When players share the court with a legitimate GOAT contender, they do not necessarily leave with championships or even a long-term partnership. What they do experience, however, is a firsthand look at what separates that player from everyone else.
Patrick Beverley spent only part of a season alongside LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers , but even that short period was enough for him to understand what made James different.
What stood out to Pat Bev was not simply what James did during games; it was the seriousness he brought to the little things, particularly behind the scenes. In particular, he recalled a casual shootaround when King James did something so unusual with a tomahawk dunk that Beverley had never seen before, forcing his eyes to be wide open.
"We got shootaround, Bron there already. He done working out. It's just a walk-through, shoe unite, just a walk-through. We're going to personnel, going through plays. Bron got gigantic bags of ice on his knees; I've never seen them anywhere in the basketball room. I think somebody must have shot the ball. Bron, mind you, shoes are untied, grab ball… two-hand flush dunk with ice on his knees," Pat Bev recalled .
"I tap one of the homies, 'Russ, did you see that, bro? He different. He different, bro, with ice on? He is dunking with ice on his knees. Never in my life have I seen that before."
For Beverley, that moment captured something that stats could never fully explain: intensity and zeal to be better from a player who had already achieved everything, even when his team had a horrid 2-10 start to a season.
It wasn't only Beverley who witnessed those iconic moments from King James in the 2022-23 season; instead, the four-time MVP had moments that will never be forgotten.
For instance, one of the most memorable instances came on February 07, 2023, when LeBron broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring mark against the OKC Thunder . More impressively, what made that accomplishment even more stellar was the manner in which LBJ broke.
In the seven weeks leading up to that historic night, James had 15 games with at least 30 points, including three separate 40-point performances. That stretch was capped by his 48-point performance against the Houston Rockets in January 2023. Across that span, he averaged 29.7 points per game.
As during the 2022-23 campaign, James continuously battled injuries and was limited to just 55 appearances over the regular season, yet he still left everything out on the floor in the games he stepped on the hardwood, as evidenced by his leading the team with 35.5 minutes per contest. All at the age of 39.
Thus, for Pat Bev, after years of battling James as an opponent, seeing the latter's grind and other small details gave Bev a true sense of why the 22-time All-Star was named the Chosen One.
"That tattoo on his back is real. He is definitely the Chosen One," Bev continued. "Ice on your knees?"
That just shows how James' GOAT candidacy is never about championships, MVPs, or All-Star and All-NBA honors; rather, it's about the honesty and dedication with which he has always approached the game and as long as he has that desire to continue, he definitely should.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Sep 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
