LeBron James continues to defy Mother Nature, perform optimally and break records.
In the first quarter of the Lakers’ win against the Nuggets on Thursday, this generation’s GOAT moved up to third all-time in field goals made.
He passed NBA Hall-of-Famer Wilt Chamberlain’s 12,681 buckets, now trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the all-time leader with 15,837, and Karl “The Mailman” Malone, with 13,528.
That does something for me because I’m a guy who grew up reading about the game, studying the game, studying the players post, past and present, he told the media afterwards.
And I wanted to see who was dominant in their era or who laid the groundwork for young kids like myself who started to play the game when I was nine years old. And Wilt obviously was a big staple of that.
Defenses have definitely been trying to stop me from putting the ball in the basket throughout my career and I’ve been able to, for the majority, find buckets and have my name linked to one of the greatest to have played the game of basketball. It’s very humbling. It always gets me thinking about my upbringing growing up in Akron, Ohio.
While Lebron shows a burning passion for the game of basketball and its culture, he’s not happy about the NBA scheduling an All-star Game for March 7th in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the NBA and NBPA were getting close to a deal to host the All-Star Game amid the pandemic. Attendance at the game has been mandatory in the past, but the league is working on an opt-out clause for players who don’t want to participate in the All-Star Game this year.
Bron straight up called it a “slap in the face.”
Results of the first round of fan voting for All-Stars were announced Thursday. Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant is edging out James in overall votes.
“I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star Game this year,” James said following a 114-93 win over the Denver Nuggets at home. “I don’t even understand why we’re having an All-Star Game. But it’s the agreement that the players association and the league came about.”
Bron also doesn’t feel playing the game helps players’ physical or mental health.
“[It was a] short offseason for myself and my teammates with 71 days,” James said. “And then coming into the season we were told that we were not having All-Star Games so we had a nice little break. Five days from [March] 5th to the 10th, an opportunity for me to kind of recalibrate for the second half of the season. My teammates as well, some of the guys in the league. Then they throw an All-Star Game on us like this and it just breaks that all the way up. So, pretty much just kind of a slap in the face.”
Bron’s been a bit ornery this week. Carrying the burden of being a spokesperson for so many and carrying that extra emotional baggage into every situation has got to be taking a toll on him. The incident with Courtside Karen didn’t help either.
He’s only human. The players are only human.
The NBA has to remember that.
