The further along that LeBron James gets in his NBA career, the more prominent the conversations regarding his legacy and where he ranks among the greatest players are.
Former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson weighed in on the discussion during an interview with Oliver Maroney of Uproxx prior to the 2017 NBA Finals, stating that he believes James is the second-best player of all-time behind only Michael Jordan.
Is he in the conversation? Look, I don’t do the whole ‘is LeBron better than Michael’ argument because I personally feel like Kobe Bryant is more comparable to Michael Jordan in terms of how they play the game. They’re both skilled players with a jump shot, one-on-one, iso, kind of mentality. But, LeBron? He’s a completely different player. He’s more of a Magic Johnson type. So for me to sit here and say ‘LeBron is better than Michael’ is dumb.
Obviously, Michael Jordan is the greatest, but LeBron is also the greatest because of what they do. To me, they’re one and two. I’m a little biased because I played with the man, I got to see the amount of time he put in with his body, what he ate, to the time he put in on the court.
Although Gibson may be a bit biased given that he played four seasons with James in Cleveland, the 32-year-old has put together quite an impressive resume. This includes 13 All-Star Game selections, four NBA MVP awards, three NBA titles, three NBA Finals MVP awards, 11 All-NBA First Team nods, two All-NBA Second Team selections, five NBA ALL-Defensive First Team nods, and an NBA All-Defensive Second Team selection.
James holds various NBA and franchise records for the Cavaliers that will foreseeably see him add several more over the remainder of his career. He also has all the physical traits and keen knowledge of the game that has only lent extremely well to his success on the court throughout his first 14 seasons.
It may be hard to place him above Jordan or some of the greats to play the game such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, but he has continued quite a strong case to be mentioned alongside these Hall of Famers.