ESPN’s Stephen A Smith is accusing Los Angeles Lakers All-Star LeBron James of trying to control the narrative in the all-time great debate between him and Hall of Fame guard Michael Jordan. Amid a critical offseason with James as the Lakers’ top-tier free agent, Smith blasted the 22-time All-Star forward for calling himself the NBA’s all-time great.
By his measures, Smith says the title belongs to Jordan, calling James out for trying to persuade a generation to crown him the GOAT, per ESPN’s First Take.
“Michael Jordan would never tell you he’s the GOAT. I know Michael Jordan, I speak to him often — I’m telling you — he has never, ever, ever once called himself the greatest. Ever. It has never happened,” Smith said. “Kobe Bryant didn’t call himself the greatest. Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] didn’t call himself the greatest. Magic [Johnson] didn’t call himself the greatest. [Larry] Bird has didn’t called himself the greatest — no, that’s not true.
“He can say they might have thought it, but they never articulated it to a reporter for print purposes to be disseminated to the masses. It is LeBron James, which brings us to LeBron James. Why would [LeBron] do that? Because the man is addicted to trying to control the narrative. These are the reasons problems exist.”
For Smith, everything James says, especially regarding his legacy, is calculated ahead of time.
“He’s saying something in that moment. Do you know why you can’t get caught up in the moment with LeBron James, because LeBron James ain’t caught up in the moment. Everything he does is calculated,” Smith added. “He knows exactly what he’s doing. He plots and he plans, hoping to have a specific impact. I would know, personally. I know what he does, and I’m not even knocking it.”
"Michael Jordan would never tell you he's the GOAT, I know [MJ], I speak to him often… why would [LeBron] do that? Because the man is addicted to trying to control the narrative."
Stephen A. Smith on James' GOAT debate comments
(via @FirstTake) pic.twitter.com/4iV4TjdJnI
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While Smith says there’s nothing wrong with being number two on his all-time list, James’ agent, Rich Paul, calls it disrespectful.
Stephen A Smith cements Michael Jordan over LeBron James all-time
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is willing to die on the proverbial Michael Jordan-over-LeBron James hill as his GOAT, which he’s admitted in the past has fractured his relationship with LeBron over the years. Still, he’s not backing down, claiming that James’ career longevity is a testament to LeBron’s obsession with earning the crown as the greatest basketball player of all time.
“He wants to eclipse every record because he knows down the line from a historical perspective, we ain’t going to remember it took him 23, 24, 25 years to do what Jordan did in 13. Or what Kareem did in 19 or 20, or something like that,” Smith said. “All we’re going to look at is the numbers. All-time leading scorer, this, this, and that. We’re going to look at all of those different things, and we’re going to say, statistically, he’s the best.”
Still, Smith states, there’s nothing James can do to earn the top spot over Jordan.
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