LAST month, Lebron James was on record perversely referring to himself as the greatest of all time—or simply the “GOAT”.
Naturally, this was followed by a hailstorm of reactions, ranging from support to incredulity to derision.
Do you think he was correct?
GOAT. Sorry Lebron James fans, he is absolutely wrong on this one. But first of all, let’s consider the context.
Remember that in the ESPN video clip, James did not arrive at that conclusion by referring to the number of championships he won, the number of NBA Finals appearances, total points scored, number of MVP trophies he garnered or shooting percentages.
Which was clever of him, I should say. Had he gone that route, he would have easily been vanquished on that one.
Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Russell are a few examples of basketball players most people- including myself, would easily rank above him.
According to James, he came to that realization after their team was able to come back after being down 1-3 against the greatest team ever assembled.
FALSE. That in itself is clearly a false syllogism. The 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors team is on record for being the first team to win 73 games in a regular season.
But to presumptively anoint that team as the greatest team ever assembled is clearly unfounded and intended to buttress a self-serving argument.
For one, the Warriors did not have Kevin Durant yet, and this iteration had won only one championship under its belt. In the Western Conference championship, this team even fell behind 1-3 against Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
To rank this team as the greatest ever assembled over the Chicago Bulls of the 90s who won NBA titles three times in a row, and even the Celtics and Showtime Lakers of the 80s is clearly preposterous.
The metric James used was simply erroneous because when you consider which is the greatest team assembled of all time, you refer to a team’s performance both in the regular season and the post-season.
In fact, in ESPN’s ranking of the greatest teams of all time, the 2014-2015 Warriors team which is essentially the same team that the Cavaliers defeated in that historic run James was referring to was only ranked 16.
First on the list is the 2016-2017 Warriors team (which swept James and Cavaliers in the Finals) and second is the 95-96 Chicago Bulls.
So, I’m not even going to make this about Michael Jordan. Unfortunately, James’s own arguments fall and fail under their own lack of merit.
LAST ROUND. It’s on one of my best and loyal buddies, Siegfred Melleza who celebrates his birthday this week. Cheers, Bro!