The Finals are over and the dust has settled.  The Golden State Warriors avenged last years melt down and beat the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers 4 games to 1.  The Warriors ended the post season with a 16-1 record and won their 2nd title in the last 3 years.  So now that the Finals are over, the question has come up regarding LeBron James’ legacy and whether or not he should be in the conversation regarding being the G.O.A.T.

So let’s get down to business.  LBJ is a fantastic talent, he’s a great all around player, and has been considered the best player of this generation.  But is he the G.O.A.T.?  From my perspective, he’s far from it.  And there are several reasons why.  Number 1 being that LBJ had the best team in the Eastern Conference in 2008 and 2009 and came up short by losing to the Magic and the Celtics. Why would you pack up and leave town after winning 60+ games 2 seasons in a row?  He left town and decided to take his talents to South Beach and in the process created a spectacle called “The Decision” and went to go play with his buddies (D Wade and Chris Bosh).

Most of the greatest players in our league have stayed with the same franchise throughout their careers (e.g. Magic,  MJ, Russell, Bird, etc.).  Secondly, if they did leave, it was via a trade that they really had no say in (e.g. Kareem, Wilt, Moses, etc.).  After saying they would win “not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5…” they ended up winning 2 in the time that they were together and then LBJ bolts back to Cleveland to win a chip for northeast Ohio.  Now that’s sweet, but it shows a gypsy mentality.  He’s willing to do whatever it takes to chase rings.  In 2015 they lost to the Warriors 4-2.  In 2016 they made an epic comeback from being down 3-1 and won the series 4-3.  This year, 2017, the Warriors dominated, winning 4-1.  The 1 win by the Cavs being almost the perfect game.

So if you’re 3-5 in the finals can you be considered the G.O.A.T.?  Jordan was 6-0, Russell was 11-2, Kareem 6-4, Magic 5-4, Kobe 5-2, Shaq 4-2.  You’ve lost more than you’ve won, so no G.O.A.T. there.  But LBJ has become the media darling.  He’s the most verstatile, and best all around player we’ve seen.  But is he?  He’s used the media to perpetuate his “greatness”, however flawed it may be.  A great talent that has continually come up short when it counts.

Let’s first understand the rules changes that have occurred since the “Golden 80s and 90s”.  You can’t touch guys on the perimeter anymore, and hard fouls are now considered flagrant or technical fouls.  LBJ and all his contemporaries have clearly benefited from these changes, so it’s hard to compare eras.

One thing that we need to look at is how the media has adopted and promoted LBJ as “The Best Ever”.  Is it warranted?  He’s 3-5 in the Finals, his teams are clearly the best in a currently inferior eastern conference, he’s switched teams twice, and may soon do it a third time, and yet the media has still found a way to crown him “king”.

Let’s look at his last press conference at the end of the Finals.  He said he’d never been on a “super team”, and didn’t support them.  However, he went to Miami to team up with buddies Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade to form a “super team”.  When they lost to Dallas in the Finals, he was part of the recruiting effort to get Ray Allen to Miami creating what amounted to a “Big 4”.  Isn’t that a “super team”?  Such hypocrisy.  You can’t have your cake and eat it too.  Just because you are the self proclaimed “king” doesn’t mean you don’t have to play by the same rules as everyone else.  And when your shit starts to stank, you wanna change the narrative in your favor? Not gonna happen.

In this writers opinion, LBJ’s weakness is his lack of heart.  His strength is the fact that he’s been able to get the NBA to do his bidding.   Stats are great, but they don’t tell the whole story.  You can manipulate stats to cater to whatever narrative you have in mind.  Let LBJ be LBJ.  If he’s not liked, so be it!  He’s the most polarizing figure in the league.  You will not convince NBA purists or old school fans to crown him until he develops a killer instinct and wins more Finals appearances than he loses.