Charles Barkley says LeBron James has greatest story in sports history / News - Basketnews.com

Charles Barkley admires LeBron James' greatness by saying the Lakers star is the greatest story in sports history: "For a guy to be that good from Day One and never screw up is amazing."

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NBA legend Charles Barkley says LeBron James' career is the single greatest story in the history of sports.

LeBron James

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As Barkley notes, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is the only player to come into the league and be good from the beginning while avoiding any real trouble during his 20-year career.

"What I mean by that is, you look at other great players who went directly from high school to the pros. Kobe Bryant struggled, Kevin Garnett struggled, Tracy McGrady struggled, Dwight Howard struggled.

LeBron is the only one who had success from Day One. He was really good on Day One. He's obviously up here now. But the most amazing thing about him, in this 24-hour news cycle, cellphones, internet, he's never gotten in trouble," Barkley told Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated.

"No scandal," the current TNT analyst added about James. "To be, number one, ready at 18, to where he is 20 years later, the greatest scorer in NBA history. I think it's the greatest story in sports history. For a guy to be that good from Day One and never screw up is amazing."

Is LeBron James the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball?

"I don't like that question because I think the best way to answer that question is to say, 'Is he the greatest player of this generation?' Because I don't think it's fair to Michael Jordan.

'Cause he was the greatest player of my generation. Kareem was the greatest player of his generation. I mean, you look at Magic and Bird. So, I don't know; it's all perspective. I will say this about LeBron. I think his story is the greatest story in sports history," Barkley underlined one more time.

The 38-year-old LeBron is in his 20th NBA season and not ready to stop putting in crazy numbers. 'King James' averages 29.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 6.9 assists over 48 games this season.

He became the all-time NBA top scorer by surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

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