With continued excellence, LeBron James has suddenly become one of the most underrated players in the NBA.
When you think about the best players in the NBA, it could take some time to get to LeBron James. That wasn't the case a few years ago. For many years, LeBron was the consensus best basketball player in the world. However, as he continues to age, even though there hasn't been a ton of drop-off in his overall game, LeBron continues to become little more of an afterthought.
That's not all that surprising, especially considering Father Time is undefeated. However, the more that LeBron is not discussed with the best players in the league, the more I feel that he's quickly becoming one of the most underrated players in the NBA. At 40 years old, with the level of production that he continues to churn out consistently, I do believe that LeBron is quickly becoming one of the most underappreciated players in the league.
But because he's LeBron, it's probably easy - and somewhat natural - to do that. LeBron has been so great for so long that it's quite understandable to get put to sleep with his excellence. That's what may be happening to LeBron over the last few years.
Why it's easy to overlook the greatness of LeBron James
Even in what could be labeled as one of LeBron's "least productive" years over the course of his career, he's still averaging 25 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds per game on 52 percent shooting from the field. For many players, that's a career highlight season. For LeBron, many will consider it to be good but not great for his standards. And that's kind of what has become the problem for LeBron.
Because he's LeBron, he doesn't just have to be great, he has to be generational. That's perfectly fine, as the only other player in NBA history who has managed to rival the talent and success of Michael Jordan. But then I'd argue that, at 40 years old, what LeBron is doing is generational.
No other player in NBA history is doing what LeBron has been able to do at 40 years old. In fact, I'd argue that there isn't another player in any other sport performing at the level of greatness that LeBron has been operating at right now. What LeBron is doing at 40 years old is unheard of and, to be perfectly honest, quite unbelievable. However, because it's LeBron, it's almost being overlooked and "sighed" at.
Even for his Los Angeles Lakers, they're largely being overlooked as a potential contender in the Western Conference. Why? I'm not exactly sure. When healthy, this team has proven they can compete with any team in the league, and with LeBron and Luka Doncic leading the way, they have as good of a 1-2 punch as any other team in the West.
The constant underappreciation of LeBron is quite unfortunate. There's going to come a time when LeBron does hang it up and call it a career. I'm afraid that when the time comes, many will regret not appreciating just how great a player LeBron was - even into his 40s.