Leading up to the NBA season kickoff, Lil Wayne talks about his inaugural encounter with LeBron. “I had a show in Ohio. Slim, Birdman’s older brother, called me he was like, ‘I got a player out there in Ohio. He want to come to your show. He gon’ be the one. I’m telling you Wayne, he’s a young Michael Jordan. When I got downstairs, that man was still downstairs in a suburban. He had like three or four homies with him. What I remember was his arm was in a cast and they was protecting that and protecting that as in being seen. That’s what told me oh he must be somebody. I’ll never forget he had the time of his life. He remember that night, I remember that night. It was an unforgettable time.”
Adding to his sentiments earlier this year, Wayne openly declared LeBron as his choice for the greatest of all time, surpassing even Michael Jordan in his eyes. “I don’t know Bron personally. My answer for Bron is on the court. I know for a fact I loved Jordan for the way he always won. I got old enough to know how hard it is to fucking do it back-to-back-to-back. So that’s where he got his respect with me to and started getting his respect with me to where he’s the greatest. It’s very hard to do, and that n-gga Bron did that shit with three different teams. That’s right there, that’s when regardless he ain’t got six, but he done it with three different teams. And not on one of those muthafuckin’ teams did he play role two. That right there is what tipped him over the Jordan scale for me.”
Fast forward over two decades, and LeBron’s intensity on the court hasn’t waned a bit. LeBron James defied his 30-minute playing time cap, delivering a virtuoso performance to rescue the Lakers from a potential 0-2 season start. Against the Suns, LeBron dominated the entire fourth quarter, a stretch where conventional wisdom suggested he should have played only half. During that time, LeBron notched 10 crucial points, helping erase a 12-point Suns lead and propelling the Lakers to a 100-95 victory.
Reflecting on the decision, LeBron shared, “He [head coach Darvin Ham] asked me if I could go the quarter, and I looked at the time and the score and what was going on in the game, and it was an easy answer for myself. I know how much work I’ve put in to be able to play quarters or whatever the case may be. And I understand that we definitely have a system put in place, but tonight called for me to go outside the box.” LeBron, now embarking on his 21st season, concluded the game with a formidable stat line of 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists. Meanwhile, Anthony Davis, who faced criticism for his performance in the season opener against Denver, delivered a 30-point double-double against Phoenix.