Has LeBron James' Greatness Been Taken For Granted?

Amazingly, there are still people who question the greatness of LeBron James.

After playing in over 1,200 career games and logging nearly 50,000 minutes in the NBA, you would think that there would be no one questioning the greatness of LeBron James. However, even after all he has accomplished in 14 seasons in the league, there still seem to be some people who do just that.

Just looking at this past year, the 2016-2017 NBA season as a whole was one of the more polarizing years in recent memory.

Russell Westbrook became only the second player in league history to average a triple double for a season.

James Harden re-invented his game and led Houston to 55 wins and is in the discussion for league MVP with Westbrook.

Kawhi Leonard, who is widely regarded the best defender in the league, averaged a career-high 25.5 points per game this season and helped San Antonio win 61 games.

Among all these players, LeBron somehow gets lost in the discussion.

James, who is in his 14th NBA season, is still putting up career numbers at age 32. He averaged 26.4 points, 8.6 rebounds (career-high) and 8.7 assists (career-high) while shooting 54.8 percent from the field during the regular season. That’s the first time in NBA history that any one player has put those numbers.

He is also the only player in NBA history to average a career high in rebounds and assists in year 14 or later.

In addition to that, James finished this past regular season averaging more than 25 points for the thirteenth time in his career, no other player in league history has more than 11 seasons of averaging 25+ points.

Although James had a career year, he most likely won’t win the MVP award this season. It’s almost a foregone conclusion that Westbrook or Harden will win the award.

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In the past, James stated that he doesn’t care much about winning regular season awards but he seems to take exception to when other players win the MVP award over him. Just ask Stephen Curry last year or Derrick Rose in 2011.

Back in 2011, it was in LeBron’s first season with the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls beat out the Heat for the best record in the Eastern Conference. In that season, Rose burst onto the scene and won the MVP award over James.

Their paths crossed in the Eastern Conference Finals that year and James took the matchup personally, as he neutralized Rose for the entire series. In fact, “Rose shot 6.3 percent from the floor in the series when defended by James, lowest among any player that defended him on five or more plays,” according to ESPN’s Stats and Info Department.

Last season, all the talk was all about Curry and how he was on the verge of taking over the title as the NBA’s best player. Curry was on his way to claiming that title until he ran into James in the NBA Finals.

Just like in 2011 against Rose and the Bulls, James systematically dominated Curry physically and mentally in every facet of the game. James put the world on notice that he was, in fact, still the league’s best player.

James has his own unique way of proving a point when it matters most and the world is watching.

James’ most recent flash of greatness came in Game 3 of the Cavs first round series against the Indiana Pacers this year. He brought the Cavs back from a 26 point deficit, which was the largest comeback in NBA playoff history. James recorded his 17th career playoff triple-double with 41 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, which was the first time numbers like that had been recorded in a playoff game since 1984.

In the second half alone, James scored 26 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out seven assists.

A stat line such as the one put up by James in the second half usually takes a player an entire game to accomplish. In fact, only 11 other players since 1984 had recorded a stat line of 26/6/7 for an entire game, James did it in one half.

Cleveland Cavaliers /

Cleveland Cavaliers

In Game 1 against the Pacers this year, James’ stat line of 32 points, 6 rebounds and 13 assists had only been replicated twice in the last 33 years. More impressively in Game 2 of the same series, James’ performance was the first of its kind in the last 33 years as he recorded 25 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals and 4 blocks.

This is just what James is doing in the first round of the playoffs.

As the postseason moves along and the stakes get higher for the Cavs, we can expect James to play at this level if not better. With over 200 playoff games under his belt and nearly 50,000 minutes played James is still getting better and is still on top of the NBA and shows no signs of slowing down.

James shows no signs of slowing down, although there are some players that appear to be coming for James’ top spot.

One of those players is Kawhi Leonard, whose name has been brought up by some as the “next LeBron.” There are a few people out there that believe Leonard has even passed James as the league’s best player.

So lets compare those two players for a minute.

Both of their points per game averages were about the same this season (26.4 for James and 25.5 for Leonard) but after that is where there is a big discrepancy.

James was sixth in the league in assists with 8.7, Leonard on the other hand was tied for 54th in the NBA with just 3.5 assists per game.

Their rebound numbers tell the same story, James recorded 8.6 per game, which was 17th best in the NBA. Leonard averaged 5.8 rebounds per game, which was tied for 66th among all qualified players.

In addition to those statistics, it should be pointed out that James has 213 career games of eight or more assists, Leonard has zero.

However the most telling statistic is their on-off numbers.

The difference between Leonard being on and off the court for the Spurs and what they outscore opponents by is just 1.4 points. However, the difference for the Cavs and what they outscore opponents by when LeBron is on and off the court is an astounding 15.1 points.

So the notion that James and Leonard are even on the same level seems a bit outrageous at the moment. Leonard is an up-and-coming superstar in the NBA and is one of the league’s top defenders, but as for being an overall playmaker there’s still no one better than LeBron in the NBA today.

When the Golden State Warriors lost Kevin Durant to a knee injury late in the season, they won 13 consecutive games without a player who is widely regarded as the NBA’s second best player behind James. San Antonio has a winning record when Leonard does not play over the last six years.

When LeBron doesn’t play for the Cavs, they turn into a team that would be in the lottery every year.

Greatness and dominance in today’s society appear to be something that many get bored with.

LeBron has been a beacon of consistency that we rarely see in today’s sports landscape. His performances may not wow people like they used to because we’ve grown accustomed to seeing LeBron put up 25/8/8 on a consistent basis.

Meanwhile players such as Curry, Westbrook, Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Karl-Anthony Towns have taken the league by storm and are quickly in line to be crowned the next big thing in the NBA during the regular season. But when June rolls around and James is back in the NBA Finals, he reminds us all why he still holds the title of the league’s best player.

Does LeBron’s game have holes in it? Yes, absolutely.

No player in the history of sports was ever a perfect player at every facet of the game. There will be players like Curry and Leonard that will try to challenge James for the league’s top spot but it’s time to stop pretending that we don’t know the truth.

When it comes to the hierarchy of the NBA today, it’s LeBron and then everybody else.

James has been the best player in the league for quite some time and will continue to be until Father Time takes over, which by the looks of it is not happening any time soon.

Are people taking LeBron’s greatness for granted? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.

*All statistics referenced from www.basketball-reference.com

Are we taking LeBron’s greatness for granted?

By Robbie DiPaola | Apr 24, 2017

Amazingly, there are still people who question the greatness of LeBron James.

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