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Not many players play 19 years in the NBA, but LeBron James is still around and competing at the highest level. The LA Lakers still depend on him to win, and he still delivers the goods.
LeBron James has scored 30-plus points in four of his past five games. Such dominance and consistency is difficult to pull off by a player with so much mileage, but King James does so, almost effortlessly.
Perhaps LeBron James' biggest supporter, Shannon Sharpe, was excited about the Lakers' 117-102 win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. It was a proud moment for every Laker, especially considering how storied the Lakers-Celtics rivalry is and how important it was to get a victory at Staples Center.
On "Skip and Shannon: UNDISPUTED," while Skip Bayless was impressed with the Lakers' performance in general, the only thing he liked about James' 30-point games was that he did not attempt many 3-pointers (2-for-5).
Sharpe, on the other hand, brought out his scepter to celebrate the victory and continue his campaign of annointing James as the greatest player of all time.
"When I say GOAT, you say James!"
Bayless has always drawn parallels to Michael Jordan at every opportunity he gets. But this time, he attempted to use Kevin Durant to draw attention away from Sharpe's rave about James and the Lakers. Bayless talked about Durant taking over the game in the fourth quarter to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 102-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.
Can LeBron James win a fifth title to further prove his GOAT status?
At this point, winning five championships might not be enough for Michael Jordan faithfuls to change their minds about James being the GOAT. Jordan's 6-0 record in the NBA Finals will always rank better than James' Finals record. LBJ has competed in 10 Finals, including eight of them consecutively from 2011-2018, but has "only" four championships.
The Lakers (13-12 entering Thursday night's game at the Memphis Grizzlies) have struggled so far. But James has been their glimmer of hope toward championship contention. LBJ is averaging 25.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game. They are 5-7 without him in the lineup, 8-5 with him.
The caliber of players on the Lakers is enough to bring the franchise's 18th championship to Staples Center, but their age is a concern. Staying in front of the younger teams in the league has been a problem, which is one of the reasons the team has performed so poorly on defense.
The Lakers cannot be written off yet in the title race. With James leading the charge, anything is possible. Regardless of how many titles he wins, there will always be a debate on who the GOAT is.
