There is no concrete answer as to who is the greatest player in NBA history, but a number of players are brought up in that debate and many of them wore the purple and gold of the Los Angeles Lakers. Aside from Michael Jordan, the list regularly includes LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant, just to name a few.
When James himself was asked about his place amongst the greats, he unsurprisingly put himself at the top of the list, but also feels that every other legend in that discussion would do the same, via Sean Gregory of Time Magazine:
Whenever James hangs up his sneakers, he’ll put a bow on an unprecedented journey. “I just knew the police sirens and all that type of sh-t was not for me,” he says. “I knew that the handcuffs was not for me.” And while James won’t directly make the case that he’s the most influential athlete of the past half-century, on the barroom debate about the basketball GOAT, he doesn’t hesitate.
“I’m not taking nobody over me,” says James. “There’s no question. But I think Mike will say the same thing. Rest his soul, Kobe will say the same thing. Magic will say the same thing. Bird will say the same thing. Shaq could say the same thing. The late great Wilt. Kareem. I don’t think none of us are going to take somebody else. If there’s a general manager and he’s eyeballing all of us on a baseline, with the No. 1 pick, it’s gonna be hard not to take me, champ.”
James is absolutely right in that mindset being the case of basically every all-time great. Having that level of belief in yourself is necessary to achieve that level of success in the NBA and every other sport and James has every right to put himself above everyone else in NBA history.
Most would admit that, at the very least, James has put forth the greatest career in basketball with no one else even playing 23 years in the NBA, let alone still being one of the best players in the league at 41 years old.
LeBron James declines comment on taking pay cut to stay with Lakers
A lot of factors will go into whether James will play another season and if he will return to the Lakers if he does come back. One of those will be money and some have wondered if James would be willing to take a pay cut, but he chose not to answer that question.
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