Why Lebron Will Never Be My Goat
The GOAT Debate is a debate that will never end, but everybody is entitled to a opinion. But lots of people either choose Lebron James or Michael Jordan as their GOAT. Today I will be telling you why Lebron will never be my GOAT.
4-6 Is Better Than 6-0
One of the dumbest arguments for Lebron being the GOAT is that his 4-6 record in the Finals is better than Michael’s 6-0 record. This is simply not true. I know that Lebron has been at a disadvantage for most of his finals’ losses, this shouldn’t be an excuse. The only reason Lebron made it to most of his Finals was because the East was very easy and didn’t face a great team most years. Michael played in a much different era with much less spacing and much more defense. And he still led the league in scoring well into his 30′, far removed to when he was in his 20s.
And there is a huge difference between making the Finals and winning the Finals. Lebron has lost more than he has won, and that is all that matters. And to the people who said Lebron faced better comp. in the Finals, this is probably true. But this is only true because Jordan and the Bulls were the best team in the league every single season, and was the reason that they ruled over the league like they did. Lebron has always had a weaker conference that he can just bully his way to the Finals, just to lose to a superior team. There is no point in whining about Lebron facing the Steph, KD, and Klay Warriors because that changes nothing. Jordan faced a lot of good teams in the East and in the Finals, and he still went 6-0 in the Finals.
Jordan Played Against Plumbers
Another argument that Lebron fans love to pull out is that Jordan played against plumbers. As we have gone through the years of the NBA, there has been more and more good talent entering the league. The average player is better than ever and the league is filled with stars. The league overall is better than when Jordan was dominating the 90s. But that is not to take away from the greatness of MJ. But MJ played against very tough opponents, both very physical and talented. When Jordan entered the league, it was stacked. Magic, Bird, Thomas, Olajuwon, Malone, Stockton, Barkley, Moses Malone, Julius Erving. Other guys like Alonzo Mourning, Shaq, Kobe, Ewing, and Penny Hardaway would emerge as threats later on in his career. Michael played against some very talented players, and some of the greatest to ever play the game.
So although Lebron is facing the best NBA that we’ve ever seen, that’s not to take away from the greatness of MJ. Michael played in an era with no spacing and a lot of hard-nosed defense. Something that I doubt Lebron could handle as he constantly looks for fouls even in the softest era of the league that we’ve have to date. So I think that’s it fair to call Lebron’s competition over the entire league to be better, but it’s not like Jordan played against scrubs.
2011 NBA Finals and The 2015 NBA Finals
My final reason for why Lebron will never be my GOAT are two specific examples of Lebron not coming through in the clutch. The first one is the 2011 NBA Finals, and if you’ve followed the GOAT debate for a while, this particular series vs the Mavs gets brought up a lot for good reason. Lebron James and his newly formed superteam with D-Wade and Chris Bosh bragged about how easy this was going to be and how they would crush the rest of the league. This put an immediate target on their backs, and for the right reasons. The Heat still made it to the Finals, where they were the heavy favorites vs the Mavericks.
Here is Lebron’s stats for this entire series:
Game 1: 24 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists. 56% from the field and 80% from 3. Offensive Rating of 149 and Defensive Rating of 101
Game 2: 20 points and 8 rebounds. 5 turnovers. 53% from the field and 29% from 3. Offensive Rating of 99 and Defensive Rating of 101.
Game 3: 17 points and 9 assists. 2 steals. 43% from the field and 25% from 3. Offensive Rating of 104 and Defensive Rating of 108
Game 4: 8 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists with 2 steals. 27% from the field and 0% from 3. Offensive Rating of 75 and Defensive Rating of 104.
Game 5: 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. 42% from the field and 0% from 3. Offensive Rating of 98 and Defensive Rating of 131,
Game 6: 21 points and 6 assists with 6 turnovers. 60% from the field and 40% from 3. Offensive Rating of 97 and Defensive Rating of 115.
Lebron never scored more than 25 points in this series as he was ice cold. For the series, James averaged 17.8 points, the lowest of the big 3. James also averaged 7 boards and 7 assists along with 2 steals per game. James shot just 48% from the field and 32% from 3. James had 24 turnovers in the series, averaging 4 per game. James had an offensive rating of just 102 (very low for James).
And to add insult to injury, James let Jason Terry cook him in the Finals. Terry averaged 18 points off the bench and was 2nd on the Mavs in scoring for the series. Terry shot 49% from the field and 39% from 3.
So James really dropped the ball here. He scored 8 points in a game and didn’t even break the 25+point mark. He struggled to defend Jason Terry and he was the sole reason that the Heat lost this series.
Another example of Lebron coming up small is the 2015 NBA Finals. But people will say Lebron didn’t have Kyrie or Kevin Love for the majority of this series. This is true. But with the Cavaliers leading 2-1 in the series vs a reeling Warriors team, Lebron had a chance to put them away. He failed to do so.
In Game 4, the Cavs needed a win to end the series and go up 3-1. The Warriors needed it to stay alive in the series headed back to Oracle Arena for Game 5. Lebron James had a chance for ring #3 just one year removed from Miami. And he sold the bag.
James shot 7/22 from the field (32%) and 1/4 from 3 (25%). James also had 12 rebounds and 8 assists. But James finished with just 20 points as the Warriors won by 20. Timofey Mozgov had 28 points, leading the Cavs.
And Lebron struggled defensively to handle Andre Iguodala, the Finals MVP of the series. Iggy had 22 points and 8 rebounds while shooting a red hot 53% from the field and 44% from 3. He was great on both ends, making Lebron look like 2011 all over again.
These two moments for me showed me that Lebron couldn’t handle all that was thrown at him. He failed to deliver in two big moments, while Michael has countless stories of him coming up big in the Finals, when it mattered most.
I highlighted just a few key points why Lebron will never be my GOAT. His 4-6 record is meaningless compared to MJ’s 6-0. MJ never played against plumbers and arguably played against better competition for most of his career. And two times in the Finals, two times Lebron could have won, he lost. He choked in 2011, failing to score over 25 points in a singe game and let Jason Terry score nearly 20 points per game. And in Game 4 of the 2015 Finals with a chance to put the Warriors away. He shot 32% from the field and let Timofey Mozgov be the leading scorer. He also let Finals MVP Andre Iguodala cook him for 22 points that night.
These are just some of the reasons that Lebron will never be my GOAT.
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