Spider-Noir star Lamorne Morris is a Chicago native and a huge basketball fan, so you’d assume he’d side with Michael Jordan in the GOAT debate over LeBron James, right? Well, Screenrant’s Liam Crowley made that very same assumption during a recent interview and got quite the shock after saying he could imagine where Morris stands in the GOAT debate.
“Yeah, LeBron James,” Morris said.
Morris hilariously asked a surprised Crowley if there are people who think otherwise. The interviewer said he assumed everyone from Chicago would go with Jordan, as he won the city six NBA championships.
“No, I think people in Chicago know too,” Morris said. “They’re just in denial. I’m from Chicago, and one thing I do know about my people, we’re in denial. That’s what they always said about Chicagoans. They go, we love Chicagoans, great people, Midwestern charm, great vibes, in denial. 100%.”
That might not go down too well in Chicago.
Crowley then pointed out that James threw a lob to his son and Los Angeles Lakers teammate Bronny James in the playoffs.
“If that don’t make you the GOAT,” Morris said. “… You can’t argue against Michael Jordan being the GOAT, right? For people who say he’s the GOAT, sure, have it. But I feel like… there’s a double standard about it. Somebody posted a clip the other day, a friend of mine, DeMarcus, shout out to this a***ole. He said, ‘LeBron James is one loss away from being swept four times in the playoffs.’
“He made it like a whole thing,” Morris continued. “… I said, ‘Michael Jordan was also swept that many times. Kobe Bryant was swept a bunch of times.’ I was like, ‘Shut up.’ There’s this weird double standard with LeBron… Skip Bayless has him at No. 9 all-time, which is so silly to me.”
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Skip Bayless does have James at ninth in his all-time rankings. That does indeed sound silly to most people.
James is now widely regarded as, at worst, the second-greatest player of all time. The 41-year-old has won four titles, four Finals MVPs, four MVPs, one scoring title, and one assists title. Despite his age, James is still going strong. He is already the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and is putting that record, and many others, beyond reach for everyone else. The longevity is incredible.
At this point, Jordan is really the one who has an argument to be above James. He won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, one DPOY, and 10 scoring titles.
Jordan didn’t have James’ longevity, but he dominated the 1990s in a way that few players have dominated a decade in any sport. He three-peated twice with the Chicago Bulls, first from 1991 to 1993 and then from 1996 to 1998.
Morris doesn’t take issue with anyone picking Jordan as the GOAT, but wishes the double standard that exists when it comes to James would go away. The 42-year-old was a bit off with the numbers, though.
Jordan was swept twice in his career, Kobe Bryant thrice, and James four times. Now, when you’ve played a record-breaking 23 seasons, it is to be expected that you’d get swept more. That’s not the deciding factor in the GOAT debate that some might think it to be.
Unlike Jordan, James could still add to his resume as well. It will be interesting to see what it looks like when he walks away from the game.
