I remember the day I stopped playing basketball.
It was not easy.
It wasn't my decision either. The twenty-something who was giving me that job made the decision for me.
opinion columnist
LZ Granderson
LZ Granderson writes about culture, politics, sports, and living life in America.
When my 50-year-old self finally scored a basket, one of my teammates yelled, “Give it old school.” At first I had no idea who I was talking to. I had played basketball for 40 years and no one had ever referred to me as “old school.” Then that guy 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.
I'm sure there are plenty of gym rats who know that feeling. Maybe you can play a couple of baskets with your kids, but that's 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 him.
And not out of nostalgia.
Forget the “LeBron James versus Michael Jordan” debate. James' battle with Father Time is much more compelling and relatable. This week, James was named to his 20th All-NBA team. That means James has been considered among the top 15 players in the world for Bronny James' entire life. He also holds the record for being the youngest and oldest player to make that list.
In many ways, it's a disservice to reduce James' career to a debate about whether he's the GOAT. Sure, there are numbers that support Jordan's case or James' argument. Either player could be the best to ever catch a basketball.
But it misses the number I'm looking at: six. That is the minimum number of presidential terms that will pass through the White House while James is an outstanding player in the best basketball league in the world. This is amazing.
The simple fact that the sports media has been debating “Jordan versus LeBron” for over a decade is an affront to the concept of time.
Grant Hill.
Vince Carter.
Kobe.
Penny Hardaway.
Harold Minero Jr.
The industry quickly and frequently began calling it “the next Jordan.” And it is understandable that this is so. How can you not want to see a clone of the best player we've ever seen? But while the sports media has moved on from some of the previous candidates, we remain fascinated with James. So much so that it wasn't until this year, with Anthony Edwards in Minnesota, that there was even a substantial newcomer to consider since James started winning championships.
Comparisons to Jordan were much less lightly dismissed after James entered the picture. Even now, when he is 39 years old and his son is preparing to enter the league, he is still the player most compared to Jordan. The constant juxtaposition of these two figures 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, bids farewell to the game after a record-breaking career. Meanwhile, James, who was named All-NBA in 2005, is still expected to lead a team to a championship at least one more time. No other player in the history of the game has had those kinds of expectations for two decades. We've been so busy yelling about which player is better that we didn't realize… we've been having the 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 still continues. Of course, eventually Father Time will win this battle.
After all, he is undefeated.
But as a gym rat who was forced into retirement by a punk with a crossover, I'm still rooting for the underdogs to last as long as possible.
