NBA veteran Austin Rivers had his father and NBA coach Doc Rivers on as a guest on his “Go Off With Austin Rivers” podcast recently, and the two agreed that Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James may be the greatest athlete in the history of professional sports.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a better, and Michael [Jordan] was a super athlete, so was Kobe [Bryant], so is Kawhi [Leonard], I don’t know if there has ever been an athlete in our league like LeBron James,” the Los Angeles Clippers head coach said.
His son then interjected.
“I don’t think in sports,” he said. “I don’t think in sports we’ve seen anything like LeBron James.”
While the debate about who the greatest NBA player of all time is will likely rage on forever, the argument about who has displayed the most raw athletic ability may be pretty simple.
Despite how fans and critics alike may feel about James, there is no doubt that his combination of size and speed has never been seen before and may likely never be seen again.
At 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, James’ ability to slice through defenders, nimbly dribble the ball and put the ball through the hoop using either supreme grace or power is still sometimes hard to believe.
The elder Rivers put James’ incredible ability into perspective.
“When someone asks me about LeBron, ‘Explain to me why he’s so dominant,'” he said. “I said, ‘Okay. He weighs 10 pounds more than Karl Malone. Karl Malone was a power forward and was looked upon as the biggest, strongest guy in the league. LeBron James weighs 10 pounds more than him at the small forward, moving at the speed that he moves at.’ That explains LeBron James in a nutshell.”
Perhaps the most incredible thing about James’ athletic ability is that he has managed to maintain it for nearly two decades. At 35 years old, James is doing things that players his age have simply never done before in the NBA.
Sadly, fans have been missing their usual dose of James’ greatness due to the current stoppage of play as a result of the novel coronvirus.
Hopefully, he’ll be able to get back to stunning NBA fans on the court soon.
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