ANGELES, CA: According to NBA Hall of Famer Joe Dumars, on Tuesday, opposing teams have searched in vain for flaws in LeBron James' game for two decades. Their inability to contain him is reminiscent of generational talents from across the sports spectrum.
James' complete game evokes 20-time major tennis champion Roger Federer, and he is 36 points away from breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's career record of 38,387.
Dumars told Reuters hours before the Lakers' game against the Thunder in Los Angeles, "I'm a huge tennis guy, and what I've said to people about Federer is that he had no holes in his game that you could attack."
"Everything, big serve, big return, forehand, backhand, volley. LeBron James in basketball.
"I've seen people try to get him to shoot his outside jump shot, but he has done it." He has earned sufficient money to be the all-time leading scorer.
Dumars, who played for the Detroit Pistons and won two championships before becoming the team's president of basketball operations from 2000 to 2014, claimed that he has firsthand knowledge of how challenging it is to slow James down.
"Can you even imagine how much stuff people have thrown at him in an effort to protect him? "Everything was tried on him by my teams," he stated.
"He's seen that for twenty years and he's been beating it for twenty years,"
James's greatness is also similar to that of the mysterious American heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali.
Dumars stated, "I was a kid when Muhammad Ali was fighting, but I remember."
"Because when you see these things, you think, "I'm really lucky to see a guy like this in his prime.""
NBA defenses might not be as fortunate, and James, who is 38 years old, does not appear to be slowing down.
He has been selected for his record-breaking 19th All-Star game and is scoring 30 points per game.
He will not only surpass the all-time scoring record in the years to come if he continues to play at this level, but he may also permanently surpass it.
"Coaches and former players alike have been discussing that. "Can someone break this, but here's the thing: we don't know where the number will end up," he stated.
"You'll need to play at a very high level for maybe 22, 23, or 24 years.
"I am aware that the NBA has never seen anything like that."