Suns’ Bradley Beal On Lakers’ LeBron James: ‘His Success And His Story’s Unlike Anybody Else’s Ever To Play The Game’

Phoenix Suns shooting guard Bradley Beal is a huge fan of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. In Beal’s fifth diary installment, as told to Andscape senior NBA writer Marc J. Spears, the Suns star talked about his admiration for the Lakers forward. 

“LeBron is obviously one of the best to ever do it,” Beal wrote. “It’s always surreal to play against him and see somebody you also admired and looked up to growing up. But it is cool, it’s uplifting, it’s encouraging. It’s motivating to just see what he’s doing in here in Year [21]. Still doing it at a high level … But it just speaks to his dedication to the game. His wanting to be the best. It’s always fun to play against him because he’s a true competitor, because he knows everybody that he’s playing against whether you’re a rookie or a 15-year player.”

LeBron is the oldest player in the NBA this season. He’s 39 and has been in the league since 2003. The King has a lot of miles on his body. 

However, LeBron is still playing at an elite level. He’s averaging 24.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 7.8 assists this season. 

“That part of playing against him makes young guys really gravitate toward him and really understand how cool he is, how cool of a teammate he is and how he’s at the level he’s at because of his competitive spirit,” Beal wrote. “For him to know [players] one through 15, know your plays, know your system, it’s not easy to do. On top of going out and dominating the game — physicality wise, IQwise — he’s very untouchable in a lot of ways.”

LeBron is arguably the greatest player in NBA history. He’s a four-time regular-season MVP, four-time champion and four-time Finals MVP.

The Chosen One is first in NBA history in points, second in field goals, fourth in assists, ninth in steals, fifth in triple-doubles, seventh in points per game, third in player efficiency rating and eighth in 3-point field goals. 

“It’s always an honor for me. I always take pride in that competition because he goes hard, he competes at a high level and it makes the game fun,” Beal wrote. “It makes the game that much better. But I’m a fan, and his success and his story’s unlike anybody else’s ever to play the game.”