The LeBron fanbase is dying down

[Walk on Water]

He is though.

Truth hurts.

We've already debunked it. All he has is Klutch Sports. His game doesn't do the talking.

[Walk on Water]

Kobe was more discussed if he can crack the top 10 or not around that time. I was here. Only people who called him GOAT were crazed Kobe stans who probably didn't even believe it themselves. I never once saw a serious list having Kobe top 2 or even top 5 while he was playing. LeBron is #1 or #2 on basically any list that comes out now.

Now you have realgm making projects crowning LeBron GOAT and some lists like this have him #1
https://*********.com/lists/79-great...********-list/

Kobe never reached that level.

edit: why the fck does ISH have hoops.hype censored?

I don't know what reality you're living in. Lebron is not a top 10 player and you know it homey. You know it deep down.

[Walk on Water]

I don't know what you mean about not as loud. They're in full on desperation mode, being louder than ever about every little thing he does. Even pretending that he DIDN'T choke away the series against the Wolves. It's OK though. Once he retires and the hype machine dies off, no serious person will ever have him top 5 of all time.

You're right. But they seem so insane that they come across as bots. So in some ways it feels like the sane ones are jumping ship. Lebron supporters are mostly insane.

[1987_Lakers]

If all the noise was dying down like you said in OP, this thread wouldn't be on page 3 at the moment.

[sdot_thadon]

Meh he'll be largely forgotten after a few years of retirement. This board used to fixate 24/7 on Kobe for many years, by the time he was retired for a couple of years he was already very much out of sight, out of mind until his tragic passing (RIP).

Most kids today just think Shaq is a goofy guy on Inside the NBA, they don't have any idea how dominant of a player he was. They don't understand how big of a marketing draw he was either. There was a time in the 90s you couldn't turn on the TV without seeing a Shaq Pepsi or Reebok or whatever commercial. League will eventually just revolve around Shai, Wemby, Luka, and the NBA probably is hoping that Cooper Flagg becomes a big star. Someone else will come and take the mantle, they always do.

Certain players that endure years/decades after retirement is incredibly rare, it's like Jordan, Muhammad Ali (and his charisma/personality was a 11/10), maybe sorta Babe Ruth and even Babe Ruth I think has faded out, kids today don't give a fart about Babe Ruth. Gretzky in hockey but hockey isn't that popular in the US anyway.

Yeah pretty much like 1987_Lakers said, and to add the observation that Lebron is being recognized as goat by more people as time goes on. I seriously think you guys are misjudging this curve massively, but I really cant blame you because Lebron haters have been getting it wrong for 20 something years already, what's being wrong one more time eh?

[k0kakw0rld]

His haters are making him relevant without even realizing it. This thread will reach 20+ pages why?

Because it's Bron. It's that simple.

[Soundwave]

The noise will die down for LeBron the same way it did for Kareem, Magic, Bird, Shaq, Kobe. He's not a cultural icon in that sense in the way Jordan or Muhammad Ali were. Case in point ... do kids even give a shit about his Space Jam movie that's only like 4 or 5 years old?

No, they don't. It left no lasting impact whatsoever.

Magic was thought of as the GOAT prior to 1991 by a lot of people (or Kareem) and no one cared by 1998 or so, that's a period of only a few years, I know even by 1992-93, no one gave a shit about Kareem, it was all about Jordan, Barkley, etc. for 90s kids even though Kareem had not been retired for that long at that point.

Jordan is just an outlier for a couple of reasons, first the mentality (that Kobe tried to copy with the Mamba Mentality stuff) with the hyper-competitiveness and the "And I took that personally" (which has become a pop culture phrase/meme) appeals to non-basketball fans too. Gym bros/UFC fans/life improvement women/runners/Tiktokers etc. love that "unique mindset on life" stuff.

LeBron doesn't really have any of that going for him, he's just 6'9 and talented at basketball, but isn't that relatable to people.

The other thing is the enduring success of the Air Jordan brand as a fashion statement, even now while overall basketball sneaker sales are down virtually across the board for everyone, the Jordan segment at Nike was up in sales even though Nike Basketball is down, lol. The Air Jordan I, III, IV, IX, and XI especially are iconic, and the XIII also popular, LeBron has no iconic sneaker.

And no, whether this thread is 3 pages or 10 pages of the same 8 people posting in it doesn't change any of that either, lol. In 4 years a kid getting into basketball is going to be interested in Wemby or Flagg or someone like that, not LeBron.

[Lebron23]

LeBron have the highest selling shoes among the active NBA players

[Full Court]

Kobe was more discussed if he can crack the top 10 or not around that time. I was here. Only people who called him GOAT were crazed Kobe stans who probably didn't even believe it themselves. I never once saw a serious list having Kobe top 2 or even top 5 while he was playing. LeBron is #1 or #2 on basically any list that comes out now.

Now you have realgm making projects crowning LeBron GOAT and some lists like this have him #1
https://*********.com/lists/79-great...********-list/

Kobe never reached that level.

edit: why the fck does ISH have hoops.hype censored?

Because even idiots like you can make a list. You know it doesn't mean anything.

And Jordan is STILL consensus GOAT, and there's nothing you can do about it.

[1987_Lakers]

Because even idiots like you can make a list. You know it doesn't mean anything.

And Jordan is STILL consensus GOAT, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Yet, you are still debating if LeBron is GOAT or not after you said he wasn't seriously debated as GOAT. With you continuing to post in this thread, you are only giving more power to LeBron.

[1987_Lakers]

The noise will die down for LeBron the same way it did for Kareem, Magic, Bird, Shaq, Kobe. He's not a cultural icon in that sense in the way Jordan or Muhammad Ali were. Case in point ... do kids even give a shit about his Space Jam movie that's only like 4 or 5 years old?

Let's be honest. Even the noise for MJ has died down since about 2005 or so. Growing up, there wasn't anyone touching him, with LeBron coming into the league, there is an actual debate now. Most didn't think that was possible. To be honest, what hurts MJ the most is his lack of longevity, people will use that against him in future debates.

Ali is a culture icon, but most knowledgeable boxing fans don't even have him as the GOAT. That goes to Sugar Ray Robinson.

[bullettooth]

To be honest, what hurts MJ the most is his lack of longevity, people will use that against him in future debates.

BULLSHIT.

The only people that use that argument are LeBron jockriders and only because they're desperate to force the debate, you guys KNOW there's no actual debate but you grasp at straws.

STFU already, the debate was over in 2011, everyone else came to that conclusion 14 years ago.

[1987_Lakers]

BULLSHIT.

The only people that use that argument are LeBron jockriders and only because they're desperate to force the debate, you guys KNOW there's no actual debate but you grasp at straws.

STFU already, the debate was over in 2011, everyone else came to that conclusion 14 years ago.

MJ has the GOAT peak, but longevity does hurt his case. MJ only has 11 seasons where he dominated and was considered a superstar.

LeBron has like 18 seasons of that. You can't just ignore the edge he has in that department.

Longevity is the reason why we rank Karl ahead of Barkley, or Magic ahead of Bird. Barkley & Bird had better peaks, but Malone & Magic have the longevity edge.

[Wally450]

I don't know what reality you're living in. Lebron is not a top 10 player and you know it homey. You know it deep down.

You truly can't believe that. Whenever LeBron is brought up, he's constantly compared to MJ and what he did throughout his career.

Objectively, the worst you can have LeBron all time is 3rd.

[sdot_thadon]

The noise will die down for LeBron the same way it did for Kareem, Magic, Bird, Shaq, Kobe. He's not a cultural icon in that sense in the way Jordan or Muhammad Ali were. Case in point ... do kids even give a shit about his Space Jam movie that's only like 4 or 5 years old?

No, they don't. It left no lasting impact whatsoever.

Magic was thought of as the GOAT prior to 1991 by a lot of people (or Kareem) and no one cared by 1998 or so, that's a period of only a few years, I know even by 1992-93, no one gave a shit about Kareem, it was all about Jordan, Barkley, etc. for 90s kids even though Kareem had not been retired for that long at that point.

Jordan is just an outlier for a couple of reasons, first the mentality (that Kobe tried to copy with the Mamba Mentality stuff) with the hyper-competitiveness and the "And I took that personally" (which has become a pop culture phrase/meme) appeals to non-basketball fans too. Gym bros/UFC fans/life improvement women/runners/Tiktokers etc. love that "unique mindset on life" stuff.

LeBron doesn't really have any of that going for him, he's just 6'9 and talented at basketball, but isn't that relatable to people.

The other thing is the enduring success of the Air Jordan brand as a fashion statement, even now while overall basketball sneaker sales are down virtually across the board for everyone, the Jordan segment at Nike was up in sales even though Nike Basketball is down, lol. The Air Jordan I, III, IV, IX, and XI especially are iconic, and the XIII also popular, LeBron has no iconic sneaker.

And no, whether this thread is 3 pages or 10 pages of the same 8 people posting in it doesn't change any of that either, lol. In 4 years a kid getting into basketball is going to be interested in Wemby or Flagg or someone like that, not LeBron.

What makes you so sure? Or is it just wishful thinking? Lebron is embedded in culture hader than any player since Mj, hes alot more accessible and I imagine he will continue to be going forward since hes already launched a career in media. Magic has actually stayed relevant for a long time and remained an ambassador to the game while Mj never filled this role. If there's anything I hold against Mike as a longtime fan its that he never gave back to the game once he walked away. And before you start with shoes and mythology complexes, I mean he walked away from the fans too. He rarely did interviews. Never did television all the way until a certain someone began to pose a threat to his foothold. I grew up watching guys Iike magic and dr.j join commentary, later we saw Shaq and Barkley, now we've got guys like Wade. Imo we need these guys to help hype the next generation's stars to help the game the same way it helped them. Oh and for the record.....WE meaning those of us that were teens/kids when spacejam came out didn't give a shit about it not long after release either. It just holds an unwarranted nostalgic place in my heart, kinda like killer clowns from outter space, and he-man.