Final game: 22-7-6. A solid night by any other player’s standards, but a few very much-needed threes away from what he and the Lakers needed to avoid the closeout loss they suffered at the hands of one of the NBA’s top rising superstars in Anthony Edwards and a very solid Minnesota Timberwolves team. They exposed the Lakers with their depth and versatility of lineups and routinely out-coached first-year coach JJ Redick, whose substitutions and lack of faith in his bench will forever remain highly questionable hopefully a lesson that he can learn and grow from.

LeBron James, as he has done almost night in and night out his whole career, delivered. His previous 38 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists game may go down as the all-time greatest game for a 40-year-old NBA player in the playoffs and indefinitely will remain a higher achievement than 90% of players ever accomplish in the NBA playoffs, even just once. Statistically speaking, LeBron James is the undisputed king of the NBA. His achievements, awards, and accolades are second to none. He came into the league with unreal expectations and managed to exceed them not only professionally but personally. As the face of the league for 20-plus years, he has become the gold standard of what any league should want for their premier player. He has consistently shown over his career both durability and amazing resilience to a degree we may never see again.

Let’s start with what could be our final impression of King James. His series against the Timberwolves was great, but not amazing and coming from a 40-year-old player, it was unreal. The King showed signs of age while simultaneously outplaying and out hustling players 20 years his junior. Simply an amazing feat of athleticism. The final stat line of 40 minutes played per game at age 40 in the NBA playoffs, shooting 48% field goal percentage, putting up 25 points, shooting 35% from three, 9 rebounds, almost 6 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals per game again, at age 40 is amazing. It’s a great stat line for any player at any age to ever achieve in a single playoff series, win or lose. But for LeBron James, it was not enough. It was not amazing and that’s what we’ve come to expect over his 22 years of excellence. A lot of his all-time records will never be broken, and don’t let anyone tell you that being the all-time scorer is not a major accomplishment. No kid ever says, “I want to be the second greatest scorer in the history of the NBA.” Greatness is achieved when you strive to be the best and LeBron James has done that. A lot of his records may never be broken, and that is a testament to both longevity, consistency, and pure talent. His amazing work ethic is legendary. He truly is what happens when somebody is gifted physically yet still outworks everybody else in pursuit of his greatness, never resting on his laurels or God-given abilities. This is the true greatness of LeBron James.

No one before, and maybe no one ever again, has garnered the hype and marketing force of a young 18-year-old LeBron James, whose high school games ESPN was broadcasting something that was unheard of at the time. His marketing slogan “We Are Witnesses” was enormous hype and pressure put onto an 18-year-old child and LeBron James delivered without fault, going on to exceed any expectations that could ever be placed onto a player entering into a league; 4X Champion, 4X FMVP, 4X MVP is a achievements only one player best’s, so if that is not exceeding expectations, all players fail. He went on to advance the league in ways that his predecessors had laid down the groundwork for him to do. You have the lineage of the NBA going back to the NBA-ABA merger, where the Boston Celtics, the NBA’s first and most powerful dynasty, laid down the groundwork for the full integration of the NBA ushering in an era of great new players who pushed the limits of what the NBA could be. Greats such as Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a single game, averaging 50 points for a full season absolutely amazing. The Big O, Oscar Robertson, averaging a triple-double, pushing the limits of what could be achieved. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, his generation’s LeBron James, racked up accolades and stats like we had never seen before and will forever stand the test of time as a level of absolute greatness. Then the ’80s came along and gave us the NBA’s most storied rivalry: the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers with a new era of superstars in Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. They brought the NBA Finals into a live broadcasting era, as previous generations had their NBA Finals aired on tape delay. This surge of popularity brought a level of excitement and excellence the game had never seen. The ’80s also saw the birth of this guy you may have heard of a “God in basketball shorts”—Michael Jordan. Though the Pistons, Lakers, and Celtics dominated the 1980s, the ’90s belonged solely to His “Airness”, MJ. Michael Jordan’s shoe deal with Nike evolved the player’s relationship with endorsements. The NBA’s marketability was pushed with precision by David Stern and propelled by Michael Jordan’s greatness into a global market amplified by the 92’ Dream Team. Where the ’80s saw the first million-dollar contracts in the NBA for players, Michael Jordan’s shoe deal started bringing players the ability to make tens of millions of dollars from their stardom. Then, almost symbolically, in 2003 Jordan retired as the King took the reins. Where the ’80s showed us that players could make millions of dollars, Jordan pushed it to hundreds of millions. LeBron elevated it to become a billionaire during his career, paving the way for a whole new generation of players that are now making a quarter of a billion to half a billion per contract so others will be billionaires by the end of their playing careers. Like Magic had Bird, LeBron James had Steph Curry, whose intense rivalry pushed the limits of expectations so high that people thought it was normal for two teams to meet every year in the Finals for nearly half a decade, as another player made it seem simple to make it to eight straight Finals.

LeBron James has achieved every single accolade, award, or stat that any player could ever dream to achieve. In fact, all future generations of players that enter the league will forever be looking up at LeBron James in the record books. He came into the league with unreal expectations and delivered four championships, three separate franchises, all-time leader in so many individual categories, more Finals appearances than 27 of the 30 NBA franchises. One single player has been to the Finals more than NBA franchises have in 50 years or longer. That’s insane. But more importantly than any of the individual stats, accolades, or awards LeBron James has been an impressive person and just a good human being. No player in any sport at any time has ever received as much negative, hateful, and spiteful commentary as LeBron James has during his career. And for what? Because he’s lost a few Finals? Because he joined a few different teams? It’s his career. It’s his choice. People have created whole industries off hating one individual LeBron James. Instead of celebrating one of sports’ greatest icons, they wake up every day finding a new way to hate on greatness.

The haters gleam and salivate at LeBron James’s failures. There’s a myriad of reasons why they do this mainly to drive ratings and social media traffic, because hate and anger drive more clicks, which drives more revenue. So we have a whole generation of wannabe commentators simply speaking into people’s primordial instincts, and LeBron James has been a springboard for these types of people who dominate the internet and talk shows with this negativity. This is a bigger problem that’s mirrored in all forms of media in the 21st century but with LeBron James, it’s amplified like we’ve never seen before. We have teenagers in this country committing suicide because of the pressures social media and its negativity bring to them whether it’s body shaming or other forms of online bullying. Yet somehow, LeBron James manages to receive more of this online hate than any other person on the planet, and still continues to be a model citizen and rise above the negativity that dominates the internet, social media, and most sports talk shows. What the haters see are LeBron James’s failures. What I choose to see is LeBron James overcoming defeat. Most of the sports pundits and internet hosts have never overcome half the difficulties and defeats LeBron James has. Most former players have fewer accolades, half the stats, and have bounced back from half the adversity. Very few players in sports history bounce back from a Finals loss. It has to crush your soul to be so close to a lifelong dream and watch another player walk away with your glory it’s tough. After every Finals defeat, LeBron James came back the next year like it never happened. He worked harder. He got better. He ignored the waves of hate that would bury most men. He continued to be a pillar of his community, an inspiration to millions, and a worthy face of the NBA something he’s lived up to every single day for the past 22 years. If you run a purity test on all the greatest superstars in sports over the past 40 years, none have been as flawless and achieved the greatness of LeBron James. The marriage. The family. The businesses. No controversies. And again, this is the true greatness of LeBron James. Mount Rushmore of a player and an even better human being.

These are the reasons I want to see LeBron James come back for another season. Not because he has anything to prove he’s already proven everything. As a fan, being able to watch one of the greatest basketball players and human beings at the same time has been a joy and a privilege. I appreciate all the hard work and sacrifices LeBron James has made in his career the early morning workouts, showing up to the arena hours before the game, before any other player, continuing to practice his craft. Ignoring all the hate and giving the true fans something inspiring for 22 years. Showing us, time after time, that even the greatest players fail and have to pick themselves up. Nobody has done that with more class and dignity than LeBron James. His durability to be able to play for 22 seasons and counting, hopefully, is absolutely insane. He has laid down the groundwork for what future generations of athletes in all sports should strive for. Break away from the hate of “load management” as a bad thing and see it for the great gift it is for future generations of athletes. This is not just for basketball this is for all sports. Look at the past generations of superstars: they gave everything, never took a day off, played through injuries. Now, in their retired years, where there are no fans and no cheering, they struggle to walk up and down stairs or to and from their cars. They’ve lived through the pain of multiple surgeries to correct the injuries, and LeBron James along with this new generation of athletes has shown us that if you sit out for several games after you receive a sprained ankle, the ankle recovers better. It allows you to play later into your career, as your body does not give out, providing the player the ability to perform longer and giving fans more opportunities to see that player. This weak argument that players who sit out for load management rob the fans because there could be a fan that day who never goes to another game is purely hypothetical and BS. The same theoretical fan now has multiple seasons to choose to go see that player. But furthermore, it’s about the players. They have a right to be healthy when they’re done working just like every other employed individual in this nation. They are not a product. They are humans, and they deserve the dignity and respect that is given to all other employees in this country. What job in America gives you no sick days? But a pro athlete can’t take a few days off for a sprained ankle? What profession gives you no PTO? Most corporations give their employees multiple weeks off even without injuries, just to reset. But pro athletes, even when injured, are expected to jump right back in knowing it could cut years off their career and cost them generational wealth. Even though LeBron James receives nothing but hate over his load management, he has paved the way for future generations of athletes to remain healthy after they retire and potentially stay in the league years longer.

LeBron James’s playing style has been the most powerful I’ve ever seen. His haters admit this almost by accident. They say he has “no moves” and can only take you to the top of the key and drive to the rim exactly what anyone would do in an open gym if they had his abilities. Why shoot a jumper or fadeaway when you can dunk? That’s the reality. LeBron dunks over people because he can. Every player, ever, on any court, looks to drive and dunk on their opponents. LeBron has simply done it more than anyone else in history. 50K points is the proof, undeniable. His ability to win both a scoring title and assist title is rare air. To be the all-time leading scorer and a top-five assist leader puts LeBron in a class of his own. Then there’s the vaunted “eye test.” If you walk away from a LeBron James highlight reel and say he’s an average player, you’ve just proven you’re unknowledgeable and unable to recognize pure talent. If you think a player with “no skills” can become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, you’re a fool and you’re degrading every other player below him on that list.

America doesn’t need more shouting. It needs more listening.

At New Millennials, we’re building a movement rooted in truth, reason, and respectful dialogue. No more echo chambers. No more gaslighting. Just real talk with solutions.

Your donation to our GoFundMe helps us create spaces (both online and offline) where people can debate without hate, compromise without weakness, and lead without pandering.

Help us foster the conversation this country desperately needs.