How LeBron has changed the league
— -- We usually wait awhile to write our histories until they fully unfold. It's too hard to tell in real time where the chapter breaks are. But sometimes you just know when to dog-ear a page for future reference. The night lives up to the narrative. All the details matter for posterity. The mid-January game when LeBron James and Kobe Bryant went head-to-head as if they were in their own personal All-Star Game was one of those times.
The best player of this era and the best player of the one before it called each other out and went one-on-one as often as they could. James was relentless to the basket and posted a season-high 36 points. Bryant scored 19 and put on a drive-and-dish clinic, handing out a career-high 17 assists.
Both men played like they cherished the chance to go at it one last time, as though each in his own way recognized how brief his reign at the top of the game will be or has been.
When James missed what would have been a monster two-handed dunk a few minutes before halftime, he and Bryant laughed and looked at each other knowingly. "That's what old age will get you," LeBron said later. "You start missing dunks when you thought you was up there."
Kobe is now 36 and once again unable to play due to serious injury. LeBron, at 30, 41,577 minutes (regular season and playoffs) into his career and halfway into this season, has been marvelous only in spurts, succumbing at times to pain in his knee, back and wrist, prompting speculation that his best seasons may already be behind him.
This is indisputably the King James era. But his reign is finite. Like Kobe and Michael and Magic and the others before him, LeBron knows his ability to dominate the game will wane eventually, and there is a sense of urgency that comes in that recognition.
What may set him apart from his predecessors, though, is the extent to which James has anticipated his opportunities to consolidate power and extend his reach, both on and off the floor.
LeBron has invented new ways for players to wield power.
"LeBron and I have probably been talking about what he wanted to do since he was a rookie," says Maverick Carter, his longtime business partner.
In 2010, James changed the way NBA players and owners thought about free agency and franchise value with his move from Cleveland to Miami and the formation of a new Big Three.
In 2014, he drew up a new model with his move back to Cleveland on a short-term contract that gave him unprecedented leverage for a player. He has built his own business empire with a trusted group of friends and advisors, eschewing traditional agents and marketers. He has spoken out on social issues, organizing a symbolic gesture in support of Trayvon Martin and publicly challenging NBA commissioner Adam Silver to expel former Clippers owner Donald Sterling in the wake of Sterling's racist comments. And he has worked to improve conditions for his fellow players, pressing behind closed doors for a weeklong break at the All-Star Game.
"Trails have been blazed by what LeBron is doing," says USA Basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who has coached James to two Olympic gold medals.
Related Stories
ABC News Live