LeBron James may be the only one who sees nothing wrong with him saying he’s the greatest player of all the time.
The Los Angeles Lakers star said he knew he was The GOAT in ESPN’s series “More Than An Athlete” after the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a 3-1 deficit and beat the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals. Kevin McHale already publicly criticized James for his comments, and a near 10-year-old interview with Michael Jordan resurfaced saying he cringes when he’s referred to as The GOAT.
Now you can add Danny Ainge to the growing list of people who don’t agree with James crowning himself the greatest. During his Thursday appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher & Rich,” the Boston Celtics president of basketball operations said he doesn’t know if anyone really knows who the true greatest player is.
“His career’s not over,” Ainge said, as transcribed by CBS Sports. “I’d just like to … why he’s saying that, I don’t know. Maybe he thinks that that sells. Maybe he’s taking the Donald Trump approach and trying to sell himself. I don’t know. Obviously LeBron is in every conversation with who is the greatest player of all-time. But time will tell. I don’t know if anyone knows who the greatest of all-time is, because the years are so different.”
Ainge did say, however, that James can say he is better than one player in particular.
“LeBron went to the Finals,” he added. “I would have to say (he’s better than Larry Bird), just because he was able to have more durability and play at a top level of his game for longer.”
This conversation likely is far from over and probably will continue long after James calls it a career.
