I remember the day I stopped playing basketball.
It was not easy.
It wasn’t my decision either. The young man in his early 20s who was giving me that job made the decision for me.
When my 50-year-old self finally scored a basket for him, one of my teammates yelled, “get him the old-fashioned way.” At first, I had no idea who he was talking to. I had been playing basketball for 40 years and no one had ever referred to me as “old school.” Then that kid scored on me again. And then again.
Anyway, that was my last game. I don’t even belong to that gym anymore. I didn’t want to constantly see the place of my death.
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I’m sure there are plenty of gym rats out there who know this feeling. Maybe you can play some basketball with your kids, but that’s about it. Which brings me to this: Right now, NBA teams are debating whether to draft an 18-year-old in the hopes that his 39-year-old father will join them.
And not out of nostalgia.
Forget the “LeBron James versus Michael Jordan” debate. James’ battle with Father Time is much more convincing and understandable. This week, James was named to his 20th All-NBA team. This means that James was considered one of the 15 best players in the world throughout Bronny James’ lifetime. He also holds the record for being the youngest and oldest player to make this list.
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In many ways, it’s a disservice to reduce James’ career to a debate over whether he’s the GOAT. Of course, there are numbers that support Jordan’s case or James’ argument. Either player could be the best to ever catch a basketball.
But the number I’m seeing goes unnoticed: six. This is the minimum number of presidential terms that will last in the White House while James is one of the best players in the best basketball league in the world. This is surprising.
The mere fact that sports media have been debating “Jordan versus LeBron” for over a decade is an affront to the concept of time.
Grant Hill.
Vincent Carter.
Kobe.
Penny Hardaway.
Haroldo Mineiro Jr.
The industry began to christen “the next Jordan” quickly and frequently. And understandably so. How could we not want to see a clone of the greatest player we’ve ever seen? But even though the sports media has gotten over some of the previous candidates, we remain fascinated by James. So much so that it wasn’t until this year — with Anthony Edwards in Minnesota — that there was even a key rookie to consider, as James began winning championships.
Comparisons to Jordan were made much less lightly after James arrived on the scene. Even now, at 39 years old and his son preparing to enter the league, he is still the player most compared to Jordan. The constant juxtaposition of these two numbers and the focus on James’ statistics has overshadowed the most notable aspect of his career: his longevity.
Rafael Nadal, who won his first French Open in 2005, is saying goodbye to the sport after a record-breaking career. Meanwhile, James, who was named All-NBA in 2005, has yet to lead a team to a championship at least one more time. No other player in the history of the game has had that kind of expectation for two decades. We were so busy shouting about which player is better that we didn’t realize… we’ve been having this same debate about this same player for a long time.
In addition to being named to his 20th All-NBA team, this season James became the first player to be named an All-Star starter for the 20th time. One more than Kareem, two more than Kobe, five more than Shaq. And surprisingly he’s still going. Of course, eventually Father Time will win this battle.
After all, he is undefeated.
But like a gym rat who was forced into retirement by some punk with a crossover, I’m still rooting for the underdog to last as long as possible.
This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
