Can You Believe That?

Every so often I like to post mind-boggling factoids pertaining to LeBron James that, if nothing else, illustrate his sheer domination and perhaps his candidacy for one day claiming the crown as the Greatest Athlete of All-Time. This morning I stumbled upon a statistic that, to many, will be difficult to comprehend. Here it is: Last season there were 485 players in the NBA at one point or another, and only 155 of them have been a part of a season in which LeBron James did not make the NBA Finals. In other words, for 68% of the league LeBron has been in the Finals every season of their careers. It is not just LeBron’s dominion that is staggering; his longevity and good-health might be even more impressive.

I cannot envision a scenario in which LeBron fails to make the Finals this coming season. Even at age 32, he is still too overpowering and too cerebral to be derailed by Kyrie and the Celtics (sounds weird, right?). After this season though, things will get interesting. Rumors have been swirling for quite some time that LeBron is bound for the Western Conference, with the Lakers floated as a possible landing spot. I am not sure what to make of these rumors, but I do know this: If LeBron decides to re-up with the Cavaliers and stay in the far inferior Eastern Conference, I can foresee him making it to the next handful of Finals unimpeded. If that comes to fruition, perhaps there will be a day, a half-decade from now, when LeBron is still playing far into June year-after-year, and only a handful of players will not be privy to a world in which LeBron is not in the Finals. If that isn’t greatness, I don’t know what is.