Has LeBron had the longest (high level) Prime of any Professional Athlete in history?

[mr x]

For an athletically demanding position he has, guys like Buffon and Phil Taylor have had long careers at the very highest level too but that's not uncommon for goalkeepers because they spent most of the game just standing around and darts players just throw shyt at a board.

Phil da gawd

 

[010101]

Btw can someone tell me the name of that Russian Wrestler who they say waa the GOAT wrestler?

karelin*

 

[BlackMajik]

karelin*

Yea him

How long did his reign last?

 

[BlackMajik]

That Karelin mofo looked insane

 

[MJ Truth]

im pretty sure MJ and Kobe put a lot of work and preparation as well but still suffered injuries. I think Bron is just really really physically blessed

That’s part of it. Nobody is putting in as much work on their body from as early of a start as LeBron did though.

Also very hard to compare cigar smoking, out all night gambling Michael Jordan to LeBron.

 

[010101]

Yea him

How long did his reign last?

no clue*

 

[Inertia Creeps]

Yea him

How long did his reign last?

1988 to 2000: 887 wins, 2 losses, 4 Olympic Gold medals.

For wrestling, which is arguably the most grueling and physically demanding sport on earth (brutal training and competition, basically guaranteed major injuries over time) Karelin’s reign was straight up preposterous and unheard of. Wrestling ain’t like basketball or other sports, you don’t just have a 15-20 year career doing it at the highest level, the human body ain’t made to take that kind of punishment. He is absolutely up there with the all-time greats in all of sport, both longevity and just sheer dominance wise.

 

[TaxCollector13459]

Top 5

 

[smitty22]

John Havlicek, this was in his 17th year :DemBuckeyes:

 

[Box Factory]

Gordie Howe had 100 point seasons in the NHL passed the age of 40. He also scored 15 Goals in a comeback season at age 51. Thats insane

 

[Jesus Is Lord]

Bernard Hopkins

 

[BlackMajik]

1988 to 2000: 887 wins, 2 losses, 4 Olympic Gold medals.

For wrestling, which is arguably the most grueling and physically demanding sport on earth (brutal training and competition, basically guaranteed major injuries over time) Karelin’s reign was straight up preposterous and unheard of. Wrestling ain’t like basketball or other sports, you don’t just have a 15-20 year career undoing it at the highest level, the human body ain’t made to take that kind of punishment. He is absolutely up there with the all-time greats in all of sport, both longevity and just sheer dominance wise.

Dayum

More than likely he's the greatest white athlete to walk the earth

 

[Brock Landers]

Maybe.

I wonder how people view Joe Louis being heavyweight champ for 10 years tho.

I'm just gonna pull Rocky Marciano outta my ass real quick

 

[BlackMajik]

Bron past his prime and still plays at a high level

 

[viktordoomsecretwars]

Tom Brady ?

Ronaldo? Messi? Kareem? Malone? Mayweather? Federer?

And all those guys play either (1) a more physically gruelling sport or (2) in the case of Malone and Kareem played in a much more physical and gruelling era.

Kareem won finals MVP at age 38 in the same series as a prime Magic and prime Bird. How many even know that.

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Lebron benefits a lot from this soft and weak era with no absolutely defense and tons of spacing and no big men. He's the biggest player on the flaw in like 80% of games now.

He finds it much easier to score than 10 years ago despite an obvious decline in his abilities.



Also , improvements in sports science = longer sustained primes.

I'm confident Kobe would have averaged 28+ at Lebron's current age if he didn't blow out his achilles and back then was a tougher era.