Hypothetical: If Lebron stays at peak level for another 6 years

[Mr Feeny]

Does he end up breaking Kareem's record AND hitting 10 k assist and rebounds?

From the other thread:

The thing about Lebron is he's a legit 6'8-6'8 1/2 and about 255-265 of lean build.

When he slows down, he will still be as athletic as the above average power forward. He's going to be effective.

He's not a great rebounder because of his hops, he actually has a great knack for timing when to jump most the time.

He's absolutely dangerous passing out the post due to his vision and ability to score.

34-36 year old Bron will be a 19ppg 9 rebound and 7 assist guy. I believe Kyrie will take more ball handling duties and look to facilitate in the next couple years.


Agree there. I think I see Lebron's scoring going down while his play making and rebounding increase. If we assume that Lebron manages to avoid injuries and that he can play 70 games a season at a high level, what do you think he ends up with?

He's currently averaging 500 assists and 500 rebounds per season. With another 6 years, he'll hit the 10 thousand assist and 10 thousand rebounds marks.

He's already got ~ 27 k points. Another 6 seasons at close to 2000 points a season would shatter Kareem's record but I don't see Lebron getting 2000 points a season.
Let's go with 1,500. If he does that for 6 years, that's 9000 more points which would put his career marks at:

36,000 points, 10,000 assists, 10,000 rebounds.

Does that even seem possible? Does he have a case for GOAT if he does that?

[IllegalD]

Case for GOAT went out the window when he:

1) Lost 4 Finals (and counting)

2) Jumped teams TWICE (and counting)

3) Had the 2011 Finals meltdown (biggest/most embarrassing upset in NBA Finals History, and he was the MAIN culprit)

4) Got beat by historic/record margins in the 2014 Finals by an aging Spurs

:no:

[Mr Feeny]

Case for GOAT went out the window when he:

1) Lost 4 Finals (and counting)

2) Jumped teams TWICE (and counting)

3) Had the 2011 Finals meltdown (biggest/most embarrassing upset in NBA Finals History, and he was the MAIN culprit)

4) Got beat by historic/record margins in the 2014 Finals by an aging Spurs

:no:

That's your opinion. Let's leave the GOAT discussion out of it then and not derail the thread.

Does he reach those unprecedented landmarks?

[ILLsmak]

Does he end up breaking Kareem's record AND hitting 10 k assist and rebounds?

From the other thread:



Agree there. I think I see Lebron's scoring going down while his play making and rebounding increase. If we assume that Lebron manages to avoid injuries and that he can play 70 games a season at a high level, what do you think he ends up with?

He's currently averaging 500 assists and 500 rebounds per season. With another 6 years, he'll hit the 10 thousand assist and 10 thousand rebounds marks.

He's already got ~ 27 k points. Another 6 seasons at close to 2000 points a season would shatter Kareem's record but I don't see Lebron getting 2000 points a season.
Let's go with 1,500. If he does that for 6 years, that's 9000 more points which would put his career marks at:

36,000 points, 10,000 assists, 10,000 rebounds.

Does that even seem possible? Does he have a case for GOAT if he does that?

I can see Bron's career ending with an injury/injuries. Sounds bogus, but that's how in envision it. I doubt he'll play 6 more years.

-Smak

[Lebron23]

I can see Bron's career ending with an injury/injuries. Sounds bogus, but that's how in envision it. I doubt he'll play 6 more years.

-Smak


I can see him playing in his 40's ala Malone and Jabbar. The thing is LeBron is built like a rock.

[LostCause]

Honestly if he can stay at a peak level for 6 more years I don't see why he can't. In fact I'd have no doubt he'd pass Jordan statistically as the GOAT in such a case

No telling how many more rings he wins but his argument for GOAT will be so great on the strength of his production alone, kind of like Jordan's was after the first 3-peat

[tmacattack33]

Case for GOAT went out the window when he:

1) Lost 4 Finals (and counting)

2) Jumped teams TWICE (and counting)

3) Had the 2011 Finals meltdown (biggest/most embarrassing upset in NBA Finals History, and he was the MAIN culprit)

4) Got beat by historic/record margins in the 2014 Finals by an aging Spurs

:no:

1, 3, and 4 go together. So they can't be 3 separate points.

Point 4 is discussing a team issue, not an individual issue (and I also doubt the "historical margins" part...there have been many more lopsided Finals than that just in the 2000's alone...LA vs Philly, LA vs NJ, SA vs NJ, etc).



2 is off the court stuff, and is just your opinion as you don't know why Lebron went back to Cleveland...and from his reaction after winning the Finals, it seems he truly wanted to win won for his hometown.


So anyway, if Lebron stays at peak level for another 6 years.....then LOL...he's unquestionably the GOAT. I expect him to have only one more peak year though.

[ILLsmak]

I can see him playing in his 40's ala Malone and Jabbar. The thing is LeBron is built like a rock.

I could see it being like Malone, but Malone played 18 seasons coming in at 22. Bron would be at 19, has way more mileage, and plays a faster pace than Karl. Plus, Karl's shit broke down in the end, too. That's how I think it's gonna happen with Bron.

Probably not too soon, but before he gets to his 19th season.

Kareem was very skinny and played finesse which is why he probably was able to stay in the NBA. Just like Robert Parish, who is also skinny by comparison.

Bron is heavy and jumps high. I would be surprised, but it's possible. I still don't see him playing 6 more years, even if he doesn't, probably because he doesn't want to decline too much.

And @ tmac, yea he's at least number 2 if he can do that. I dunno if he can beat Jordan out. Depends on rangz.

-Smak

[Vancouver-Grizz]

Gotta admit, his body is a freak of nature. I think he can easily have 4 to 5 dominate years left in him.

The only question was if he was cycling any PEDS before and how will his body hold up if he was taking if before but not anymore.

Think NBA started testing for HGH this year but they didn't do any consistent testing that can really catch anyone on a cycle.

[BigKAT]

I don't think he can stay in 'Peak' condition for 6 more seasons.
He might already be past his peak form.

Can he stay elite?
I'd have to guess 3 more seasons tops.

After that? definetly a superb player, but likely not top 3 in the league anymore.

Unless no one young and skilled pans out and boy would that be disappointing if AD, KD, Curry and KAT can't overthrow 35 years old lebron.

[Big164]

He aint touchin 23,000 rebounds. Half of Wilts records are Unbreakable.

[Big164]

The other half, you gotta be MJ or Kareem caliber like player to even touch. Lebron aint on that level.

[K Xerxes]

He's accumulated the most mileage ever at his age. There's no way he'll be in peak level in the next 6 years. He's not even in peak level now: his athleticism has certainly declined since his Cavs days.

That's not to say he can't dominate the field for the next couple of years. There's not much superstar talent and he's so much better than the rest in all honesty. I don't see 6 years though.

[LostCause]

Honestly I don't see Bron playing until his wheels fall off. He values his legacy and standing in history far too much to play additional seasons that would negatively affect his career averages and shit like that

I don't even think he'll play if he only averages like 17/6/6