Is LeBron James Already One of the 25 Greatest Players Ever?

We are witnessing greatness right now, we are witnessing a legend in the making We are witnessing the phenomenon LeBron James and we need to appreciate it. He is the best player in the league today and is a freak of nature that can't be stopped. He is a triple double machine and can do whatever he wants in his sleep. He is strong, fast, quick, he can jump high, he can shoot, he can drive, he can rebound, he can block shots, he is clutch and he has the swagger. LeBron has it all and the league is his and will be for the next 12 years. He may go down as the greatest player in NBA history but where does he rank today? If LeBron James career were to end today would he be a top 25 all-time player? 

Now that he has won his second MVP at the age of just 25 I think it is safe to say LeBron James is one of the 25 greatest players to ever play the game. His resume speaks for itself and it is hard to argue why isn't top 25 all-time. In 548 career games LeBron James has 15,251, 3810 assists, 3861 rebounds and has amazing career averages of 27.8 ppg(3rd all-time), 7.0 apg and 7.0 rpg. His playoff career average is an amazing 29.5 ppg and he trails only Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson in that category, pretty good company if you ask me. He was the 2003-04 Rookie of the year, is a 6 time All-Star, 2 time All-Star game MVP, 1 time scoring champion, six-time All-NBA selection, 2009 NBA MVP, 2010 NBA MVP.

He has accomplished all this in just 7 years and still has the playoffs left to accomplish even more. LeBron James has the chance to win a NBA championship and win a Finals MVP award. LeBron is the face of the league and will be for a long long time and now it is safe to say that he is the most popular athlete in the world. With his accomplishments and statistics he should be considered one of the 25 greatest basketball players ever. Based on career accomplishments and success here is a list of the top 25 NBA players of All-Time:  

1. Michael Jordan

2. Wilt Chamberlain

3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

4. Bill Russell

5. Shaquille O'Neal

6. Magic Johnson

7. Bob Cousy

8. Tim Duncan

9. Larry Bird

10. Jerry West

11. Kobe Bryant

12. Oscar Robertson

13. George Mikan

14. Elgin Baylor

15. Bob Pettit

16. Karl Malone 

17. Hakeem Olajuwan 

18. Allen Iverson

19. Kevin Garnett

20. Isiah Thomas 

21. Charles Barkley

22. LeBron James

23. Elvin Hayes

24. Moses Malone

25. David Robinson

Is LeBron a better player then a lot of guys on this list ever were? Yes you can argue that LeBron James is a better player than all the guys from 20-25 on the list but you can't rank him higher for just being LeBron James because all of the players ahead of him have more points, more rebounds and more honors and selections so it would be unfair to them. It is amazing that he is in the top 25 all-time at just the age of 25 and the scary thing is he hasn't even entered his prime and he hasn't even won a championship yet. A championship would get LeBron into the top 20 range easily and even if he doesn't win a ring in the next 3 years he probably will be considered one of the 20 greatest players ever because by then he will probably be averaging a triple double every season. 

We are witnessing greatness right now and we should appreciate it. LeBron in just his 7th season at the age of 25 is easily a top 25 all-time player but when you're games are on ESPN at the age of 17 and you are on Sports Illustrated at the age of 16 and you are the most hyped up athlete maybe ever than top 25 isn't enough. Top 20 isn't enough. Top 15 isn't enough. LeBron Jame's destiny is single-digit, and we are all witnesses .