LeBron James has had such a long NBA career that you can divide his career into stages. Fans often argue about what version of James has been the best, with people usually picking between 2014-2018 Cleveland ‘Bron or 2010-2014 Miami ‘Bron.
James’ former teammate on the Cavaliers, Richard Jefferson, openly said that the version of LeBron he played with in Cleveland is the single-best basketball player he had ever seen in his life.
“Which version is the best? Is it the Lakers in 2020? Is it the Miami LeBron? Or the Cleveland [LeBron]? Let me tell you this — the Cleveland LeBron…the Cleveland LeBron, those couple of seasons. That was the best basketball I’ve ever seen a player play in my entire life.”
Jefferson saw LeBron average 25.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.6 assists over the course of their three seasons together in Cleveland. Playoff LeBron was a different beast, averaging 26.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 7.6 assists alongside Jefferson on the 2016 title-winning squad.
LeBron Aging Like Fine Wine
LeBron James has lost a step or two on the court and is more injury prone than he ever had been previously, but he’s still among the best players in the league. He was pushing on averaging career highs in scoring in the last two seasons due to the increased scoring responsibility he had to shoulder for the Lakers. James has averaged 29.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.5 assists over the last two regular seasons.
His injuries may soon make his style of play unsustainable, with the Lakers roster clearly built to take pressure off LeBron, especially in the regular season. We may see LeBron make more history in Year 21 after shattering multiple league records in his 20th NBA season.
