LeBron James has now added "three-time Olympic gold medalist" to his long list of accomplishments. The 39-year-old Akron native was named the tournament MVP in Paris. He's heading into his 22nd NBA season.
Ideastream Public Media's sports commentator Terry Pluto reflected on James' ever-evolving legacy.
"This is going to sound strange, but I really believe, especially since LeBron left and (he's) kind of off of our immediate radar screen, he is underrated by a lot of people around here," Pluto said.
Pluto listed off some of James' stats:
"Nobody's played more minutes, nobody's scored more points," Pluto said. "Nobody has more assists. The list goes on. Four titles in the NBA with three different teams, and of course, the Cleveland one is the signature one."
Pluto reflected back to when he first had the chance to interview James when he was 14 and playing for then-coach Keith Dambrot at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
"(James) had just gone to this thing called the Five-Star summer camp and drew all these raves," Pluto said. "He comes over, he's eating Skittles, and, 'Oh, yeah, it was fun to go to the camp and I think I'm going to play in this other All-Star game and coach was nice to me.' It was not, you know, it was just a kid! The totality of his accomplishments, to me, is, I'm kind of awestruck by it."
James had already won two gold medals and a bronze at the Olympics. At 39, it was unclear heading into Paris what his role would be. Pluto explained why he believes James wanted to go for this third gold.
"One of his lines is, you know, 'Father Time is undefeated,'" Pluto said. "He's been saying that even when he came to Cleveland, I remember he was like 30, but I think he's really feeling it now. He started to have injuries the last few years. He wanted to win it and he wanted to do it where he's leading the team and every year national basketball gets better. It's harder for the US to win these gold medals."
James ended up averaging 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 1.3 steals throughout the tournament.
"I'm watching the game, he's guarding a point guard," Pluto said. "He's guarding a center. He's making sure that his teammates, you know, get the ball. He's out there with three other guys that have won MVP awards in the NBA seasons, and who ends up being the MVP of the Olympics? The old guy and I think he's going to get a kick out of that."
James has now represented USA basketball at four Olympic Games spanning three decades. But he said this one was the most special.
"I think it was a challenge for himself," Pluto said. 'Can I do it one more time ?'"
Pluto believes the attention now will shift to whether James will be able to take his L.A. Lakers to another NBA Finals.
This is all but certain to be James' last Olympics. He'll be 43 when the 2028 games come to Los Angeles.
"I know that probably even at 43, he could take some of those guys out and give them a game," Pluto said.
Pluto said what James has accomplished at 39 is unprecedented.
"What happens to many athletes as they begin to get (in their) middle 30s or whatever, and the aches and the pains and how hard it is to condition yourself to play at a high level and they've made all their money millions of times over," Pluto said. "They may keep playing, but they're just not the same. What LeBron has to put himself through to not just be good, but to star among the all stars as he did in the Olympics, is a remarkable feat."
