LeBron James failed to score his NBA MVP No. 5 this season but the man will end his career hailed as basketball's greatest ever. That is the view offered by former Detroit Pistons star Isiah Thomas, who believes The King is destined to surpass NBA greats like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan.
Thomas famously led the "Bad Boys" of Pistons and dominated the league in the late 1980s, and according to him, his years in the NBA pointed to James as the GOAT in the making. The NBA legend said the Lakers superstar is a genius and can be called as the game's version of Albert Einstein.
Thomas pointed to the fact that from high school, James went straight to the NBA and made his super-imposing mark in the league. The former guard recalled that other NBA greats learned a great deal about basketball in college, and such an experience is not on James' resume.
Notwithstanding, The King did great and continues to do so. He is a four-time league MVP and three-time NBA Finals MVP. Also, James consistently claimed All-Star status since joining the league and won three NBA rings so far. To sum up his accomplishment in the world of basketball, James is the best characterization of a juggernaut.
"I've never seen a player dominate so many statistical categories. We've had players dominate certain areas, but we've never seen a player that truly does it all. And he's done it, without fail, for 17 years," Fadeaway World reported Thomas as saying, citing his interview with Sports Illustrated.
Thomas said the NBA community widely acknowledges Jabbar as the best to play the game so far. When James finally decides to end his playing days, his name will be replacing that of Jabbar, Thomas predicted.
The assertion though overlooked Jordan as a strong GOAT candidate given that the Chicago Bulls legend has an overflowing of honors to boast about. There are many areas that Jordan and James are in equal standing but Clutch Points said the latter is unlikely to overtake Jordan's six NBA title wins.
James could win his ring No. 4 this season and he seemed to be closing in but he is already 35. To at least match Jordan's championship feat, the Lakers superstar will need two more in the next two to three years, and doing that seemed next to impossible.
The same report noted that Thomas favoring James in the GOAT race is hardly surprising. It's not a secret that the Pistons great clashed in bitter battles with Jordan's Chicago Bulls during their heydays, and the two were not friends. It remains so to this day.
