Los Angeles Lakers superstar small forward LeBron James recently said he's the greatest player in NBA history because he defeated the 73-9 Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.
Detroit Pistons legend and current ESPN NBA analyst Chauncey Billups strongly disagrees.
The Cleveland Cavaliers came back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Warriors in 2016, becoming the first team in NBA history to accomplish that feat. LeBron James was named Finals MVP after averaging 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game.
The King had the legendary block on Warriors small forward Andre Iguodala in transition, which set up Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving to hit the game-winning 3-pointer from the right wing over Warriors star Stephen Curry.
While Chauncey Billups says LeBron James is on the Mount Rushmore of NBA players, he says LeBron isn't the best player of all time, but could have been if The King had hit the game-winning shot instead of Kyrie Irving:
Chauncey Billups on LeBron calling himself the GOAT for beating the 73-9 Warriors "Maybe if he would have hit the shot Kyrie hit" pic.twitter.com/FsSfDIBS2p
— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) January 3, 2019
Was LeBron James the best player in that series? Of course. However, he doesn't win that title unless Kyrie Irving hits the game-winning shot.
Let's also not act like Irving wasn't amazing in that series. Kyrie averaged 27.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists during the Finals and hit one of the clutchest shots in NBA history.
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