Do you agree with people who claim that Lebron James remains the NBA GOAT?
The GOAT debate in the NBA is one that will be going on forever, and though there are really just two or three legit candidates, fans have their personal favorites who they’ll back no matter what.
Indeed, arguments about the NBA GOAT spring up often among groups of friends or on social media.
We should mention that the arguments for certain candidates aren’t foolproof due to the fact that some statistics, like blocks and steals, and awards, like Player of the Month or 3rd Team All-NBA, didn’t exist early on in the NBA.
This means that players like Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain could have an even stronger case if they did.
The NBA GOAT
Regardless, you can check out what makes Lebron James to be regarded as the NBA GOAT.
Most All-NBA Selections
Lebron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant and stands at No. 1 with 18 selections.
He’s both the youngest and fourth-oldest to be selected for an All-NBA team.
There was no All-NBA 3rd Team during Abdul-Jabbar’s time in the NBA. If there had been, perhaps he would top this list.
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Most All-NBA 1st Team selections: With 13, he has two more than Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone.
Most Points Scored All-time
Lebron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar here too and is now set to put a good amount of room between himself and everyone else, as he does not look like he’ll be slowing down anytime soon.
Most All-Star selections along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Lebron James has been an All-Star 19 different times, tied for the most for a single player in league history with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar through the 2022-23 season.
He’ll almost certainly hold this record on his own next season.
Most Points Scored In The Playoffs
Lebron James is running up the score by now. With 7,631 already, he’s got over 1,600 more points than the player in second (Michael Jordan).
Most Playoff Games Won
Lebron James moved past Derek Fisher and Tim Duncan in 2020.
He’s got a 65.4% winning percentage in the playoffs. That’s slightly worse than Jordan, who had a 66.5% win rate in the playoffs.
Most Steals In The Playoffs
Jordan and Scottie Pippen are right behind Lebron James, but he may continue to extend his lead over the years to come.
Most Playoff Win Shares
Lebron James is No. 1 in playoff Win Shares by a mile at 55.7. In second place is Jordan at 39.8. Third is Duncan with 37.8.
Most Playoff Game-winning Buzzer Beaters
At five, he has the most playoff buzzer beaters ever. He has as many as Jordan (3), Bryant (1) and Kawhi Leonard (1) combined. Strangely enough, he has more playoff buzzer beaters than regular-season buzzer beaters, of which he only has two.
Best Value Over Replacement Player In Regular Season
Lebron James is No. 1 in regular-season VORP at 145.9. Second place is Jordan at 116.1 and third is John Stockton at 106.5.
Best Value Over Replacement Player in playoffs: Lebron James also leads all players in NBA history in playoff VORP at 33.9.
Most consecutive double-digit scoring games in the regular season.
One of Lebron’s crazier accomplishments. He’s the first player ever to hit 10-plus points in 1,000-plus games in a row.
Most Player of the Week awards
Has now doubled Kobe Bryant (and change) with 67 of these to Bryant’s 33.
Lebron does benefit here from the NBA moving to give out two Player of the Week awards weekly (one for each conference) starting in the 2001-02 season.
Most Player of the Month awards
Lebron has more of these than the next two players on the list combined (Bryant and Jordan).
Again, the NBA started giving out a Player of the Month award for each conference starting in 2001-02 season, so he does get a bit of help here. Also, the award didn’t even exist before 1979.
Most Points In All-Star Games
Lebron James is the only player ever with at least 300 points scored in NBA All-Star contests.