Kenny Smith has been making some headlines lately and not precisely for the best reasons. The 2x NBA champion has expressed his opinion on what it takes to be considered the GOAT of basketball, which players deserve to be named top 10 and who doesn’t.
He recently placed LeBron James at 10th on his all-time list, something that raised a lot of eyebrows around the league, but the Jet isn’t worried about that. In fact, he doubled down his comments on Thursday, claiming LeBron doesn’t even belong in the top 5 of all time.
When Charles Barkley questioned his selection for the top 10, Smith replied taking a shot at the young generations.
“They were saying he’s automatically a top-5 right this second,” Smith said. “I don’t like to argue with guys who don’t know history.”
Kenny Smith says LeBron James isn’t a top 5 player of all-time
“I don’t like to argue with guys who don’t know history.”
(🎥 @AhnFireDigital) pic.twitter.com/xXUYMmDyeF
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 10, 2020
It’s hard not to believe LeBron is a top 5 player of all time. It’s rare to see somebody making that claim, but Smith is firm in his beliefs. The King has enchanted the younger generations and a lot of people believe he has a good case to be the GOAT. Instead, when you ask old players and fans, they tell you Michael Jordan or any other player from the 70s, 80 or 80s, is the GOAT.
Smith is old school and he actually faced MJ and the likes of Magic, Bird and more. He doesn’t seem to be changing his mind anytime soon, so LeBron will have to live knowing Kenny Smith thinks he’s the 10th best player in NBA history.
