LeBron James is still trying to process the massive accomplishment of helping the Los Angeles Lakers win a 17th championship, but first and most personal to him, it was his 4th championship in 17 seasons. And he has accomplished this with the highest expectations any other young star has faced. Earlier this week, after LeBron won the championship, a clip went viral on twitter from his first-ever ESPN-televised game back in high school, that compared him to the greatest players to ever play before even getting drafted into the NBA. Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were among the names he was compared to while he was still playing for St. Vincent-St. Mary’s.
This was Lebron's HIGHSCHOOL game introduction when he faced Oak Hill Academy in 2002. pic.twitter.com/yfATYuc9xV
— Mo (@mo_the_african) October 13, 2020
That expectation, which James said as a teenager he had dealt with since he was 10 years old, is something that can never be removed from the story of James’ incredible success. The fact that he exceeded almost every reasonable expectations and still seems to be getting better. That is necessary context to understand LeBron’s latest Instagram post, about doubters creating “new criteria,” that nobody else in the history of the game has ever had to deal with.
LeBron was born into this expectation. It’s also clearly part of what has driven him to yet another milestone, a 4th Finals MVP and the third separate franchise he was won Finals MVP with. James doesn’t seem to be dwelling too much on the point but it was definitely something he had to get off of his chest. It’s likely been something he’s been holding onto for the length of the 2019-20 season, which was the longest in the NBA’s 74-year history.
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