At 36, LeBron James is still among the elite players in the NBA while making a strong case for MVP once again as the Los Angeles Lakers’ undisputed leader.
James’ longevity and ability to curb constant criticism haven’t gone unnoticed by his peers.
Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz are going with a different approach this season, resulting in an impressive run to the top of the Western Conference.
Gobert spoke with Sam Amick of The Athletic and mentioned James’ remarkable ability to ignore the noise.
“The better you get, the more people talk and the more people are either going to praise you or adopt you or criticize you, so I kind of started to embrace it and take every kind of criticism as, in a way, a compliment,” the 28-year-old Gobert explained in our phone discussion late last week. “I mean, look at LeBron. He was actually the most criticized player of our generation, and he’s the one who has accomplished the most.”
The Jazz center is right on the money when talking about James and how the Lakers superstar is arguably the most criticized player of their generation.
A case could be made that James is the most criticized athlete of all time.
Despite all the criticism and outside noise James has had to deal with, he’s still going strong at 36 years old.
He’s coming off his fourth NBA title while working on another as leader of a team that many believe is the best all-around squad in the league right now.
