If you asked every player in NBA history, more than one-third will have something in common: They’ve played against LeBron James.
During ESPN on ABC’s broadcast of the Lakers victory over the Mavericks on Wednesday, they showed a stat that was mindblowing. According to their research, James has faced off against 35 percent of all players to ever play in the league.
This caught many fans by surprise when they first saw the stat and it may cause you to do a quick double-take, too.
INSANE.
LeBron has played against 35% of all players in NBA history 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Xr6Qz7IExz
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 18, 2024
When he saw the graphic, even James couldn’t believe it.
He responded on Instagram, calling it “insane” and using several emojis.
So how is that even possible considering the league existed long before James was even born?
By reverse engineering this equation, we were able to learn a few things.
Per the Stathead database, the league has now had 4,879 players play at least one NBA game.
Based on the 35 percent figure mentioned on the ABC broadcast, that means James has played against approximately 1,707 players (including nine father-son duos such as Jabari Smith Sr. and Jabari Smith Jr.) in his NBA career.
Considering that he has played over 1,450 regular-season games in the NBA, it no longer seems hard to believe that James could have faced around 1,700 players during his professional career.
What is even crazier is that this number is going to only continue to increase as James does not appear like he is slowing down.
