00:00But I got to hand it to the guy, 21-6-7, this guy scoring in this series
00:06against the Houston Rockets, hit a game-winner the other night
00:09to put the Lakers up three games of love.
00:11You're talking about one of the greatest longevity players
00:16in the history of sports, not just the NBA.
00:2041-year-old guys, this is becoming now a trend on seeing older players
00:25like Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers elevating their games
00:29past the age of 40.
00:31We didn't see this back in the day when players didn't really take care
00:35of their bodies.
00:37LeBron has been without a doubt.
00:39Now, look, you know, I get asked this question all the time.
00:41Do I think LeBron James is the greatest NBA player of all time?
00:45I do not.
00:46I think the conversation starts and foremost with Michael Jordan,
00:49and then it goes to Kareem, and then it goes to Kobe.
00:54But talking about one of the top five players, you can make the argument
00:58that LeBron James can play all five positions and may be one of the most
01:03versatile players in the history of the NBA.
01:05You can play him at the point.
01:06You can play him shooting small.
01:08You can play him at the power.
01:10You can play him on the box on the five.
01:12He's one of the most versatile players that we've ever seen play in the NBA
01:16for 48 minutes.
01:17And without a doubt, his game changed and his persona changed when he took his
01:23talents to South Beach.
01:24When Pat Riley got a hold of him down in South Florida and he won those NBA
01:29championships and pretty much took the refrigerator off his back, that's when
01:34you started seeing him elevate his game even more under Eric Spolstrom.
01:37What you're seeing now with Los Angeles and what he's doing with the Lakers,
01:42look, you know, I got asked a question a couple weeks ago whether or not there
01:47should be a statue out front of the arena with LeBron James.
01:50And I said, absolutely not.
01:51Do you put him in the category of Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal,
01:55Elgin Baylor, Jerry West?
01:57I don't believe so.
01:58But you know what?
01:59I think this is one of the most impressive runs that LeBron has had since he's
02:04been a Laker.
02:05He's 41 years old.
02:06There's injuries on the team.
02:07Other players are now considered.
02:09I mean, look, Luke is considered now the star of that basketball team.
02:14You don't have Reeves on the team right now because of injuries.
02:18And LeBron is carrying the basketball team.
02:20He's must-watch television.
02:22This is the first time, really, in years, probably since he was with the
02:26Cavaliers, when they ended up coming back from 3-1 and beating the Golden
02:30State Warriors in that finals when he got that tremendous block, that he's
02:35appointment-setting television.
02:36This has really been great.
02:38You know, I said that I haven't been really watching too much NBA basketball,
02:42but I am watching LeBron James basketball.
02:46I'm watching a guy at the age of 40-plus years of age, 41, doing the things that
02:51he's doing.
02:52He's totally solidified himself as one of the greatest all-purpose athletes of
02:58all time when it comes to going up and down the court and when it comes to being
03:03one of the most versatile.
03:03On top of that, the thing that he brought to the table that people will give him
03:08credit for in years to come, he made it fashionable to be mobile.
03:14What I mean by that is if an organization wasn't going to continue building around
03:19that superstar player, he was going to pick his talents up and move it.
03:23You see a lot of athletes today that are not beholden to the organizations any longer.
03:29It used to be taboo when an athlete said, I'm not staying here any longer because the
03:34organizations are not building players around him and they're not building championship teams
03:39around him.
03:40He was the first one that really did this.
03:43He was the first one that made that fashionable.
03:46Tom Brady going to the Buccaneers.
03:48We saw Aaron Rodgers again.
03:51Go to the Jets.
03:52Then go to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
03:54I mean, athletes in the day never really moved around.
03:59LeBron James brought that to sports and brought that to professional sports.
04:03I'm really enthralled with what he's doing with the Lakers.
04:06This is the best I've seen with his impact on the game.
04:11He's 41 years of age.
04:13He's averaging against the Rockets.
04:15Look at his 22 points, four assists a game.
04:19He's been absolutely sensational and he's 41.
04:24Athletes like this don't come around very often.
04:28Joy just said it.
04:29You know, you're blessed to get a chance to see Tom Brady playing past the age of 40
04:34when he goes on and wins a couple Super Bowls.
04:38I don't know if the Lakers get to the Western Conference Finals, but this has been a hell
04:44of a run.
04:45This has been a storyline that I think, again, solidifies the guy as one of the top five players
04:51in NBA history.
04:52As I said to you, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James,
05:01throw those names in a hat.
05:03Come out and put your own order in and you can sit there and put your order all together
05:08there and I'll take the guys that you don't want.
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