I have a friend who lives near LA. The other night he drops this gem just hours before the Lakers and Thunder tipped of in our basketball junkie group chat:
“So…my buddy did some math about a month ago and realized tonight was the most likely night [Lebron] would break the record. So we bought tickets back then for only $100. About to head to Staples, hoping that Lebron is good for at least 37 tonight…”
LOL. What in the world.
To give everyone a frame of reference this guy is a huge sports fan, but always seems to find himself present at the biggest, most historic games. He could attend a Solitaire tournament and end up being interviewed about how it was the greatest ever.
He was in attendance at Warriors/Cavs Game 7 for LeBron’s block in 2016 and now when LeBron passed Kareem Abdul Jabbar to score his 38,390th career NBA point.
He said both atmospheres were the same. Probably didn’t even mind that we roasted him for saying Staples instead of Crypto.Com.
And Now. LeBron is the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT). There is no debate.
LeBron is the GOAT
In LeBron James’ 20 years in the league, he has literally done everything that you could possible dream to achieve. And he has done so as the most hyped basketball history in history.
He was on the cover of SI as a teenager. The only other athlete to have that much pressure as a teen was Bryce Harper.
Forget the SI Jinx, here’s all that LeBron has done:
3x HS State Champ; Gatorade POY & Ohio Mr. Basketball
Drafted No. 1 Overall
4x NBA Champ; 4x Finals MVP
4x MVP; 19x All-Star
2x Olympic Gold
All-time leading scorer - regular season & playoffs
4th All-time Assists
Movie Star
Philanthropist & Activist
Billionaire
Growing up watching Lebron, my friends and I quickly put the simply formula together that his dominance was due to being ‘bigger, faster, stronger’ than everyone else.
Growing up, the Cavaliers were mediocre to borderline bad. They had a heated rivalry with the Gilbert Arenas led Wizards—a 4v5 matchup in the playoffs.
This was before the era of super teams, which LeBron accelerated with his ‘Decision’ as he briefly played the role of villain.
But then he returned from Miami to Cleveland, and helped the Cavs come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win the title over the 73-win Warriors. Which, consequently, accelerated a new era of doubling down on super teams as KD went to the Warriors.
That performance unquestionably was what put LeBron over Michael Jordan and Kareem and Bird and Magic. Not that he won a title, but that he finally won one that was done in such a dominating fashion where he took over the series; against a team many felt were superior to the Cavs; in such a historic comeback effort and against a poetic backdrop storyline of returning home to deliver a title to a city that had been without one for decades.
He added to his legacy in the 2020 bubble with the Lakers. Teams were walking off the court in social justice and civil rights protest in the middle of an unprecedented global pandemic. LeBron was at the center for advocating for the victims, but also helping keep the league together on the outside and then destroying it on the court to win his fourth title with his third different franchise.
He has beaten everyone: Kobe, Duncan, Parker, KD, Curry, Klay, KG, Pierce, Shaq, and the list goes on.
Now he has further cemented his GOAT argument by scoring the most points of anyone ever.
38,390… and counting.
MJ is Iconic
The debate of ‘Who is the Greatest of all time’ between LeBron and MJ has ranged on for about a decade now. The similarities are endless, but the crux of the argument boils down to this:
MJ went to six Finals in eight years, winning all six
LeBron has gone to 10 Finals, nine in 10 years, and won four
What puts LeBron over the top as best player are his 3-1 comeback in 2016 and being the all time scorer. Two things no one has ever done.
While LeBron is the GOAT, there are many who still argue for MJ, which is fine. It’s just that their point of stasis differs. There is a different term they should be using.
Iconic.
LeBron is the GOAT while MJ is the most iconic player.
Almost anything Michael did stood out; people wanted to be him; he was the epitome of cool on and off the court. Take a look:
Championship winner for UNC (‘82)
Broken foot to begin year, then called ‘God’ by Larry Bird after 63 points in 2OT vs Celtics (‘86)
Dunk contest - Foul Line (‘88)
The Shrug (‘92)
Dream Team & wearing the American Flag (‘92)
‘I’m Back’ Letter (‘95)
55 Points vs Knicks in Garden after returning (‘95)
Father’s Day Championship (‘96)
The Flu Game (‘97)
Game winner vs Jazz (‘98)
Jordan Rules (created by Pistons Isiah Thomas)
Nike Shoes
Many also love that MJ overcame all odds after being cut from his high school team. They love the mini chapter where he left basketball to pursue baseball. And they love that he was perfect in NBA Finals.
Why? Because many people struggle to overcome adversity; fail to chase dreams of their own and over analyze their own flaws.
Oh, and they crave the shoes.
Lebron is iconic in his own right, but in a more boring, index fund investing kinda way.
It is actually detrimental that LeBron was a predetermined basketball prodigy. That he actually exceed the hype, but in doing so created a legacy so polarizing that it is overshadowed by the following:
The Decision
“Not one, not two…”
No Finals matchup with Kobe (we’ll forever have the Nike puppets)
Losses to Dirk, Duncan, Kawhi, Steph & Durant
A Championship Bubble
And while LeBron has the greatest comeback in NBA history via potentially the greatest block in NBA history (Bill Russell the other in ‘57), he doesn’t have the iconic shots in his biggest championship victories.
Kyrie Irving and Ray Allen do.
Now does being more iconic mean you are the GOAT? I would not argue it that way, but could see how others get swept up in the nostalgia.
MJ may have the better Space Jam movie, the better shoes and the one you want to be on the bus to party with over LeBron, but LeBron is not far off.
LeBron may have been great from the start, but he still had his adversity and iconic moments, even if it is considered boring and taken for granted by most fans.
On the farm, after all, goats are supposed to be boring.
High Ankle Sprains & Ill-Advised Timeouts
In preparation of the Super Bowl, let us re-visit the AFC Championship game, which was an incredible.
For all the complaining that Bengals’ players and fans have done about the refs, none of it drastically affected the outcome. In fact, the greater point is that Joe Burrow and Cincinnati had the opportunity to knock off the Chiefs for the second straight year on the road in spite of the officiating gaffes.
To undoubtedly stake their dominance in the AFC, and NFL. And it looked like Burrow was going to do so when he converted a 3rd and 16 with a minute to go.
Then inexplicably, the Bengals used a timeout with 48 seconds left after a two-yard completion got them to their own 35 yard line. It’s the mistake that nobody is talking about.
Gigantic mistake.
It gave Kansas City new life and forced a punt with more than enough time for league MVP Patrick Mahomes to drive for the game winning field goal (aided by a correct personal foul penalty).
Mahomes went from lowercase goat from his Jameis Winston style fumble at the end of the third quarter that allowed Cincinnati to tie the game to uppercase GOAT when he got by getting to his third Super Bowl in four years.
A high ankle sprain could not stop Steph Curry from winning the NBA title last year, and I predict it won’t stop Mahomes. I’ll take the Chiefs 31-28 over the Eagles.
Boiled Frogs
A quick note on the CFB National Championship which ended in a 65-7 Georgia route over TCU.
It was a bad blowout where everything went right for the Dawgs and wrong for the Frogs. However, blowouts are not uncommon in national title games.
In 25 national title games, 11 have been decided by three or more scores. Nine have seen the champion win by 20 or more.
Georgia’s blowout victory was reminiscent of USC over Oklahoma by 36 in 2004 and Miami (FL) over Nebraska in ‘01.
But for TCU, it would not have been better if they lost to Michigan to avoid this embarrassment. It happens; at least they have the historic victory over the Wolverines forever.