He said this recently in an ESPN interview. I used to like the guy a few years ago, but lately he has started to rub me the wrong way. Yes, he is one of the greatest basketball players ever to play, but he is not the one to declare it. That is for someone else to say, not him. In my lifetime, the best I have seen are Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and now LeBron. James is the key player on his team and in reality is also the coach. If you watch his team play, he does play a great game and directs all the action of his team. It is his way or the highway.
Now, I was a great fan of Cassius Clay or Muhammed Ali. He was one of my boyhood heroes along with Mickey Mantle. Ali was such a character and did proclaim himself, "I am the greatest’, but Ali could get away with such an outlandish statement because he had such a great personality. He was funny, engaging and beloved by most everybody on the planet. He was full of himself, but he was such a showman and had such charisma, he could do just about anything he wanted to.
LeBron can’t quite pull that off. Let others tell you if you are the greatest basketball player of all time.
If he said he is the greatest of all time… then that’s his opinion
I don’t like his opinion and I’m sure he probably wouldn’t like mine. I for one think Kobe Bryant is the greatest player of all time (I’m 28 years old so maybe my generational upbringing plays a factor) and many think Jordan, Magic, Bird or Wilt
Idk but to me it’s not a debatable topic on who is the greatest of player because just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder so is the judgment of who is the best of the best. We (guys) have the conversation a lot but really it’s silly to debate about imo.
Jordan probably is the GOAT but Larry Bird ranks right up there. I love to YouTube videos of the guys of his generation talking about Larry’s trash talking and skills. He would tell his opponent what his next move and shot would be and then do it and make it. For some entertaining reflections YouTube stories about Larry Bird. Lots of respect from those guys.
There isn’t anyone with a bigger ego than Michael Jordan. It comes with the territory; if you’re going to play at that level, you have to think you’re the baddest man out there and then go prove it. MJ just didn’t have Twitter and the internet. He let Nike do his talking for him.
I’d still give the edge to MJ, but if LBJ could somehow drag this bunch of Lakers to a title, he’d be getting real close. MJ never won without Pippen. LBJ has never had a great sidekick.
LeBron is great player, no doubt. But he wouldn’t even make my top 10 of greatest players. Michael Jordan is the greatest of all time. Everyone gushes over James making 8 straight NBA finals, but if Jordan didn’t retire for 2 years, we might very well be talking about Jordan winning 8 in a row NBA titles.
I love basketball, but James is playing in a different era of basketball than the greats from the golden era of the 80’s, 90’s and most of the 2000’s. In those days you were allowed to play defense and they were extremely rough. The like of Jordan, Bird, King, etc. were putting up huge numbers during this time. James wouldn’t last in that era more than a couple of seasons.
I think LBJ is sitting in the third spot right now behind MJ and Kobe. But his career is not over yet. I have a feeling by the time he is done, historians will put him at the top.
LeBron never had a side kick as you mentioned. Further he has never played for a great coach like MJ and Kobe has. That says he has made his teammates better than MJ did.
Imagine the number of titles LeBron would have accumulated already if he had a Pippen as a sidekick and Phil Jackson as a coach,