When LeBron James retires, he wants you to remember the passes.
Before any of the rings, before any of the scoring outbursts, before rattling off his All-Star appearances, and before pitting him against Michael Jordan in the greatest-of-all-time conversation, he wants you to remember the passes.
As the four-time MVP told SLAM‘s Adam Figman:
SLAM: When your name is brought up, not only now, but 10, 15, 20 years from now, what are you hoping people have to say about your basketball career?
LeBron: First of all, that I was one of the most unselfish basketball players that played this game, at a level that he didn’t have to be unselfish—but it’s just part of my DNA. I cared for my teammates more than anything, but when I stepped out on the court, I gave it my all. There was never a moment when I didn’t give it my all. One thing that they will always be able to say is that I was a champion. They’ll never be able to take that away from me. Where they rank me, who I’m better than, who I’m not better than—I call that barbershop talk. That’s gonna happen. No matter if you like it or not, it’s gonna happen. It happens with the greatest of all time, Muhammad Ali. With Muhammad Ali, it’s who’s better, him or Floyd [Mayweather Jr]? Who’s better, Tom Brady or Joe Montana or Aaron Rodgers or Peyton Manning? It’s barbershop talk. What’s better, ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly? They can’t even talk and people talk about them. It is what it is. For me, it’s just being able to maximize, and hopefully people will talk about some of the best qualities you have, more than the stuff that doesn’t mean anything.
People will always find a way to make LeBron’s resume divisive—even though it shouldn’t be. He is probably the best basketball player of all time, bar none. And “bar none” includes Jordan. He most likely won’t finish with as many titles, but the longevity tied to his reign is unprecedented. He is in his 15th season, averaging nearly 38 minutes per game, trying to make his eighth straight NBA Finals. So yeah, rational folks will understand and embrace his place in the pantheon among, or rather above, NBA greats.
But even those who still don’t dig LeBron as the GOAT cannot refute his reputation as a selfless player. Some of his off-the-court approaches are a different story; you can lean your hat on The Decision from a zillion years ago, or you can talk about how his subtweeting is disingenuous to the leadership he’s supposed to provide. But you cannot deny his work as a setup man.
LeBron has always been more Magic Johnson than Jordan in that regard, sometimes to a fault. Everyone has always wanted him to shoot more with the game on the line, and plenty of critics have used his decision to pass the rock in key situations as evidence of inferiority and fear.
Really, though, LeBron is just being LeBron in those situations—an all-time point guard trapped in the body of an Adonis who could, if he wanted to, lead the NBA in scoring just about every dang year.
