Post by Matt Ravis | WWLS Producer and Host | @MattRavis on Twitter
LeBron James is not the greatest player of all time.
It almost feels callous saying something like that, even though it shouldn’t, so soon after he became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
Certain folks on Twitter and Reddit will argue this until their fingertips fall off, but “LeBron James is the GOAT” will never be accepted in the mainstream.
It hardly matters. LeBron James’ legacy is different from Michael Jordan’s, and that’s okay. We should celebrate that. His career is a testament to longevity. Jordan’s star burned brighter, but James’ is going longer yet.
Jordan went undefeated in six NBA Finals. James made eight in a row, and ten total. Both are incredible accomplishments.
(Side note: Even if LeBron were the greatest, I’m still not sure he’d get a fair shake against Michael Jordan. Oftentimes these arguments are just proxies for a larger generational split — “my generation is better than yours,” is what most end up boiling down to. Over before they even began.)
The fact is that LeBron has played in 338 more games than Jordan — about four seasons worth. He’s also played over 12,000 more minutes. While Jordan aged more gracefully than 99% of superstars, LeBron has enjoyed what is essentially a 20 year prime.
There is a decent chance James will break Robert Parrish’s games played record, especially if he meets his goal of playing with his son, Bronny.
It also bears mentioning the eras these two players came up in. I often wonder how the public would have regarded Jordan if social media were around. While he had a carefully marketed public image, he was able to live in ways that would have James trending on social media.
It also feels to me like criticisms of LeBron enter the conversation externally — politics often drive peoples’ hatred of him. Any basketball judgment on James should only be centered around basketball.
But again: comparing these two players is practically useless. Their legacies are vastly different.
In the end, arguing about who’s the greatest of all time is a highly subjective matter. My criteria might be (and likely is!) different from yours. That said, if we polled NBA fans across the generations, I think about 90% would agree — Jordan is the best of all time.
But what if we asked a different question? “Who is the king of longevity in the NBA?” The answer would have to be LeBron. That will be his legacy.
