The King, who recently chose to don the purple and gold next year, is now 33 years old. LeBron James has been playing in the NBA for 15 seasons, and he hasn’t slowed down one step. Over those years, he’s played 54,347 regular season and postseason minutes. The next most belong to Joe Johnson and Dirk Nowitzki, at 44,167 and 41,961 respectively. When those numbers are condensed down, LeBron’s amount is the equivalent of 3.5 more seasons than anybody else.
What’s more astonishing though, is how amazing he’s been. LeBron is coming off a career-best playoff stretch in which he hit two game-winning shots and averaged 34 points per contest. However, all good things must come to an end. For LeBron, it’s probably not within the next 3-4 years. He’s still undisputedly the greatest player in the world and arguably ever, so predicting when he comes back down to earth is next to impossible. One can assume LeBron’s retirement will come at an age that pushes 40, so treasure the gift of watching him play at this level while it lasts.
The “Chosen One”, as Sports Illustrated referred to him as way back in 2002, will reside in Los Angeles next season and embark on a new journey as a Laker. On the contrary, when he does lose the throne as the best player in the league, there are a few candidates that’ll gladly take his place.
A few names that first pop up when thinking of the NBA’s current prince include Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, and even James Harden. Interestingly enough there is one factor that makes it impossible to write about those guys – their ages. KD will soon be 30, Kawhi just turned 27, Harden is approaching 29, and Kyrie will be 27 around the end of next season. Those players are all amazing in their respective ways; it’s just that LeBron won’t have slowed down yet at the time of their peaks. That being said, there’s one player who is already at a similar caliber yet still has the clock on his side.
His name doesn’t need to be said (in fact, most people can’t say it correctly anyway), but he’s referred to as the Greek Freak. He runs the floor for the Milwaukee Bucks, dominating it on both sides of the basketball. Now a two-time All-Star, Giannis Antetokounmpo is just 23 years old. The timing matches up perfectly with LeBron’s exit from the league, but it all comes down to how unreal Antetokounmpo is.
As a rookie in 2013-14, he averaged 6.8 points per game (although he was still good enough for the All-Rookie Second Team). This season, he dropped 26.9 on while making 52.9% of his shots. If Giannis develops a better shot from outside the arc and a more reliable jump shot (he typically gets most of his buckets at the rim), that figure can rise above 30. The Greek Freak averaged 10 rebounds and nearly 5 assists in 2017-18, with the 5th best PER (Player Efficiency Rating) in the NBA at 27.37. Next behind him on that list was Kevin Durant, at 26.05.
Two seasons ago he took home the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, and has been named to the All-NBA Second Team in both of the past two. When he’s not dunking on people, he’s swatting their shot. Antetokounmpo’s massive 8’3” wingspan has helped him in multiple ways, and he’s improving annually at legendary levels.
There’s no doubt he’s become an MVP-worthy player, and most likely he’ll take home the trophy once or twice assuming the Bucks can pull in 50+ wins in a season. With LeBron now out of the East, that should be even easier. When LeBron starts to slow down and become a “normal” All-Star, Giannis will take his place.
Remember to never rush greatness, and put it all into perspective that LeBron is a historically unmatched basketball player. Don’t be quick to find a replacement for him, but just know at the same time that there is always other talent out there, and the next best thing will probably be the 6’11” point guard from Greece.
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