Mike Breen on LeBron James’s Greatness: ‘He Takes a Backseat to No One’

LeBron James averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists in the regular season. 

Thus far in the postseason, the Lakers star is averaging 22.8  points, 10. 1 rebounds and 5.0 assists. 

LeBron James is 38 years old.

On the latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina, ESPN’s Mike Breen, who is set to call his 18th straight NBA Finals this year, noted that James has never missed a playoff game in his career. James has played in a remarkable 277 postseason games.

That led to Breen, who has been behind the mic for James’s entire career, taking about how The King still dominates at his age.

“All the great players, whether you’re talking about Kobe, LeBron, Steph Curry, Tim Duncan, they’re always taken for granted because you just expect them to play at this level of greatness night in and night out, and they basically do,” said Breen.

“What he’s doing, though, at this age, he’s putting up numbers that even All-Star players would give anything to put up when they’re 24,” said Breen. “The numbers he put up this season, in his 20th year at age 38, there are many players in the Hall of Fame, if you take their best season, it doesn’t equal to what he did. He has the longest prime in the history of the NBA and he could be the most remarkable. I don’t get into the GOAT debates. That stuff drives me crazy. But I’ve always said with him, he takes a backseat to no one who has ever played the game."

Breen also weighed in on LeBron’s amazing durability.

“Fans know, but you really have to understand it’s all sacrifice, the reason he’s been able to play like this,” said Breen. “He spends so much time getting his body ready, letting his body recover, knowing everything that needs to go in for him to be able to do a coast-to-coast play, so he sacrifices his time, his personal time, his time with his family. All the great ones do that. Kobe Bryant did it. Steph Curry does it. But for LeBron James, at this level, so much goes into getting his body ready and getting his body the ability to do that, that’s the whole key do that and how many players are willing to do that. Now in the end run, the sacrifice of course, it’s worth it for him. But he sacrifices a lot to get to play at this level, year after year, night after night.”

Other topics Breen discussed during his appearance on SI Media With Jimmy Traina:

• How wide open this year’s playoffs have been

• His longtime partnership with Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson

• The impressive depth of NBA broadcasters across the networks

• Whether he ever thinks about giving up calling Knicks games

• His signature “BANG!” and “WAY OFF” calls, 

• How he used to hook up Knicks fans at Madison Square Garden

• Whether NBA coaches should wear suits or casual outfits

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.