However, having just led the Lakers to a 10th finals series there are now only three other men who stand in the way of being of him being declared the undoubted greatest of all time.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
By making it to 10 NBA finals Lebron moves level with another Lakers legend in the form of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who like James managed to transcend the sport to fight for causes he believed in.
One thing that Abdul-Jabbar does hold over James is that he has a better conversion rate, having won 6 of the 10 finals series he appeared in, whereas to date James has only won 3, although many will be placing their NBA picks this week with a view to James claiming number 4 by the time October is done and dusted.
Sam Jones
Lebron’s feat of reaching 10 NBA finals has only ever been surpassed by two men and they are Sam Jones and Bill Russell, who both plied their trade for the great Boston Celtics team of the 50s and 60s, with Jones converting 10 of his 11 finals appearances into championship title wins.
Jones was always known as a player who could be counted on in clutch moments, consistently swishing buzzer beating three pointers.
His number 24 jersey was retired by Boston, whose fans still remember the Celtics’ golden years.
Bill Russell
While Sam Jones was a consistent performer who never let anyone down, it was Bill Russell who was without doubt Boston’s star player throughout the franchise’s best historical period, in many ways making him the Lebron James of yesteryear.
Russell is the undoubted king of the all-time league, boasting a whopping 12 finals appearances as well as 11 championship titles. At the age of 35, going on 36, it is unlikely that Lebron will be able to overturn those championship title numbers, but the appearances number is very much in his crosshairs.
No doubt his former team, the Miami Heat, will be out to put another blotch on Lebron’s less-than-perfect finals record.
