On August 21, former NBA player Rashad McCants revealed that James seemed to hint early in his career that he wanted to surpass Michael Jordan in the NBA.
McCants said on a show, “Someone told me that after the 2005 season, there was a conversation where everyone was playing poker with LeBron—there were a bunch of people at the table—and LeBron casually said something, including this sentence, ‘Man, I want that No. 23 to disappear.’ The person who told me this looked up, glanced around the table, and then said, ‘Good luck, kid.’”
The 2004-05 season was James’ second season in the NBA, during which he averaged 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game. Following that, in his third year, he averaged 31.4 points and finished second in the MVP voting, behind Steve Nash.
So, if the above statement was made after the 2004-05 season, he had already begun to become a generational player by then.
Currently, James has been selected for the All-Star team 20 times in his career, won the regular season MVP 4 times, won 4 NBA championships, and won the NBA Finals MVP 4 times, and his career is still ongoing.
Jordan won 6 championships with the Bulls during his time in the NBA, while James is still chasing his fifth title. Since LeBron and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals in 2020, he has not won another championship.
James will strive to lead the Lakers deeper into the playoffs in the upcoming season; they lost in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs to the Denver Nuggets.