NBA Legacies: LeBron James

LeBron James – A legend on the court. 

LeBron James is an American pro basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA. He is often nicknamed ‘King James’ and is widely considered to be one of the absolute greatest players in the history of the NBA, even frequently being compared to the legendary Michael Jordan. 

He is the only player to have won NBA championships with three franchises; the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, and the Lakers, as NBA finals MVP. He has also competed in ten NBA finals, eight of them being consecutive with the Heat and then with the Cavaliers too, from 2011 until 2018!  He has endless accomplishments and awards in his 18-year career thus far. 

LeBron plays a small forward/ power forward at 6ft 9inches tall. He was drafted back in 2003 in the first round and was chosen as the first overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

He played with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2003 until 2010, and then joined the Miami Heat from 2010 until 2014. He did return to the Cavaliers from 2014 to 2018, however since 2018 he has been playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. 

His many awards and achievements. 

LeBron James’ many accomplishments and awards include four NBA championships, four NBA MVP awards, four NBA Finals MVP awards, as well as two Olympic gold medals. 

During his 18-years (thus far) of playing, he holds the record for all-time playoffs points, and is third in all-time points. He is also eighth in career assists, too. 

James has also been selected to the All-NBA team a record 17 times, with a record of 13 first team selections and 11 consecutive first team selections- which he shares with Michael Jordan and Karl Malone. He has also been made the NBA All-defensive first team five times, and has been named an All-Star 17 times too, including three All-Star MVP selections. 

His four NBA championships were in 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2020, and his four NBA Finals MVP were all the same years as well. 

It is no surprise at all that when LeBron James originally left the Cavaliers, fans were devastated, although he only returned for four years, fans were exhilarated to have him return for those years, and he did not disappoint. 

His legacy on the court and off the court. 

As sports bettors, we always want to know how deep a players’ legacy goes, the deeper the legacy, the more promising they are for successful NBA player futures bets. So, exactly how deep does his legacy go? Very deep. 

He has been the face of the NBA for the last decade, and nothing is changing there. He has been in the league before Facebook and Twitter even existed. In his latter 30s he shows no sign of giving up his crown, and he is still a force to be reckoned with in the league. He posts an average of 25.4 points, 7/9 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game, and that was just in the 2020-2021 season. Although he did suffer an injury in March, he will still defend his title with the Lakers in the 2021-2022 season. 

However, despite whatever may go down in the postseason, his legacy on the court and off the court has already been cemented, dried, and chiseled into stone, it’s going nowhere.

Not only is he an incredible basketball player, he also has a sweet heart, he has devoted as much of his time to his philanthropic as he does to his basketball career. He set up his own charitable foundation in 2004, with the mission to create generation change for the kids and families in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. Focusing on education, and co-curricular educational initiatives. 

His foundation also supports the ‘I PROMISE’ school in Akron too, supporting at-risk children, providing them with a stable learning environment, free tuition, free meals, and guaranteed tuition for all graduates, to the University of Akron.

He is a legend in the court, and one of the most successful players to date, but what people love about him is also his charitable work, and efforts to make this world a better place.  

Why is his legacy always a hot topic? 

“No matter what, LeBron’s legacy is always going to be a hot debate. However, that will always come with the territory of being a GOAT title candidate. James has faced many strong teams in Finals, but he’s also faced many other teams that had less talent too. Some will bring up his loss to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks during the ‘10-’11 season” – says Harry Johns White, Marketing Specialist at NBAblast

Regardless, he still managed to get teams with subpar talents to the NBA finals. Really, that is all that matters, and doing so speaks volumes of himself and how he inspires his teammates.