LeBron James was thrown into the spotlight at a young age and since then has been a model for the sport of basketball.
He is now just 89 points away from surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the all-time scoring record.
A feat accomplished by Abdul-Jabbar by playing 20 seasons from 1969 to 1989, including his last 14 seasons with LA. Fittingly, James is in his 20th season in the league this year.
James has averaged at least 25 points in 19 of those seasons, including 30.2 in 41 games played this season.
Draymond Green is someone who has had their fair share of on-court scandals, including this year punching his teammate Jordan Poole and he says James’ career is intertwined with consistency, longevity and durability.
“When you look at those three things, it’s a testament to how he lives his life,” Green told USA TODAY Sports. “I recently said he’s the greatest face the NBA has ever had. Think about the day and age we live in – cameras, social media – he’s never had a scandal. Never been arrested. Never photo’d drunk. Those things go hand in hand with durability, longevity, consistency.”
Green’s on court dramas one day actually involved James, during the 2016 Finals which ended with Green swinging his arm and hitting James in the groin and Green getting suspended.
It’s nice to see that incident is just water under the bridge and Green has much respect for one of the best role models the NBA will ever see.