Lakers star LeBron James may be the face of NBA basketball, but not everyone views him favorably. In a chat with WWE champ Cody Rhodes on ‘What Do You Wanna Talk About?’, future Hall of Famer Randy Orton made his opinion of the King abundantly clear.
Cody Rhodes: “There’s a GOAT conversation between Michael Jordan and LeBron James…”
Randy Orton: “F**k LeBron.”
It’s not a new thing to harbor great resentment toward LeBron James, but it was still a shock for many fans to hear a fellow athlete speak so brazenly about an icon of the sports world. Many agree that it was a step too far.
Randy taking his villain role TOO far now bruh 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
— 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅 🏆 (@PurpGolded) August 15, 2024
Anyone with the celebrity status of LeBron is always going to have a large group of haters and supporters, but this “beef” still feels somewhat random given that LeBron has had minimal dealings with the WWE or the sport of wrestling.
LeBron finding out Randy Orton has beef with him https://t.co/n3tsGUsoV1 https://t.co/rp3ioFcdLw
— Public Enemies Podcast (@PublicEnemiesHQ) August 15, 2024
Interestingly, there is a section of fans who agree with Orton’s take on James. While his resume is unmatched in NBA history, a lot of people are just simply not ready to put LeBron in the same stratosphere as Michael Jordan or even Kobe Bryant.
Salute to Randy Orton.
🖕🏿 Lebron and the fake goat debate https://t.co/4kxRtJO59h pic.twitter.com/WUTTehmrex
— Apex Jones (@ApexJones22) August 15, 2024
As a 21-year NBA veteran, LeBron James has been in these conversations for years now but it seems people are only growing more passionate about the topic. In the case of Randy Orton, nobody knows why he has such disdain for LeBron, but he’s not the first one to speak like this about the 4x champion.
In a similar situation, UFC fighter Colby Covington had a whole campaign against LeBron James back in 2020, during the peak of the pandemic. He called LeBron a “spineless coward” and a “b*tch” in front of the world and has yet to express any regret over the comments.
The truth is, LeBron’s success and political alignment have made him a target of criticism for countless individuals, and no matter what he says or does, there will always be someone ready to speak out against it. The fact that he is challenging Michael Jordan as the GOAT only turns up the level of vitriol he receives.
As a 4x champion, 4x MVP, 20x All-Star, and 20x All-NBA player, James has, arguably the best resume of any player in basketball history. He’s been going for 20 years at this point and his journey is not yet finished. While Michael Jordan may be a 5x MVP and 6x champion, LeBron is also the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with a total of 40,474 points to his name (and counting).
After decades of greatness and plenty of accolades to show for it, LeBron’s GOAT case has never been stronger and he still has time to build it up over the next few years. So, much to the displeasure of Randy Orton and others, LeBron isn’t going anywhere and he will stay in the headlines for a long time to come.
Love him or hate him, LeBron James is not going to change for anyone and he’s going to stand by his values no matter how many people might disagree. For now, James has not responded to Orton’s statement but it’s likely he will follow his typical routine and ignore him just like the countless other critics that he’s encountered over the years.
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