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Sports Daily: LeBron's Declaration

  01:22 PM - February 12, 2014 by RaychelSnr

Hey look everyone, it's LeBron James again. He can dunk and he can talk -- about himself even.

In an interview that will air on NBA TV this coming Monday, "King James" declared:

Quote:
"I'm going to be one of the top four that's ever played this game, for sure. And if they don't want me to have one of those top four spots, they'd better find another spot on that mountain. Somebody's gotta get bumped, but that's not for me to decide. That's for the architects."

While he may have a point should his career continue without any major hitches or drop-off in performance, many feel it's awkward to hear someone speak of their own legacy in such a way.

Sound Off: Do you have a problem with LeBron James declaring himself one of the four greatest players ever?

Sports Headlines for February 12, 2014

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Member Comments
# 1 BringTheHeat @ 02/12/14 01:32 PM
So I guess I'll start and take the initial smacking..lol.

No problem at all with him saying that. He's already the best SF of all time. He's just like Mike in regards to doing everything well, just LeBron is doing it more efficiently (as far as FG%). Mike is still the GOAT, followed by Wilt, Magic, and Kareem. But LeBron is knocking at the door.
 
# 2 RipCityAndy @ 02/12/14 01:41 PM
I'm not going to say where he ranks, but I don't think it's top 5. I even question if it's top 10. I'm sure Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell, Dr. J, Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Scottie Pippen, and Wilt Chamberlain may have something to say in response, “King James.”

Declaring himself "top 4" is arrogant and disrespectful to the players that came before him. Is it even appropriate to make this statement considering he isn't even a unanimous MVP this year?

But then again... I don't think anyone ever accused him of being humble.
 
# 3 Vni @ 02/12/14 01:42 PM
Queen James likes the attention.

I don't know, it's almost like he's forcing himself to say stuff like this. I think it's just fine if he means it. You should always aim to be the best as a competitor nothing wrong with that.
 
# 4 The 24th Letter @ 02/12/14 01:48 PM
If you watch the interview....see the smile on his face...then the context is a lot better than how it looks here.....no issues with what he said either way...

I can't wait to see the rest of that interview honestly...
 
# 5 AlexBrady @ 02/12/14 01:59 PM
You can't compare big guys to smalls and mediums because the job requirements are too different.

For small forwards, John Havlicek and Scottie Pippen were more complete than LeBron is. They were role type players though, rather than lead actors.

These greatest ever talks need time to cool down. You need to wait four or five years after a guy retires to put it all in perspective.
 
# 6 ehh @ 02/12/14 02:00 PM
Meh, why not?

It's difficult to rank the old timers but I'm pretty comfortable in saying that he's probably going to be the second best player behind MJ that entered the league after 1975.
 
# 7 ehh @ 02/12/14 02:06 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexBrady
For small forwards, John Havlicek and Scottie Pippen were more complete than LeBron is. They were role type players though, rather than lead actors.
Pippen was not a more complete player than LeBron. Not a chance. Hell, Pippen is almost a poor man's LeBron in many aspects outside of physical strength in which there's obviously no comparison.

The holy trinity of former players that are for some reason untouchable when it comes to fans today are:
  • Scottie Pippen
  • Hakeem Olajuwon
  • Reggie Miller
 
# 8 ehh @ 02/12/14 02:10 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by RipCityAndy
I'm not going to say where he ranks, but I don't think it's top 5. I even question if it's top 10. I'm sure Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell, Dr. J, Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Scottie Pippen, and Wilt Chamberlain may have something to say in response, “King James.”
I'd take LeBron over Malone, Kobe and Scottie Pippen (!?) without hesitation. As much as a love Duncan it's becoming pretty clear that LeBron is going to surpass him. No mention of Bird btw?
 
# 9 The 24th Letter @ 02/12/14 02:14 PM
The 3rd part of LeBrons career should be very interesting....I'm intrigued to see what "old manl" LeBron is like...
 
# 10 lilteapot @ 02/12/14 02:16 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by RipCityAndy
I'm not going to say where he ranks, but I don't think it's top 5. I even question if it's top 10. I'm sure Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell, Dr. J, Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Scottie Pippen, and Wilt Chamberlain may have something to say in response, “King James.”

Declaring himself "top 4" is arrogant and disrespectful to the players that came before him. Is it even appropriate to make this statement considering he isn't even a unanimous MVP this year?

But then again... I don't think anyone ever accused him of being humble.
He didn't declare himself top 4 right now, he said he expects himself to be up there by the end of his career.

Also like the 24th letter said, if you watch the video it sounds a lot less arrogant than it comes off.
 
# 11 AlexBrady @ 02/12/14 02:20 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by ehh
No mention of Bird btw?
The key to Bird's game was his anticipation. No player in history could see the game like he did. A lot of people think he was one of the all time pure shooters, which isn't true. Bird and LeBron is a toss-up.
 
# 12 ehh @ 02/12/14 02:23 PM
His sixth sense was absurd. So smart and could see things happening before they happened - without unnecessary gambling. No one else had that uncanny combination.
 
# 13 ojandpizza @ 02/12/14 02:56 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by RipCityAndy
I'm not going to say where he ranks, but I don't think it's top 5. I even question if it's top 10. I'm sure Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell, Dr. J, Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Scottie Pippen, and Wilt Chamberlain may have something to say in response, “King James.”



Declaring himself "top 4" is arrogant and disrespectful to the players that came before him. Is it even appropriate to make this statement considering he isn't even a unanimous MVP this year?



But then again... I don't think anyone ever accused him of being humble.

You listed off some great guys but completely lost credibility by mentioning Pippen, Malone, and Dr. J... Those 3 don't even compare with guys at the very top and probably wouldn't even crack most people's top 10 to 15 of all time.
 
# 14 BleacherBum2310 @ 02/12/14 03:13 PM
I hate comparing players especially when they played in different eras. You Simply don't know who would be one on one.

Bird has to be up there. I liked Lebron's list tho i guess.
 
# 15 grodbetatted @ 02/12/14 03:34 PM
The only people that will disagree with him are people who don't like him... Numbers don't lie
 
# 16 Retropyro @ 02/12/14 03:45 PM
What do they expect these guys to say when asked the question? And he gets asked a lot. It really is a dumb question as you just can't compare the different era's of the game
 
# 17 ojandpizza @ 02/12/14 03:55 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by ehh
The holy trinity of former players that are for some reason untouchable when it comes to fans today are:
  • Scottie Pippen
  • Hakeem Olajuwon
  • Reggie Miller

This ain't no ****ing joke!
 
# 18 RipCityAndy @ 02/12/14 04:44 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by ojandpizza
You listed off some great guys but completely lost credibility by mentioning Pippen, Malone, and Dr. J... Those 3 don't even compare with guys at the very top and probably wouldn't even crack most people's top 10 to 15 of all time.
Dr. J was phenomenal - he was the Michael Jordan of his time. Karl Malone is the #2 all-time leading scorer. Scottie Pippen won 6 titles with MJ. None of the three should be dismissed easily.

I didn't mention Bird, Magic, or MJ because LeBron already included them as the easy top 3.
 
# 19 RipCityAndy @ 02/12/14 04:46 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by ehh
I'd take LeBron over Malone, Kobe and Scottie Pippen (!?) without hesitation. As much as a love Duncan it's becoming pretty clear that LeBron is going to surpass him. No mention of Bird btw?
LBJ already mentioned Bird, Magic, and MJ - hence the omission.
 
# 20 ProfessaPackMan @ 02/12/14 04:53 PM
Random but how come Tim Duncan never gets talked about being one of the top 4-5 players to have played the game? Always noticed his name never comes up in that conversation although it pops up when expanding it to Top 10 players of all time.
 

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