With the NBA Finals on the way, the debate of the GOAT will be in the mouths of every basketball fan for the remainder of the year, especially if the Lakers win.
The fact that we are even having the discussion of the greatest basketball player of all time makes me wonder if either people have short memory or if trends dictate the standards on any discipline. By reading these lines, you probably realized that I will side with Michael Jordan, even though I give a lot of credit and respect to LeBron James.
There several points I can use to make my case, however I will quickly list three that to me seal the deal:
- Michael failed and kept trying until he succeeded: I’ll never forgive LeBron for moving away from Cleveland to Miami to get his first championship. It felt like a cheap move and an easy way to solve a problem. I really admire MJ for sticking with Chicago until they finally broke through.
- Steve Kerr’s shot: “I’ll be ready” is what Steve said to Michael to assure him that he was ready and willing to take a shot in the last play of game six. Not only Michael was great, but he also made his teammates great.
- So many great players got deprived of NBA Rings: Barkley, Miller, Malone, Stockton, Ewing and many others were shut down by MJ and his Bulls. To put in in perspective, LeBron and Steph are the equivalent of Larry and Magic. If either would have silenced the other one, then that person would be the equivalent of MJ.
I can rank LeBron anywhere you want and as high as #2 if you want me to, but never #1. That place still belongs to MJ, and I only listed three reasons.
HR