Lebron James’ name is one that not only supersedes basketball, but sports itself. The 39 year old is entering his twentieth NBA season and is the oldest player in the league, yet he is still undoubtedly a top 25 player in basketball.
Rumours circulated that the Akron native was contemplating retirement going into last season, with the guard-come-forward stating that he was “simply not sure if I'll be back in the fall when the season begins.”
James did lace up for the 2023/24 season and continued to shine as brightly as he has since 2003-04, where he collected the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Last season, James averaged 25.7 points per game (PPG), 8.3 assists per game and 7.3 rebounds per game, playing in a remarkable 71 games. To put that number into perspective, last year's winner of the MVP award, Joel Embiid, missed 39 games for the Philadelphia 76ers, 26 more than James who chose not to undergo surgery on his foot despite being recommended to do so.
As well as boasting an elite stat-line, James led the LA Lakers to the inaugural NBA Cup, a newly introduced mid-season tournament, picking up the trophies MVP award in the process. Lebron was also selected to play in his twentieth NBA All-star game, setting the record for appearances for the annual event.
In terms of legacy James has nothing left to prove. Along with the aforementioned Rookie of the Year Award, ‘The King’ (as he is nicknamed) has won 4 NBA Championships, winning the NBA Finals MVP in every single one, he has 4 Olympic gold medals and he is the NBA’s all-time leading points scorer with 40,490, a number which will obviously increase as the season progresses.
So why does James keep going?
Speaking to ESPN, Lebron stated that “I need to be on the floor with my boy.” Well, on April 5 of this year, Bronny James (Lebron James Jr. to use his legal name) declared for the NBA draft. Conveniently for Lebron, Bronny was selected at number 55 in this year’s NBA Draft, (a process where the best collegiate hoopers from both the USA and overseas are drafted 1-60) with the LA Lakers acquiring his services, the same team which Lebron has turned out for since 2018.
Much had been made about Bronny’s selection in the draft with him being labelled as the product of nepotism. Something which, unfortunately for Bronny, is probably true. The guard needed more time at the collegiate level before being drafted; he averaged just 4.8 PPG on an inefficient 36.6% field goal percentage. He didn’t prove to have the vision his dad is so famous for either, with him only averaging 2.1 assists per game.
Defenders of Bronny argue that his game has always been defence-centric, but standing at 6’1”, he is undersized for an NBA guard, something that showed during the Lakers pre-season games where James JR, at one stage, had the joint second-lowest +/- with -40 (plus minus, this stat indicates how many points a team lost or gained in relation to their opposition when a player took to the court) in the entire league. Bronny did improve in his last preseason game, recording 17 points and a +17.
However, Bronny is more than likely the Lakers asking Lebron to play for one last year before calling it quits, and ultimately for what Lebron has given to not only the NBA but the sport of basketball, it is probably the least he deserves.
LeBron has been the games greatest ambassador, he is a figure well-known across the globe, not only for his freakish athletic ability but his standing in pop-culture. ‘The King’ appeared in Space Jam 2, which grossed $163.7 million at the box office. He has often been at the centre of meme culture, with both an action figure from the aforementioned Space Jam 2, and an advertisement he did for Sprite which went viral across the last decade. In England, he’s also known for supporting Liverpool FC, a club in which he once held a 2% stake before exchanging it for a 1% share in Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the club's parent company. An interview he did with Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford also went viral as well, with Lebron again being ‘memed’ for lying to the England international about his own favourite quote.
While Bronny is most definitely not NBA ready, it isn’t the first time that nepotism has crept into basketball. Looking at the Milwaukee Bucks for example, Thanasis Antetoukoumnpo was often the subject of the same criticism that Bronny is now facing. He too was deemed not good enough for the league, only holding down a roster spot on the Bucks due to the fact that his brother, two-time MVP Giannis Antetoukoumnpo, wanted him there.
Nepotism will become a bigger issue than it already is in the NBA. Aside from the fact that it is the dream of a draft entrant to be drafted to an NBA team, financially the money in the league is life-changing. The minimum annual salary for a player with no experience in the league is around $1.1 million. This is life-changing money, money that Bronny won’t need considering that his father has a reported net-worth of $1.2 billion. The biggest concern about Bronny isn’t due to his ability, it's if he’s taken away life-changing money which could’ve changed another prospect’s life.
Lebron James will go down as one of, if not the best athletes of all time, his consistency, durability and technical ability is matched by no other, he is, as already mentioned, the games greatest ambassador and perhaps the greatest player to ever lace up. There are reasonable questions about both the ethics and ability of Bronny James being drafted to the Lakers, but it is up to the individual to decide whether or not Lebron’s legacy is a great enough excuse to ignore them.
