Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James is still doing some crazy things at the tender age of 38. At this point, it's almost hard to believe that the four-time NBA champ is still dominating the league while pushing 40. The harsh reality, however, is that King James' reign is coming to an end. He still has a few more years to top-tier basketball within him, but there's also no denying that Father Time is now catching up with LeBron.
For his part, Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo is not exactly counting the days. However, he is adamant that there will be a major transition in the league once James finally calls time on his decorated career. Adebayo believes that at that point, the torch will officially be passed to the younger generation in the NBA:
“When LeBron James retires, I feel like that's when the torch is officially passed,” Adebayo said in a recent interview with Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report.
“I mean first of all he just beat Kareem, well he's been in this league 20 years now and counting. If they ever debate the best player in the game until he leaves, people can say like we have this opinion, but somebody's gonna always be like ‘Lebron James.'”
When asked who he feels will be the official torch-bearer of the NBA once LeBron is out of the picture, Adebayo explained why he strongly feels that it's going to be Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo who's going to be taking over the reins:
“I'll say next up I think is Giannis,” Bam said. “He's done so much in his career, I feel like it gives him the say-so to say like he's the best player.
“He's 7 foot, first of all, like 7'1 and I think the thing that really got him on the scene was when he would just take off from like the free throw line, or he'll get down to the court in like three dribbles and dunk it, just very 2K-ish, if that makes sense. It looks very unreal.
“And I feel like that's the thing that put Jordan over the top, you know that's what put Kobe in that, Bron, they had this special gift they only have that just made them different from anybody else. The fact that [Giannis] can two-step through four people and dunk the basketball — people think it's boring now but like that is really different.”
It's hard to argue against Adebayo here, especially considering that he's had more than a few face-to-face encounters with Giannis Antetokounmpo on the basketball court.
For now, though, we can still enjoy the greatness of LeBron James. This man clearly still has a lot of gas left in the tank. However, once he decides that it's finally time to move on, it's going to be Giannis who will be waiting in the wings — at least according to Adebayo.
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