistics speak for themselves, the stories from NBA legends explaining his greatness add the needed weight.
An absolute rarity, James' playing style cannot be explained in terms of a single past player. Pat Riley, one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, with five NBA championships, explains James to be:
“In a class of his own," Riley said. "He is absolutely unique. He’s Michael, he’s Magic, you know, he’s Kobe, he’s Jerry West, you know, he’s Bill Russel. You take all of these great, great players and you put them in a blender and mix 'em up, LeBron’s got something of all of them in him.”
Legendary big man Shaquille O’Neal told a story about the first time he watched James play in high school and recorgnizing the unique dominance he sensed in James from early on.
“I have never seen someone dominant high school like that, since me," O'Neal said. "He could go pro right now.”
James has many accomplishments outside the stadium as well.
The video outlines the capacity of greatness LeBron James has in every aspect of his life. It talks briefly about how he elevated the marketing game from Michael Jordan, giving his friends business opportunities they otherwise never would have had.
James’ social justice activism is celebrated as well, as seen in the last few minutes of the video in a conversation with Hall of Famer Grant Hill, a co-owner and executive of the Atlanta Hawks as well as the USA Basketball's men's national team director.
When asked about James' legacy, Hill, who has been a player and a television broadcaster, said:
“I think certainly, he will be remembered for his accomplishments on the court. But also, of course, off the court. You know, I think he kinda took the mantle from the sports marketing standpoint what MJ had started, and he took it to another level … Also the social justice, speaking out on causes, really inspiring a generation of athletes to use their voice.”
James simply oozes greatness into whatever waters he dips his feet. His insurmountable basketball IQ only ever grows and never dissipates. The mark of his greatness relies heavily in an inability to see a plateau in his career. Yet has there been a point of him letting up — he just adapts and continues to dominate. James’ IQ notably passes through stadium walls into his business ventures and social justice fights, proving to use his success to make the changes he wishes to see.
The NBA video “75 Stories | LeBron James” articulates the monumental brilliance of James.
