Twenty years after making his NBA debut, LeBron James paused to reflect on the beginnings of it all. King James even broke down the exact moments of his first bucket, going over each one second by second to explain how it all happened, in a nostalgia video for the Lakers this week.

“after a careless deed. Under the guidance of our then-coach, Paul Silas, we would run floppy, which is among the most fundamental foundation plays. You have the two bigs on the block and two guards starting below you; you choose which side you want to come off of. I was able to emerge from our large group, therefore. I was able to shoot over the top after fading to the corner and taking one bounce. I won’t even pretend to hold you all; I was anxious as hell. I had always dreamed of playing in the NBA, and it was my first game.”

It was the ideal taste of what was to come for the following twenty years, as LeBron swished the shot. James concluded with 25 points in the game, proving that he could compete with players at the NBA level even though the Cavaliers ultimately lost.

LeBron was a star right from the start.

James, who was selected first overall by the Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft, accepted the high expectations that surrounded him from the start. LeBron assumed the moniker “The Chosen One” and decided to wear Michael Jordan’s iconic number 23, putting a lot of pressure on him to live up to the hype, which he somehow exceeded. LeBron finished the season as a 19-year-old youngster with averages of 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game after scoring 25 points in his debut. He did so by playing in more outstanding games.

LeBron still believes that season, the only one in his career in which he was not selected for the All-Star game, should have seen him as an All-Star. The next season, LeBron displayed his true colors as he led the Cavaliers to the ninth-best record in the East while averaging 27.2 points per game.

Is LeBron the greatest player of all time?

LeBron James is by no means the first athlete to gain immediate dominance in the NBA. In his first campaign, Michael Jordan scored nearly thirty points a night on average, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar consistently recorded double-doubles. Nevertheless, none of them is as durable as LeBron. LeBron has been one of the finest players in the game for 20 years and counting, and he has so far avoided injuries that could finish a season. Nobody could have predicted LeBron to go on this kind of run, even as a rookie, and it has fundamentally altered the nature of the GOAT debate.

LeBron has accomplished everything possible in the NBA, having been an All-Star, All-NBA player, MVP, and four-time champion. Very few careers can compare to LeBron’s whole body of accomplishment. LeBron, who is 38 years old, is still as good of a player as he was in 2003, and his Lakers are in a good position to contend for their second title in the previous four years.