LeBron James’ impact has been legendary ever since he played his debut game in 2003. Ever since then, he has been a part of the never-ending GOAT debate in the NBA. Notably, with each game he played, his status as GOAT only strengthened. However, even before he made his debut in the league, Jonathan Clay “JJ” Redick’s teammate Sean Dockery accurately predicted James’ legendary status.
During ESPN’s “First Take“, JJ Redick recollected his first time playing against James in 2001 at Team USA youth development basketball camp. He said, “We were going around, what are we going to take back from this camp? What are we going to tell our friends?”. Redick continued, “And my homie Sean Dockery, who went to Duke with me, said, ‘I’m gonna go to Chicago, and I’m gonna tell everyone I just saw the best basketball player ever’”.
Furthermore, he noted how they were 16-year-olds back then when Dockery predicted this. “And he wasn’t wrong”, the former NBA player emphasized. It is amusing to think that they could figure that he is the best basketball player by just playing one game against James. That to even when he was a basketball player at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
LeBron James is the all-time greatest scorer according to JJ Redick
In the “The Old Man and the Three” podcast, Redick somewhat had a rant session about how people are out there doubting James’ skills. He was talking about King James’ passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s staggering scoring marks and yet critics arguing about it. Notably, James is placed at the first number in the NBA’s All-Time scoring list.
“LeBron James has the most clutch time points ever”
– @jj_redick ending the LeBron propaganda one day at a time
— ⁶ (@SpeakContext) April 10, 2023
Furthermore, Redick spoke about how LeBron James has the most clutch time points ever followed by Kobe Bryant who has over 2000 clutch points. Additionally, he said, “He has five buzzer-beating winners in the playoffs, the most in NBA history. I don’t know where people are coming up with these. ‘Is LeBron James an all-time great scorer?’ No, he is the all-time greatest scorer”. Redick was noticeably confident in his declaration about this.
JJ Redick claims that LeBron James’ teammates hated him during his rookie year
In the same podcast, Redick made yet another claim about LeBron James‘ rookie year. He quoted the late Paul Silas who stated that James’ teammates hated him. Silas revealed that their ego did not allow it despite him mentioning that they have the chance to help the games’ future stars.
Furthermore, Silas as quoted by Redick said that they won 35 games that year solely because of James. Even though James has had some of the most impressive seasons throughout his career, as per, Silas, the first season remains at the top. Notably, James proved himself by taking the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title home. Since then, the Lakers star has not looked back.