La Lakers superstar Lebron James explained how the NBA has changed in comments on his latest podcast.
During his 22 years in the NBA, LeBron James witnessed changes in the way he plays the game. And, as he points out, the superstar didn’t start watching basketball when he was drafted in 2003.
When LeBron James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014 after winning two titles with the Miami Heat, he found a quest for domination stunned by the evolution of the game led by the Golden State Warriors’ eye-opening three-point shooting.
Steph Curry and The Warriors have changed the game to a stage where three-point shooting has become the norm, with even the 7-inch 4 Big Man Victor Wembanyama earning 142 threes this season before closing the midseason due to health concerns.
LeBron James spoke to the Game Podcast about his memories of watching the NBA long before he entered the league.
And he throws his heart into seeing former Dallas Mavericks, La Lakers, Seattle Supersonics and Indiana Pacers star Sam Perkins.
James sees the player in the filming size Sam Perkins and admits that he couldn’t believe it when he scored the three-pointer.
He explained:
“It was wild to watch him film Sam Perkins. It was wild to watch him shoot three people, yeah, what’s going on?
“Why is he shooting 6’11, 7 feet, 3 feet? It was like people were looking at the screen like, ‘What a damn damn, what is this?’ ”
The situation LeBron James describes is normal in the NBA today in 2025, fascinated by analysis and skill set focus, and the three-point shooter is an integral part of the NBA and an integral part for players of all sizes.
And now, in 2025, LeBron James is one of today’s players’ Future Watch stars and NBA draft Rasheer Fleming has named him the best of all time.
Sam Perkins was acquired by the Dallas Mavericks in 1984 on his fourth overall pick and remained in the league until 2001.
After he left MAVS, Perkins reached the NBA Finals three times with three different teams: the Lakers, Super Sonics and Pacer, but each became a team that lost.
These near misses mean that Perkins is an underrated player from his generation. He played 1,267 regular season games and 167 playoff games in his long career, despite never making an All-Star team.