Lebron gotta be considered the GOAT now when the Lakers win the title

[Wile E. Coyote]

I think a championship this year would lock LeBron in at 2nd all-time.

[LAKESHOW]

Dawg, did u just WITNESS a 1-3 comeback?

[Repeat 3-peat]

If longevity was the deciding factor, LeBron would have noted he's chasing Kareem but he's not.

Still behind MJ in championships, individual awards, peak, most major advance statistics favor Jordan, also LeBron has never lead a team to a dynasty which gets overlooked as most of the top players ever have done it, Jordan did it twice.

[ReddoverKobe]

If longevity was the deciding factor, LeBron would have noted he's chasing Kareem but he's not.

Still behind MJ in championships, individual awards, peak, most major advance statistics favor Jordan, also LeBron has never lead a team to a dynasty which gets overlooked as most of the top players ever have done it, Jordan did it twice.

Jordan also won three in the weakest era we have seen in 40 years. The mid to late 90's was garbage. No Euro players, high schoolers and expansion. Look at those sonics and Jazz rosters.

[Petergrifindor]

Jordan had a higher peak but generally, over the course of the career LeBron has been more successful.

Dude, count the rings please. More MVPS, More MVPS finals, defensive player of the year, 10 scoring titles....

More successful???? You guys are delusional.

[Homer38]

WTF...The longevity is not the only argument for LBJ...I mean at one point of his career he won 4 MVP in 5 years...

[dautjazz]

No. Bron kept teaming up with players who were the alpha of their teams before playing with him. That alone is a red flag.

MJ never did that and dominated.

But longevity wise, gotta give it to Bron for his consistency.

MJ had Pippen for 11 seasons, not like he didn't do it with another player who wouldn't be considered an alpha on other teams. Pippen was 7xAll-Star, 7xAll-NBA,10xAll-Defensive player, HOF, etc.. he's most certainly an alpha on most teams.

[Pythagoras]

I think Jordan at his peak, is better than Lebron at his peak, but I agree that longevity tilts the scales toward Lebron. That, and his insane playoff run in 2018. I don’t think Jordan has any playoff run as dominant as what Lebron did in 2018.

[prefontaine]

I think he's the clear #2 if he wins this year. IMO he needs to win as many as Jordan to be better and even then I'm not sure. 2 3 peats is a little crazy.

[dautjazz]

I think Jordan at his peak, is better than Lebron at his peak, but I agree that longevity tilts the scales toward Lebron. That, and his insane playoff run in 2018. I don’t think Jordan has any playoff run as dominant as what Lebron did in 2018.

Outside Lebron's first two finals 2008 and 2011, I think he's been incredible in the finals. MJ immortal in the finals either, he's been fortunate to have much weaker opponents than Lebron. I'm not saying MJ couldn't accomplish something like what Lebron did in 2016, but he certainly didn't. Lebron had bigger shortcomings in the NBA finals, but he also had some performances I'd consider better than any MJ had. While yes MJ had to go through a much more difficult east, he failed against the most difficult opponents he faced like the Bird's Celtics, and the Bad Boy's Pistons, and it's understood they were the better team, it happens. MJ though did have a better team in 1995 and still lost to the Magic in the second round. People like to say MJ started the season late, but he was playing very by this stage, he had a great first round. MJ failed to make the Finals more times, that should count for something.

[winston2chainz]

I think Jordan at his peak, is better than Lebron at his peak, but I agree that longevity tilts the scales toward Lebron. That, and his insane playoff run in 2018. I don’t think Jordan has any playoff run as dominant as what Lebron did in 2018.

Jordan played 13 seasons with the Chicago Bulls, was a 10x scoring champion, and won 6 rings via two three-peats. Lebron might have a few more seasons over Jordan, but his accolades don't compare, not even remotely.

Lebron's 2018 playoffs run is definitely one of the greatest of all time, but statistically, Jordan has numerous playoffs runs that are comparable.

ESPN and the media keep pushing this narrative of Lebron potentially being the GOAT as clickbait, because a compelling narrative = views = revenue. It's pretty hard to argue that Lebron has a case over Jordan as the GOAT if you look at accolades and the 2011, 2014 Finals series.

[Pythagoras]

I think Jordan at his peak, is better than Lebron at his peak, but I agree that longevity tilts the scales toward Lebron. That, and his insane playoff run in 2018. I don’t think Jordan has any playoff run as dominant as what Lebron did in 2018.

Outside Lebron's first two finals 2008 and 2011, I think he's been incredible in the finals. MJ immortal in the finals either, he's been fortunate to have much weaker opponents than Lebron. I'm not saying MJ couldn't accomplish something like what Lebron did in 2016, but he certainly didn't. Lebron had bigger shortcomings in the NBA finals, but he also had some performances I'd consider better than any MJ had. While yes MJ had to go through a much more difficult east, he failed against the most difficult opponents he faced like the Bird's Celtics, and the Bad Boy's Pistons, and it's understood they were the better team, it happens. MJ though did have a better team in 1995 and still lost to the Magic in the second round. People like to say MJ started the season late, but he was playing very by this stage, he had a great first round. MJ failed to make the Finals more times, that should count for something.

MJ most certainly didn’t go through weaker opponents in the Finals. I’m not even sure where that’s coming from. And besides, Lebron’s road to the finals in the East was much weaker in general than MJ’s road.

I’m not going to comment on the 95 season. Holding that season against MJ when he had been out of the NBA for over a year is absurd.

[dautjazz]

I think he's the clear #2 if he wins this year. IMO he needs to win as many as Jordan to be better and even then I'm not sure. 2 3 peats is a little crazy.

Think about this, if Lebron wins this year it's 4, with a real possibility to win more, Durant essentially STOLE title hopes from Lebron in 2017 and 2018 by joining a 73 win core. Lebron would of beat a Durant-less Warriors team atleast once, not to mention he was VERY shorthanded in 2015 due to Love and Irving injuries, otherwise he would of probably beat that team as well. MJ didn't have an opponent like the Warriors or even the 2014 Spurs that he topped. I wouldn't count the 1991 Pistons to be in that category, and then who was the best teams he beat the Ewing Knicks or 1996 Sonics? Being honest with myself, the 1997 and 1998 Jazz were not that great, Stockton and Hornacek were well past their prime, it was classic overachievement by Sloan and Malone's continuing dominance that even put them in that position.

[Vlade Divac]

LOL

"When the Lakers win Championship"! This is the good one. Even if they win against Denver there is no chance they are wining vs Boston or Miami. There is no showboating and pickup basketball when you play East team. I am putting my money on that.

[Pythagoras]

I think Jordan at his peak, is better than Lebron at his peak, but I agree that longevity tilts the scales toward Lebron. That, and his insane playoff run in 2018. I don’t think Jordan has any playoff run as dominant as what Lebron did in 2018.

Jordan played 13 seasons with the Chicago Bulls, was a 10x scoring champion, and won 6 rings via two three-peats. Lebron might have a few more seasons over Jordan, but his accolades don't compare, not even remotely.

Lebron's 2018 playoffs run is definitely one of the greatest of all time, but statistically, Jordan has numerous playoffs runs that are comparable.

ESPN and the media keep pushing this narrative of Lebron potentially being the GOAT as clickbait, because a compelling narrative = views = revenue. It's pretty hard to argue that Lebron has a case over Jordan as the GOAT if you look at accolades and the 2011, 2014 Finals series.

MJ has 13 great seasons with the Bulls... Lebron is sitting at 17 and showing no signs of stopping. That’s a big gulf in longevity. That 2018 run was so insane not just because of the numbers, but also it came in Lebron’s 15th season.

It’s hard to argue Lebron peak over Jordan I’ll grant you. When you factor in longevity, Lebron’s case becomes much stronger.

[OdomFan]

jordan fans are worried about this situation

Worried how? It's only the Lebron fans that keeps trying to bring this up every time their hero does anything remotely good to desperately keep their hero in the conversation. However the fact is it still doesn't change anything about his failures from his past compared to MJ's full resume and others.

All those times he got swept and lost in general in playoff rounds during his prime. (but it's a team game!) yes, but as leader he gets majority of the blame just like Magic did in the 80s when many started calling him Tragic Johnson. Jordans overall resume is simply better period, and he earned by being the overall better player and leader than Lebron.

[LAKESHOW]

Should and IF Lebron wins it all this year, he will have surpassed Jordan. Lebron would have done it on 3 different teams. Look at what happened to Jordan, when he switched over to 1. Massive Fail.

[OdomFan]

People who don't want Lebron to be GOAT won't accept that he he could be no matter what. There's a lot of bias at play from people who grew up watching MJ (I grew up watching MJ).

I probably will have them at 1a and 1b not matter if Lebron wins it all another time (I don't think championships are an individual award, I care about how you play).

I just wish people admitted that who they have number 1 is dependant on their own personal take on peak vs longevity. And I wish that people kept the same criteria to rank other players after that. You sometimes see people who think MJ is WAY ahead of Lebron because of a slightly better peak, but then they'll rank a player with better longevity ahead of a player with a slightly better peak.

Yeah? well I wish people would remember that every team has a leader, which is what MJ and Lebron have always been for their NBA squads. The team deserves credit for every win and loss sure, but the leader of that team also deserve a major part of it for leading their squad which ever direction year after year after year of their overall careers. Lebron may have played longer, but MJ was able to make a bigger impact in a shorter amount of time. There for he's the greater player/leader.

[scrabbarista]

Whether they're for MJ or LBJ now, 99% of people aren't going to change their minds, because they're thinking with their hearts. I'm not going to take a side at the moment (I have LeBron as my GoAT now, but I might flip back to MJ at any point), but the most obvious potential criticism against LeBron is that - at least, statistically - there's a very good chance he won't be the best player on this Lakers team. I'm not even getting into whether that's true or the nuance involved. I'm just pointing out that some people - especially, the haters - are going to say it.

[dhsilv2]

Summer league titles don't count!