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My unsolicited opinion is that Lebron is the goat because of his level of sustained excellence. 8 Straight finals on 3 different teams and 4 rings overall is ac

My unsolicited opinion is that Lebron is the goat because of his level of sustained excellence. 8 Straight finals on 3 different teams and 4 rings overall is actually mind boggling when you think about it. Every team Lebron left became a bottom feeder and lottery candidate and every team he joined instantly became a contender. Number 1 in points, currently 4 in assists, 9 or 10 in rebounds the numbers are just absurd. The totality of his game is unreal. I can admit MJ had a higher peak and was probably the better competitor but when he "retired" in the 93-94 season the Bulls still made it to the second round in the playoffs and barely lost to the Knicks in 7 games who then made it to the finals. Lebron never had a team like that outside Miami and even with only 2 rings they were definitely dominant.

panick21_ 4y ago
> Every team Lebron left became a bottom feeder and lottery candidate Yeah but partly that is because those teams traded everything they could trade, spend a huge amount of money, and once Lebron left they had to blow it all up. Trade their remaining good players, most of them specifically acquired to be good fits with Lebron but not that useful by themselves. In that sense Lebron basically did 'Slash and Burn agriculture'. He uses up all local resources, and then sets up a plan to move on, using his influence to engineer a good new situation. He then moves to that place, uses all the resources, and then moves on. > every team he joined instantly became a contender Because he picked teams to go to that he knew would be contenders. Are we just gone act he didn't engineer this situations? Like, its not that he went to some shit teams and made them good. He pick and built situations so he would join amazingly good team mates. He had 2 teams who had absurdly good 'Big 3s'. > 8 Straight finals on 3 different teams It should be noted that this is partly because he was in an incredibly bad eastern conference. Like absolutely historically terrible. And this is not some 'Lebron hater' take, if you look at the statistics like SRS for the other teams in the East in those 8 years, none of them were great. A few decent teams, but that it. The best teams he faces was the aging Celtics in 2011 and then the Bulls. Bulls were only around a short time and were a defense first team with a very young star (young stars basically never win in the NBA). The Bulls might have been competition but Rose got hurt. So for the next 6 years the competition was basically, Raptors and the Pacers, neither were all that good. While Lebron had a Big 3, the Pacers had basically had , and the Raptors basically ha no real star player. Who is the best player Lebron beat in 8 years going to the East finals? How many Top 10 players? So while its impressive he didn't make a mistake, and its impressive he pulled some of those old cavs teams to the finals, its isn't as monumental an achievement as its made out to be. > Lebron never had a team like that outside Miami Some of the second Cavs teams were pretty fantastic actually. Like seriously, the amount of talent on them was crazy. We also have to remember that Jordan had basically nothing on his team for years and had to face the Celtics (literally one of the best teams in history) and then Bad Boy Pistons (historically great team).
jackschultz 4y ago
Took a while for someone to bring up the 8 straight finals with 3 teams. Even with one team, making 8 finals appearances in a row is astounding. Stats against different generations are impossible to compare for any sport, but that many times in a row on the final two teams in giant playoffs, in a sport where the better teams do win (compared to something like NFL or MLB where it's much more toss ups in playoffs), can easily get people to consider him the best.
- jjfoooo4 4y ago
  I still think that his last finals run with the Cavs is the most impressive basketball accomplishment I’ve ever seen. That supporting cast was mediocre to bad, and they came a JR Smith all time blunder from beating a super team.

panick21_ 4y ago

> Every team Lebron left became a bottom feeder and lottery candidate Yeah but partly that is because those teams traded everything they could trade, spend a huge amount of money, and once Lebron left they had to blow it all up. Trade their remaining good players, most of them specifically acquired to be good fits with Lebron but not that useful by themselves. In that sense Lebron basically did 'Slash and Burn agriculture'. He uses up all local resources, and then sets up a plan to move on, using his influence to engineer a good new situation. He then moves to that place, uses all the resources, and then moves on. > every team he joined instantly became a contender Because he picked teams to go to that he knew would be contenders. Are we just gone act he didn't engineer this situations? Like, its not that he went to some shit teams and made them good. He pick and built situations so he would join amazingly good team mates. He had 2 teams who had absurdly good 'Big 3s'. > 8 Straight finals on 3 different teams It should be noted that this is partly because he was in an incredibly bad eastern conference. Like absolutely historically terrible. And this is not some 'Lebron hater' take, if you look at the statistics like SRS for the other teams in the East in those 8 years, none of them were great. A few decent teams, but that it. The best teams he faces was the aging Celtics in 2011 and then the Bulls. Bulls were only around a short time and were a defense first team with a very young star (young stars basically never win in the NBA). The Bulls might have been competition but Rose got hurt. So for the next 6 years the competition was basically, Raptors and the Pacers, neither were all that good. While Lebron had a Big 3, the Pacers had basically had , and the Raptors basically ha no real star player. Who is the best player Lebron beat in 8 years going to the East finals? How many Top 10 players? So while its impressive he didn't make a mistake, and its impressive he pulled some of those old cavs teams to the finals, its isn't as monumental an achievement as its made out to be. > Lebron never had a team like that outside Miami Some of the second Cavs teams were pretty fantastic actually. Like seriously, the amount of talent on them was crazy. We also have to remember that Jordan had basically nothing on his team for years and had to face the Celtics (literally one of the best teams in history) and then Bad Boy Pistons (historically great team).

jackschultz 4y ago

Took a while for someone to bring up the 8 straight finals with 3 teams. Even with one team, making 8 finals appearances in a row is astounding. Stats against different generations are impossible to compare for any sport, but that many times in a row on the final two teams in giant playoffs, in a sport where the better teams do win (compared to something like NFL or MLB where it's much more toss ups in playoffs), can easily get people to consider him the best.

jjfoooo4 4y ago
I still think that his last finals run with the Cavs is the most impressive basketball accomplishment I’ve ever seen. That supporting cast was mediocre to bad, and they came a JR Smith all time blunder from beating a super team.