LeBron James will go down in NBA history as one of the — if not the greatest — players ever. With four rings in 10 Finals appearances to his name, James has a resume that most players could only dream of.
However, he has also been heavily scrutinized for his sub .500 record in the Finals and that is often the biggest knock when it comes to his GOAT case. The debate is one fans will always never agree on, and even Kareem Abdul-Jabbar believes it will never be settled.
James is a generational player who has been disrespected too much in his career, which is why forme greats like Grant Hill have come to his defense. In an appearance on “The Old Man and the Three” podcast, Hill argued that people have not given the Lakers star the credit he deserves as transcribed by Robert Marvi of Yahoo Sports:
“… in my opinion, Jordan is the G.O.A.T., but I hate the conversation because in order to justify it we put down the other, and so it’s like, LeBron’s incredible. What he has done – the pressure from a very young age, how he’s lived up to the expectations, and what he’s had to ensure that I don’t think Michael Jordan had to endure … the slander, you didn’t see or feel that or hear that back in the day. … Jordan didn’t have to experience [that]. LeBron had that added burden of just hearing it from everywhere, and how he’s been able to tune that out and go out and play and be a pass-first guy who could very well be the all-time leading scorer … .
“Those old heads who love Jordan, I don’t think we fully appreciate what LeBron has done in this environment that he’s in and how he’s done things off the court. He’s taken it to a whole ‘nother level – empowering his friends, building multiple platforms. … I’ve really admired him as a player and just being that face of the league for so many years. But no player has ever endured … as much vitriol and abuse and slander as LeBron James had endured.”
The 38-year-old certainly has enough motivation heading into every season as fans continue to try and downplay his achievements. Despite that, James will have every opportunity to shut his detractors up if keeps on breaking records and winning more hardware.
Isiah Thomas believes LeBron James will be GOAT if he breaks scoring record
James broke several records during the 2021-22 season, and he showed no real signs of slowing down. For the 2022-23 season, James could possibly surpass Abdul-Jabbar for the all-time scoring record at which point people like Isiah Thomas believe he will have attained GOAT status.
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