So the consensus is now that LeBron is top 5 no questions asked/Arguable top 3

[Im Still Ballin]

This is the consensus now

Anything outside of the top 5 is blasphemy now

Man did ESPN and SI call it earlier in the year

James looks certain to finish top 2 when it's all said and done

Legendary

[Prime_Shaq]

IMO anywhere between #4 to #7. That being said I find it hard to rank Bill Russell because I've never seen him play but his accolades speak for himself.

[SavageMode]

Easily in my top 5

[Im Still Ballin]

IMO anywhere between #4 to #7. That being said I find it hard to rank Bill Russell because I've never seen him play but his accolades speak for himself.
Nah anything outside the top 5 is wrong

It's consensus top 5 bottom line

His volume of work demands so

[Kiddlovesnets]

But anyway if you look back at ESPN's top 100 list, it clearly had future expectation on the ranking. Lebron prior to this title was nowhere near top 3, but if you consider that Lebron will likely to win another ring or two, it becomes plausible.

[Quickening]

That is the consensus :applause:

[kamil]

This is the consensus now

Anything outside of the top 5 is blasphemy now

Man did ESPN and SI call it earlier in the year

James looks certain to finish top 2 when it's all said and done

Legendary

Top 2? Uh.... NO, once again, you need to be reminded that the GOAT conversation for LeBron* was over in 2011. He'll be top 5 at best.

[3ball]

James looks certain to finish top 2 when it's all said and done



Don't get your hopes up bud!!

Lebron has half the FMVP's and half the rings - he needs to redo his entire career AGAIN to match Jordan's playoff accomplishments.

What a time!!!


http://cos.h-cdn.co/assets/15/29/1437250082-the-carleton.gif






James looks certain to finish top 2 when it's all said and done



GOAT impact on a lottery team


The numbers tell the story - Jordan's 1989 cast added enough help on top of his 33/8/8 to win 47 games - compare that to Lebron's cast in 2009, which added enough help on top of his 28/8/7 to win 66 games.. The only possible reasons for the Cavs winning 19 more games despite Lebron's inferior production is that his supporting cast was better and/or they played inferior competition.. Obviously, the 19 additional wins isn't ONLY due to inferior competition - it's due to better supporting cast as well.

Brand of basketball isn't an issue - we know Jordan's 1989 team played a better brand of basketball because his brand was more successful in the playoffs.. Jordan's 6th seeded Bulls beat higher seeds in every round and took the champs to 6 games in ECF, while Lebron's heavily-favored 1 seed saw their brand of basketball exposed in the 2nd Round by the Magic.

Also, there's another reason Jordan's cast might've been the worst ever - no all-time great led their team in scoring for every playoff series of their career, let alone by 15 ppg (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=406920) like Jordan.. Let that sink in

And Jordan's impact on his horrible cast is clearly evident - in 1989, the 47-win Bulls would've missed the 45-win playoff cut without Jordan's 33/8/8.. So without Jordan, that roster was a LOTTERY roster and headed nowhere going into the 1990 season - but WITH Jordan, they were ECF veterans and about to begin a 6-peat dynasty.. Essentially, Jordan led that same lottery roster from 1989 to a 3-peat beginning 2 seasons later - that's the goat impact on a lottery team.






James looks certain to finish top 2 when it's all said and done

https://media.giphy.com/media/wMmq6cI9myaDS/giphy.gif


In the playoffs and Finals, Jordan scored far more than Lebron on better efficiency (ts, fg, ortg), while only getting 1 less assist.

Now could Lebron maintain the tiny assist edge if he was required to lead his team in scoring for every playoff series of his career by an average of 15.4 ppg (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=406920) like Jordan did?... Obviously not - Lebron has many series where he wasn't the team's leading scorer (even an entire playoff run).. The reality is that NO all-time great led his team in scoring for every playoff series of their career, let alone by 15 ppg like Jordan (let that sink in).

Specifically, Jordan scored 5.5 more ppg with better efficiency, which is more valuable, requires more energy, and controls the game better than Lebron's 2.5 defensive rebound edge and 1.0 assist edge.. There's never been a #1 option that scored 5-6 more points on better efficiency that wasn't considered the FAR better player.. :confusedshrug:

Btw, in addition to Jordan's goat scoring load, he also led his team in passing, just like Lebron - Jordan led the Bulls in assist percentage for both 3-peats (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11713121&postcount=49), so he assisted on the highest proportion of teammate field goals.. Ultimately, Jordan's goat scoring load, team-leading passing, and best-ever defense at his position is the goat performance and biggest load ever carried.

[Im Still Ballin]

Nope

He's consensus top 5 now

It's not even a question

All the rational posters agree

[Nilocon165]

Nope

He's consensus top 5 now

It's not even a question

All the rational posters agree
I'm rational baby!

https://media.giphy.com/media/3oEjHNQ2nkJB74VwFW/giphy.gif

[scuzzy]

One thing I know for sure is


I'm done waisting my breath mentioning Lebron and Kobe in the same sentence


It use to be fun for shock value


now thou?


It's flat out disrespectful to James


On topic:


I think OP is spot on, but whats new :confusedshrug:


Yep, It's Top 5 is non-debatable


Top 3 is the pro-choice, majority


With theatre reservations to the Top 1-2 show


I personally think he lapped Kareem, next year will cement that

[Im Still Ballin]

One thing I know for sure is


I'm done waisting my breath mentioning Lebron and Kobe in the same sentence


It use to be fun for shock value


now thou?


It's flat out disrespectful to James


On topic:


I think OP is spot on, but whats new :confusedshrug:


Yep, It's Top 5 is non-debatable


Top 3 is the pro-choice, majority


With theatre reservations to the Top 1-2 show


I personally think he lapped Kareem, next year will cement that
Good point about the Kobe shit

It was funny but now it's disrespectful to LeBron

[scuzzy]

Good point about the Kobe shit

It was funny but now it's disrespectful to LeBron


Definitely

When things cool down around here

I'm gunna call for a Fam voluntary meeting

That will be one of the main issues discussed

My proposition: We as a unit no longer entertain Top 1-10 vs Top 11-100 debates, like, ever

Compare guys in their selective Tiers (IE Drexler vs Kobe) acceptable

It's simply wasting Jeffs bandwidth, the whole 250mb's he has

I'm going to chirp him on Insta with an idea

A auto-mod that deletes threads containing the words "Kobe" and "Lebron" co-existing in the Titles

Also a new function that limits users to 2 threads per day

This guy Niliconed and others are out of pocket

Pretty sure Jeff/Steve will make me Mod

But my resume reeks over qualified

We'll see

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Top 1.

[Mr Feeny]

3ball.
What does Jordan have to do with anything. Op said top 2 . He's not wrong

He never stated lebron was as good as Jordan or was going to be. But I do think - as do the majority of basketball fans by general consensus - that James might be better than any basketball player not named Michael Jordan.

He's top 5 minimum and most have him 3rd right now. Another ring or mvp and he's top 2 I'd say.

[Mr Feeny]

Definitely

When things cool down around here

I'm gunna call for a Fam voluntary meeting

That will be one of the main issues discussed

My proposition: We as a unit no longer entertain Top 1-10 vs Top 11-100 debates, like, ever

Compare guys in their selective Tiers (IE Drexler vs Kobe) acceptable

It's simply wasting Jeffs bandwidth, the whole 250mb's he has

I'm going to chirp him on Insta with an idea

A auto-mod that deletes threads containing the words "Kobe" and "Lebron" co-existing in the Titles

Also a new function that limits users to 2 threads per day

This guy Niliconed and others are out of pocket

Pretty sure Jeff/Steve will make me Mod

But my resume reeks over qualified

We'll see

:lol :roll:

[Nilocon165]

Definitely

When things cool down around here

I'm gunna call for a Fam voluntary meeting

That will be one of the main issues discussed

My proposition: We as a unit no longer entertain Top 1-10 vs Top 11-100 debates, like, ever

Compare guys in their selective Tiers (IE Drexler vs Kobe) acceptable

It's simply wasting Jeffs bandwidth, the whole 250mb's he has

I'm going to chirp him on Insta with an idea

A auto-mod that deletes threads containing the words "Kobe" and "Lebron" co-existing in the Titles

Also a new function that limits users to 2 threads per day

This guy Niliconed and others are out of pocket

Pretty sure Jeff/Steve will make me Mod

But my resume reeks over qualified

We'll see
Good idea tbh

[raprap]

I currently have him at 4. 1 more ring or mvp makes him top 3. The Jordan/Jabbar/James family :bowdown:

[JebronLames]

This ring counts as three rings since it proves they would have won last year had Kyrie and love remained healthy, and a bonus ring for beating a 70 win team

So LeBron has 5 rings

He's top 2 with a chance to be 1a if he repeats next year with another FMVP