NBA Pundits Chris Broussard, J.J. Redick Defend LeBron James Against Those Who Say Missing Playoffs Will "Stain" His Legacy

At 38, LeBron James is having one of the best statistical seasons of his career while becoming the NBA's career leading scorer among the way.

Still, there are folks, including ESPN's Stephen A. Smith trying to diminish his success. He said missing the playoffs for a second straight year could "stain" his legacy, one that was strengthened when he won two titles with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013. James and the Los Angeles Lakers are two games out of the final playoff spot.

ESPN's J.J. Redick and Chris Broussard are among those to defend James, even using a Michael Jordan comparison. Jordan, who is often in the greatest player of all-time discussion with James, missed the postseason his last two years with the Washington Wizards.

"Was Michael Jordan going 37-45 two straight seasons with the Wizards, do we look at that as some sort of stain on his career," Redick asked during a segment on ESPN's First Take. "I think we keep moving the goal posts [for James] ... All of a sudden this guy who hasn't taken time off and had 10 [straight] Finals run and played on all the Olympics {teams] and now is in his 20th season and he's 38 and averaging 30 points a game, we're just going to change the standards for him? It's not a stain on his career if they don't make the playoffs."

"Nobody holds it against Jordan that his last 2 yrs in Washington they didn't make the playoffs. Nobody holds it against Kobe that the Lakers won 17 games in his last yr. Why would they hold it against LeBron in his 20th yr if he doesn't make the playoffs?" — @Chris_Broussard pic.twitter.com/K54UDN919f
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) February 22, 2023

Broussard used the same argument on Fox Sports 1's "First Things First." James seems to take more criticism than Jordan despite the similarities.

"Nobody holds it against Jordan that his last two years in Washington, they didn't make the playoffs," Broussard said. "Nobody holds it against Kobe that the Lakers won 17 games in his last year. Why would they hold it against LeBron in his 20th year if he doesn't make the playoffs?"

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