There are a lot of people who feel this way. Kobe is the closest to Jordan in terms of his off the charts burning desire to win, and he always wanted the ball at the end of games to drop the dagger. He was also a remarkable defensive player. In his prime he had Pau Gasol for a few years and never left LA to build some stacked team (hey, let’s remember LeBron rebooted the super team concept before the Warriors...the Celtics in ‘07 weren’t manufactured like the Heat.)
Other notes about LeBron:
- Giannis is more talented than LeBron was at this age and is even more of a physical freak, and his passing and shooting continue to improve. Will be interesting to see how many titles he can win if he stays healthy. He also makes his teammates better.
- In many ways Russell, Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabar, Jordan, Magic and Bird, actually changed the game with unique skill sets. Don’t see that with LeBron. He’s just a really, really good player. In his era, Curry (and Thompson) are the more revolutionary players who have turned the NBA upside down by demonstrating what elite 3-point shooting can do.
So yes, LeBron is probably the best of his generation, though Kobe arguments have merit, but considering he won’t likely win the most titles or change the course of the NBA, I think his all-time ranking will drop over time.
