LeBron James

James's Cleveland Cavaliers went down 108-97 to the Philadelphia 76ers, where Simmons is one of the headline acts of an exciting young cast currently thrilling basketball audiences.

James was typically dominant in his side's loss, picking up 30 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists, while Simmons shot 18 points and grabbed 9 rebounds and 8 assists. US commentators were impressed at how the 21-year-old handled his defensive duties against all-time-great James.

James has been outspoken in opposition of United States president Donald Trump in the past, and continued that on Monday.

He also took time to honour King and the efforts he took to help fight racism and oppression.

"The state of racism will never die, but what we cannot do is allow it to conquer us as people," James said Monday, via ESPN. "We can't allow it to divide us... The guy in control has given people and racism, and negative racism, an opportunity to be out and outspoken without fear.

James is a three-time NBA champion and NBA Finals MVP, while the 32-year-old has been named MVP on four occasions – not to mention his 13 All-Star appearances.

The former Miami Heat forward is regarded as arguably the greatest basketballer of all time,

Durant is still some way off matching James' long list of achievements with just one championship, Finals MVP and NBA MVP to his name, but the Warriors forward feels he is worthy of being mentioned in the same breath.

Philadelphia were also without Joel Embiid and T.J. McConnell, but with Ben Simmons, Robert Covington, Dario Saric and J.J. Redick still in the fold, they were going to be a tough out for the Cavs.

Thanks to James' third triple-double of the season, Cleveland were able to get back on the winning track. The 32-year-old had 30 points, 13 assists and 13 rebounds while scoring or assisting on each of the Cavaliers' final 22 points.

Superstar forward James tweaked the injury he sustained in a training camp during the Cavs' 108-94 defeat to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.

The 13-time NBA All-Star will consequently sit out Friday's meeting with the Orlando Magic.

"He didn't practice today. He's experienced soreness so he won't practice tomorrow, he won't play on Friday either, so [he's] pretty mad, pretty p****d off but it is what it is," head coach Tyronn Lue said.

The short-sided format was added to the Olympic schedule last week, along with mixed relay races on the track and in the pool and BMX Freestyle.

Though happy with the move, it does not mean the Cleveland Cavaliers star will represent Team USA in Tokyo.

"I think it's great for basketball," James is quoted by ESPN. "For us to be able to add another category to the Olympics, another basketball category, I think it's pretty great.

"I'm not very good in a three-on-three thing, I'm more of a five-on-five guy.

Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron and four-time MVP James needs 28 to surpass Jordan's 5,987 postseason points – the NBA record.

"It's just a personal goal of mine," James told reporters on Thursday. "It has nothing to do with passing the rings, passing the points, passing MVPs. It's just my personal goal to keep me motivated — that's all."

Despite a terrible game three against the Boston Celtics that saw James score only 11 points, the three-time champion is averaging 32.3 points per game this postseason after the Cavs took a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Los Angeles Lakers great Abdul-Jabbar scored 5,762 points in 237 career playoff games.

A three-pointer with eight minutes, 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday moved James past Abdul-Jabbar and only Michael Jordan has more with 5,987 points in 179 games.

Wednesday was the 205th playoff game for James, who entered the night 24 points behind Abdul-Jabbar.

Mario Chalmers, Kirk Hinrich and Jordan Farmar will all be in Cleveland on Wednesday — and so will Lance Stephenson.

You may recall that LeBron and Stephenson shared some moments in the Eastern Conference finals in both 2013 and 2014, the most memorable of which involved Stephenson blowing in James’ ear during a stoppage in play.

But despite the history between the two players, LeBron said he’d have no problem with Stephenson joining the roster.

Ever since James was dunking on fellow teenagers, pundits have been linking the superstar to Jordan, but it may not be an apt comparison after all.

James, speaking ahead of Thursday's game against the Boston Celtics, poured water on the hype linking him to the great Bulls legend who won six NBA championships.

"No, [Jordan] was much more of a scorer, at that point did a lot of post work, but our games are just different," James said via Cavs.com .