LeBron James is widely considered by many modern-day NBA fans to be the GOAT of basketball. He has been in the NBA for more than two decades now and continues to play at a high level. This is quite impressive given his advanced age.
One could argue that King James is one of the few hyped-up athletes coming into the league who exceeded the expectations that were placed on him. After all, not many fans could have guessed that he would make it to 10 NBA Finals, win 4 championships, and become the NBA’s All-Time leading scorer.
There is no doubt that it took a lot of time and effort for LeBron to carry his team to multiple championships. However, questions still remain on people’s minds regarding how good James was during his rookie year.
Now that Victor Wembanyama has entered the league and has completed his rookie season, fans should certainly want to recall what kind of numbers LeBron averaged during his first year. That will also help us scale and compare the talent between the two of them.
LeBron James averaged 21 points per game in his rookie year
It looks like Wembanyama has his work cut out for him if he wishes for the comparisons to LeBron James and other NBA legends to continue. King James entered the league straight out of high school. Due to his incredible talent at a young age, he was heralded as the Chosen One and considered to be the next face of the league.
After being drafted by his hometown team with the first pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, LeBron’s impact and playstyle instantly became clear during his first year with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Fans might be impressed to hear that 19-year-old LeBron James averaged 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists during his rookie year. Moreover, he also averaged 1.6 steals per game.
There might be a handful of players across the league capable of averaging more than 20 points during their first few years in the league. LeBron was also quite well-balanced and could also facilitate and rebound the ball for his team.As the years went on, these numbers improved drastically. When he was 21 years old, King James averaged an impressive 31.4 points and was already considered to be one of the best players in the league. It would certainly impress fans to hear that LeBron was one of the best during his first few years in the NBA and is still a top 20 player at this advanced stage in his career.
Although it would be unfair to hold Wembanyama to the same standards, fans are intrigued by the possibilities regarding whether he can be even better than LeBron James was as a rookie.