data-mm-id=”_vlacgtw99″>LeBron James has the sports world zeroed in on the Los Angeles Lakers once more after he took over and led them to a 19-point fourth quarter comeback over the Los Angeles Clippers. It was like The King wound back the clock as he scored more points in the final frame (19) than the Clippers did as a team (16). It was an impressive win over a legitimate title contender that has everyone predicting the Lakers will make a run to the Western Conference Finals again, and before you laugh they all predicted the same thing last year and guess what the Lakers did?The big victory has also resulted in a bunch of LeBron-centric programming on the studio shows today and Undisputed was no different. Skip Bayless gave LeBron his flowers and Keyshawn Johnson lauded his greatness. This led to a discussion about whether any current player was capable of eventually eclipsing his all-time scoring record. After passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar last season, LeBron currently sits at 39,960 points and doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon. He'll likely finish his career around the 45,000-point mark and will hit 40,000 by next week. While going down the list of candidates who might be able to end up near there by the time they hang up the sneakers, Luka Doncic's name was brought up. Johnson was not optimistic, saying Doncic will never have a chance because he looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy and LeBron is cut from the same cloth as the Greek gods physically. Keyshawn says Luka won’t catch LeBron’s NBA scoring record looking like the ‘Pillsbury Doughboy’ pic.twitter.com/N5k3RfYJqn— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 29, 2024Weird body-shaming aside you can sort of see his point. LeBron is basically the perfect basketball player physically. Not only could he jump higher and run faster than anybody in the league for most of his career, he played at least 70 games in 13 of his first 15 seasons. Before coming to Los Angeles the most games he missed in any season was 20. The high ankle sprain he suffered in the 2018-2019 season was the first "serious" injury of his career. Perhaps above all else his endurance is the most impressive aspect of his NBA career. Luka does not have that. Very few players do. He's missed at least 10 games in every season of his career and averaged around 65 games played in the first five years of his career. He also has never suffered a serious injury but, like most athletes, the accumulation of bumps and bruises eventually takes its toll. Then you take into account that today's NBA emphasizes rest and load management, a concept that really only became popular in LeBron's final years in his second Cleveland stint, and the biggest obstacle to Luka ever coming close to the all-time scoring record is merely opportunity rather than his output. It is possible to have that conversation without calling Luka the Pillsbury Doughboy, because how he looks is not entirely relevant. John Stockton is one of the league's most famous iron men, playing every single game in 17 of his 18 seasons, and he didn't exactly look like Adonis. The best player in basketball right now, Nikola Jokic, is more physically similar to the guys down at the YMCA than his teammates. Such nuance probably shouldn't be expected out of Undisputed, but nevertheless. Luka's chances at becoming the NBA's longtime scoring leader are slim, but not because he isn't jacked.
Related Posts
Brisbane Roar star Thomas Broich has had his red card rescinded by the A-League s independent Match Review Panel.
The German midfielder received a red card for violent conduct in the 44th minute of Saturday s 1-0 win over Newcastle Jets at Suncorp Stadium.
Match referee Brenton Hayward, officiating his third A-League game, showed the red card following an altercation between Broich and Jets defender Josh Mitchell.
Broich was bundled over before Mitchell ended up on the floor after Roar midfielder Eric Paartalu got involved in the melee.
The 2011/12 Johnny Warren medallist was handed a straight red, while Mitchell was dismissed for two bookable offences.
But, as expected, the Match Review Panel cited Broich s red card as an obvious error , freeing…
Oliver Kahn is unsure as to whether Pep Guardiola would be suited for the job as Bayern Munich coach due to his past at Barcelona.
Guardiola is reportedly one of the candidates to replace Jupp Heynckes at the end of the 2012/13 campaign, but Kahn believes the 41-year-old could struggle if he were to join Bayern.
Pep Guardiola is heavily influenced by Barcelona s footballing culture. He didn t just coach their first team and reserves, but also played there for 11 years during his active career. Not many clubs have such a strong own identity as Barcelona, Kahn wrote in his column for Bild.
It could be difficult for him to adapt to life at another club such as Bayern with his strong ties to Barcelona s philosophy. I m not only talking about the language barrier. …
Liga de Quito have won the 2008 Copa Libertadores, beating Fluminense on penalties at Rio de Janeiro s Maracana stadium.
Quito had the better chances after their 4-2 win in Ecuador last week, and went on to take a quick lead through Bolaños in the sixth minute of the return leg.
But Flu turned out to be the better side at home and Thiago Neves scored three goals (in the 12th, 28th and 57th minutes) to level the aggregate score.
The Brazilians created more chances to win the game, even in extra time, but no more goals were scored.
In the following penalty shoot-out, it was Liga de Quito to convert three spot kicks whereas Fluminense only got one past the opposing goalkeeper.
It is the first time ever that a team from Ecuador wins South Amer…
England international midfielder James Milner is one of the players being linked with a summer move
According to , Premier League champions Manchester City are set to allow five English players to leave the club this summer, despite the fact that the Citizens will need eight home-grown players in their squad for next season’s Champions League squad.
City have already been punished for breaking Financial Fair Play rules by being fined and being told they can name just 21 players in their Champions League squad for the new season.
However, the likes of Gareth Barry, Joleon Lescott, James Milner, Scott Sinclair and Micah Richards are all set to leave City this summer.
Out-of-contract
It is no surprise that England internationals Gareth Barry and J…
Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone insists his focus is on beating Real Valladolid this weekend and not on the prospect of overtaking Real Sociedad at the summit of LaLiga.
Atleti are the only side in the Spanish top flight to have not suffered defeat yet this season, a start which has them one place and a point behind leaders Real Sociedad, who have played two games more.
Atleti have also conceded just two goals in their nine league games, the joint-lowest total at this stage of the season in LaLiga s history.
Given Atleti s superb recent record over Saturday s visitors to the Wanda Metropolitano – they have won nine of their last 10 games against Pucela – many expect Los Colchoneros to leapfrog La Real into top spot before Imanol Alguacil s me…
Barcelona signed Emerson from Atletico Mineiro early this year and sold a half of the rights embedded therein to Real Betis. It has been agreed between the two La Liga clubs that the fullback would remain with the Seville club until the summer of 2021, at the end of which time Barcelona would have the right of bringing him back to Camp Nou if they wished for a fee.
A few months ago, Betis managing director Jose Miguel Lopez Catalan the situation, and denied the reports that had appeared at the time suggesting Barcelona had the right to take the player back before 2021 even without the consent of Betis.
But Emerson believes he will be a Barcelona player eventually, and he will play to win the Champions League with them. As relayed by , the Brazilian fullback revealed it…
Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi praised his side of winners as the defending Copa America champions booked their spot in back-to-back finals.
First-half goals from Charles Aranguiz and Jose Fuenzalida helped Chile to a 2-0 win over Colombia in the semi-finals of the Centenario tournament on Wednesday.
The victory means Chile will meet Argentina in a repeat of the 2015 final, in which the former claimed their first Copa title in a penalty shoot-out win.
Pizzi was full of praise for his players after seeing off Colombia, especially with their total concentration after a two-hour delay to the second half due to extreme weather conditions in Chicago.
This is a group of winners. The main virtue for these players is they are winners, former Spain internat…
Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has revealed Manchester United have made an improved offer for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Armenian netted 23 goals for Dortmund in 2015-16 and was voted the Bundesliga Players Player of the Season.
Watzke told Kicker on Monday that he wanted the situation to be clarified by the time pre-season training began on Monday, a point he has reiterated.
An agreement over a £26.3million fee to take Mkhitaryan to Old Trafford was thought to have been agreed.
However, the Dortmund CEO admitted United have raised their bid, with a £33m offer now reportedly on the table.
We have to evaluate this as we start our pre-season training on Monday, and we will do that at the weekend, Watzke told WAZ.
The…
Stephen Kenny has insisted he does not feel under any pressure to select teenage sensation Evan Ferguson for the Republic of Ireland.
The 18-year-old has emerged from the Brighton ranks in thrilling fashion this season and his Premier League form was rewarded with a first senior Ireland cap in November before a goal in his maiden start for his country against Latvia in March.
Ferguson’s blossoming talent has prompted excitement back at home and he will hope for a role in Friday night’s key Euro 2024 qualifier against Greece in Athens.
But asked if the clamour to pick him was a problem, Kenny replied: “No, not at all. At the moment on recent form, he’s in the team on merit. He’s been our best forward, for sure.
“To score a goal in his first gam…
Aaron Hickey welcomed the test that Georgia superstar Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will provide Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday night.
The 22-year-old attacker helped Napoli to their Serie A title win last season, the Italian club’s first in 33 years, and is considered one of the top players in the world at the moment.
Hickey and the Scots are still on a high from Saturday’s stunning 2-1 away win over a Norway side which included Manchester City goal-machine Erling Haaland and Arsenal star midfielder Martin Odegaard.
Haaland netted from the spot but late goals from Lyndon Dykes and Kenny McLean made it three 2024 European Championship qualifying wins out of three for Steve Clarke’s side who top Group A.
The 21-year-old Brentford full-back, who won his …