Fact Check: Was LeBron James youngest NBA player in 2003? Major fact about 4x NBA Champion debunked
LeBron James’ has touched almost every page of the NBA history book. Be it old, young, fastest or highest, the LA Lakers star has it all recorded on his name. Ahead of the NBA In-Season Tournament championship game against the Indiana Pacers, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle alluded to the fact related to LeBron being the youngest and the oldest in the league.
Carlisle had high praise for LeBron ahead of their teams’ matchup on Dec. 9. Looking at the level that James is playing right now, Carlisle said that the four-time champion was still in his prime. However, what he pointed out later was news to many NBA fans and immediately became a fact check on the internet.
Carlisle pointed out that LeBron is the only player in NBA history who has been the youngest and the oldest in the league in his career. Since this was barely ever mentioned, the fact needed a double check, and here is the result:
NBA Writer Tim Reynolds reported that Carlisle was technically right when he spilled the LeBron being oldest and the youngest trivia. The Lakers star was indeed the youngest on the night he made his debut in 2003.
However, two nights later, Darko Miličić made his debut for the Detroit Pistons. Darko is about six months younger than LeBron.
Tyrese Haliburton opens up about playing against his idol LeBron James
Tyrese Haliburton is on a different ride this season with the Indiana Pacers. After the win against the Milwaukee Bucks in the In-Season Tournament semi-final, he is up against none other than LeBron James.
When asked about his feelings and excitement ahead of facing LeBron in a title game, Haliburton could not hide his excitement. He said that like everyone in 2000, LeBron was his favorite player growing up and he was hyped up to face the King in the NBA In-Season Tournament Finals:
"Like any kid born in 2000, LeBron was my favorite player growing up," Haliburton said Friday afternoon after Indiana's practice here at T-Mobile Arena, "and it's hard for him not to be for a lot of us.
"Growing up, I was a Cavs fan, then a Heat fan, then a Cavs fan again, then a Lakers fan before I got drafted. It's just how it went…But that's the great part about being in the NBA, getting to compete against your idols on a nightly basis. I really look forward to that."
Haliburton is having the best season of his life with the Pacers, whereas LeBron James seems to have switched his gears once he entered the knockout rounds of the tournament. He has been playing with a playoff mentality.
It would interesting to watch a young star and a 21-year-old veteran fight for the title, the only difference; one wants it so badly and the other STILL wants it so badly.