After a wonderful career, which hasn’t ended yet, LeBron James is considered the best basketball player on earth and one of the biggest in history right now. The Los Angeles Lakers star is often part of the GOAT debate, but not everybody is sold on that idea.
Bron surely has done a lot for the game to be considered one of the greatest, but for former NBA players-turned-analyst Jalen Rose, he still has some work to do before being actually part of the all-time greats conversation. On Monday’s episode of ESPN’s ‘Get Up’, Rose named four players that LeBron needs to surpass before being part of the GOAT convo.
He said the King is yet to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, and Magic Johnson before getting close to Jordan, explaining that leadership, skills, records and achievements made the case for those three names.
“First and foremost, we can’t have an MJ versus LeBron conversation because LeBron got to beat some other people on Mount Rushmore, everyone. There are some people that played basketball that have accomplished some things and achieved a level of greatness that LeBron just has not been able to do. You want me to name them for you? Besides Michael Jordan? You’ve ever heard of a guy named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? You’ve ever heard of a guy named Bull Russell? You’ve ever heard of a guy named Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson? When did LeBron pass Magic? Did I miss something?”
"There are some people that played basketball that have accomplished some things, and achieved a level of greatness, that LeBron just has not been able to do."@JalenRose still thinks LeBron has more players than just MJ to pass on the "greatest ever" list. pic.twitter.com/k6LfpKx9uW
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) April 20, 2020
This is a never-ending debate, but it looks like things are a little clearer after Michael Jordan’s documentary premiered on Sunday. This has reminded a lot of people why MJ is considered the greatest of all time for all the spectacular stuff he did during his tenure with the Chicago Bulls.
LeBron James is often part of that conversation for young fans, but for Jalen Rose, LBJ still has to go past other greats before being compared to the greatest of all time.
