LeBron James Wants to Be ‘the Best of All Time’

Why not? I don’t expect a player of his caliber to think differently.

People should stop saying that he has to win 6 to be compared to Jordan. While he is widely considered the GOAT and rightfully so, we need to remember that there was never a peer for him while he was winning. LeBron has won now with Kobe still playing and now has Durant as competition much like the Bird-Magic era. If he wins 4 and adds more regular season MVP awards and is the Finals MVP of all the Finals series he wins, I wish someone would try to say that they don’t belong in the same sentence. Add that to the fact that he will probably keep his 27, 7 and 7 average for the foreseeable future. If he wins 2 more, I think he will deserve to be thought of as greater than Kobe given the fact that Kobe will end up with only 2 as the best player on his team (Dwight is the best player on that team now). We all will have to wait and see. But the opportunity for LeBron to tie Jordan is there.

Its surely possible it can be done as LBJ’s talent is through the roof, the Heats lineup & bench is really strong & versatile so chances are really high for the next 2 years. LBJ honestly needs to atleast 3-4 rings or even current player KB 5 rings before you can easily put him there with the greats in the top 5. But by sheer physical Girth LBJ is unmatched

I don’t think LeBron needs 4-5 rings to be considered a Top-3/5 great because quite a few people have Bird/Wilt in their Top-5 (even in their Top-2) and those cats won 2/3 rings. Sheeeeeeeit…I have Hakeem in my Top-5 and he “only” won 2.

I’d hate Lebron if he had lesser goals.

Or I watched every game. Who tells someone to shut up in a comment section? What are you, ten years old? Name Jordan’s rival during the 90s.

Clearly bron bron has been chatting w/ mario chalmers & finals failure, kd, too much.

Lebron has fallen short of expectations several times already during pivotal playoff series. Orlando ’09, Boston ’10, Dallas ’11. To be fair, his teams were favored to win in all three of those series. I think that he is unquestionably the best player in the league, but those past shortcomings will have some negative impact on how his career will be viewed when it’s all said and done. What’s really interesting is that if he played in those series at all like he did in last season’s playoffs, he’d have at least two rings by now.

except lebron of course he definitely is something special but not as special as mike

Just because his rivals didn’t play the same position, doesn’t mean they weren’t rivals. Barkley was pretty damn good, so was Hakeem (unfortunately, they never met in the Finals), so was Drexler, so was Ewing, so was Reggie, Payton, etc.

I thought he wanted to be the worst of all time..

I’m torn because Lebron might be my favorite player in the league but I grew up as a Lakers fan. For Lebron to add to his legacy he would have to beat my team these next two years and I don’t believe it will happen. Now if LBJ gets MVP those 2 years and signs with the Lakers in 14 then we’re talkin’. He would finish his career with an absurd amount of MVPs and 3-4 rings. That’s pretty damn good for the competetion that is in the NBA right now.

Exactly. Jordan is in a class of his own

I think LeBron is already third best I’ve ever seen after Jordan and shaq.

Just curious if you’ve got the same top 5 as me :

1. Magic
2. Jordan
3. Bird
4. Hakeem
5. Wilt

Man please…..this dude inst surpassing Michael Jordan. If Dwight is fully healthy, he’s not even going to repeat. People are quick to bring up that Kobe doesn’t match up to MJ statistically….NEITHER DOES LEBRON. I’m not sure if lebron can pass Bird who’s just as good statically as this guy and had the intangibles.

That’s not the real question. The 90′s are stacked with all-time greats. The problem is, the leage expanded rapidly, but international talent were nowhere yet. Jordan was easily the best in the 90′s, and had another superstar in Pippen, and quality role players. The competition usually had 2 superstars too, but none of them were Jordan’s caliber. So yes, there’s was no real rival, AND there was no team with three superstar caliber to fight the Bulls effectively. However, in the 80′s, where teams had 3-4 superstars, like Lakers, Celtics, etc, Jordan plain simply sucked. 0-8 against a prime Bird in playoffs, for example. So, while the 90′s were a great are considering individual talents, lacked great team’s comparable to other eras, except the Bulls. Therefore Jordan’s dominance in the 90′s doesn’t automatically means, he was the GOAT. He’s clear top five, and best retired SG yet, but not much more.

Fair enough

no matter what, he will be regarded as one of the better players of the league. Stop hating and just appreciate the talent.

Jordan didn’t suck in the 80s…his teammates sucked. He had a hard time getting through Detroit and he lost against Bird and the Celtics. But during his prime years, there was no player regardless of position that was really close enough in skill/talent/mindset to challenge him. The reason I think he is the best of all time is because of his dominance on both ends of the floor and the fact that he was 6/6 in the Finals. But I say that LeBron could tie him with MVP awards and separating himself from the competition considerably the way Jordan did in the 90s. There were superstars in the 90s, but Jordan was on a level by himself…the way LeBron is putting himself on a level by himself. If he maintains that level and wins more MVP awards, he and Durant end up meeting in the Finals a couple of times (which I think they will), and LeBron continues to beat him, the MJ-LeBron discussion will be better than the MJ-Kobe discussion that people used to have.

OK. No arguing that early Mike put up insane stats, but to say those were his best seasons is arguable. Those Bulls teams were not very good for sure with Dave Corzine, Gene Banks and Earl Cureton logging heavy minutes. But Mike really didn’t become the GOAT until the 90s imo. James has a shot, but if we only look at accomplishments, why are noone comparing James to Bird, at least for now? Stats: Very similar across the board, with Bird being the better rebounder and shooter. Defense: Bird was considered elite the first half of his career, whilst he was considered mediocre later in his career. With James it’s the other way around. Both are exeptional passers. Both has 3 MVPs at this stage. After 9 seasons in the L, Bird had also won 3 ‘ships. James has 1, but is younger. Both start as oversized SFs, but really just played/plays basketball (whatever it takes). Just saying that I think the Bird-James comparison is better than the Bird-Nowitzki comparison (has never made sense to me apart from both being tall and blond, which has nothing to do with basketball). I still think Bird is the best small forward ever, but eventually, probably very soon (maybe this season), that title will belong to James.

When Jordan started winning titles they were on their way out, but we aint comparing anyone looking only at the seasons they won titles in maannnn get outta here, Jordan proved he was better than them before he started winning titles they just had better teams.

Shaq was drafted in ’92 man thats six year while Mike was winning get outta here.

The Glove can check anybody in your list, as can Joe Dumars and I have a feeling Scottie Pippen can make Durant cry there is no defender nowadays like Scottie Pippen back then, Mitch and Drex of course, Kevin Johnson, Penny, Kidd and John Stockton now you try again

6/6 in Finals, or not loosing in Finals is overrated. It means, when the Bulls weren’t the best, they failed earlier. I can’t see how playing and winning 6 Finals in 15 years shows more dominance than playing 12 in 13 seasons, and winning all but 1.

You mean 5 more championships with finals MVP. Jordan was finals MVP every time!

Why do u always talk about yrself in the 3rd peson man? It’s kinda weird and a bit creepy. Yr like that midget dude in Seinfeld