Korver: James' greatest qualities are his dedication day in and day out

Former NBA player Kyle Korver was recently interviewed about his former Cavaliers teammate LeBron James.

Asked if reaching the Finals for eight consecutive years in the East showed James' greatness, Korver said: "I think it shows his greatness. Until you stay around him for a while and feel first-hand how seriously he takes his profession and how much effort he puts into it every day... I think it's one thing to get to the top, it's another thing to stay there. I think his greatest quality is to be able to do all that again the next day. His ability to recover mentally, physically, and spiritually on a daily basis is rare and unbelievable.

"I remember one game where we just finished playing a couple of hours or two with the Jazz and the next morning I went to the training gym early for some treatment, and he was already there, and he was on the climbing machine, wearing no top, and practicing the mountaineer for 30 minutes straight. He said, 'I'm going to be ready for the playoffs. With that level of dedication to his body and his skills, people saw how mighty and strong he was, and Michael Jordan? After three consecutive titles, he had to retire midway through the break. I'm not going to argue about Michael and LeBron here, but it's a lot of attrition to invest as much time as he does and at the same time bear the scrutiny he's undergone. On the surface it seems that he copes so easily...

"I've been his opponents for years, and it's easy for you to let Kuroko's claims influence your thoughts. But when you get along with him, you see that level of dedication to his profession, you see how much he pays for it, and he's really the first person to get to the training gym every day and the last to leave. And he's LeBron James, he's been to so many Finals, he's been elected mvp many times and so on. In my opinion, this is his greatest achievement, his ability to keep moving forward, his ability to maintain mental concentration, and the effort he has put into making him what he is today. ”