LeBron James and the audacity of hope

LeBron achieved what experts thought no one ever would. When he scored 38 points for the LA Lakers, he beat the all-time scoring record in the NBA regular season

There is no athlete in the sporting firmament who has evoked more mixed emotions and more fervent responses than LeBron James. He is revered for his versatility but berated for his apparent lack of killer instinct. He was derided for his selfishness when he left the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010, and celebrated for his grace when he rejoined them in 2014 and won them an unthinkable NBA title. He is sometimes declared as the greatest of all time for what he does on court, but often run down as not quite role model material in the manner that Michael Jordan (MJ) and Magic Johnson were. Through all this, he has remained the most interesting, the most feared, the most grudgingly admired athlete in world sport.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James. (AP)

Though American basketball sport touches India lightly, as compared to say European football, stories about LeBron being the next big thing, the next superstar, and even the next MJ, started emerging when he was in high school. LeBron showed from the start that there was just that little bit extra about him – he could score not just under the rim or with a mid-range jumper but in a strange variety of ways, he could take over game after game in runs that lasted for weeks, and he was a triple-double machine (points, rebounds, assists) whose 360-degree ball awareness extended to the entire stretch of the court. Soon, the all-star picks, the MVP crowns, and the titles started stacking up. This week, LeBron achieved what experts thought no one ever would. When he scored 38 points for the Los Angeles Lakers against Oklahoma City Thunder, he beat the all-time scoring record in the NBA regular season, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who held the record that towered over world basketball for 39 years. Many thought Kareem’s 38,387 was unbreakable, like Bradman’s 99.94 average in cricket or Pele’s 1,200+ goals in football. By doing it, “King James” cemented not just his own legacy but also proved that sport, the most exhilarating personification of human excellence, never ceases to expand the horizon of what is possible.