Many accolades and performances go into the GOAT debate, but if you ask former NBA player Channing Frye, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is ahead of Michael Jordan in the conversation if you take away the rings.
“I knew this question was coming, I'm going to say LeBron. I think because of his body of work and rings can't count unless we're taking Bill Russell,” Frye said in a Q&A with Bleacher Report, per Greg Swartz. “Jordan is 1B but if you take the rings away, LeBron has every single stat. LeBron has done more with less.”
Obviously, championships are a big part of the GOAT discussion. However, to Channing Frye's credit, if rings are the most important factor, Celtics legend Bill Russell and his 11 NBA championships would be the clear winner.
As for LeBron James, the Lakers superstar has won three championships (two with the Miami Heat and one with the Cleveland Cavaliers) but has also lost in the finals six times during his career. On the other hand, Jordan went 6-0 in the Finals during his career and led the Chicago Bulls to two separate three-peats during the 90s.
Of course, Frye did play with LeBron as a member of the Cavaliers and Lakers from 2015 until 2018 before announcing his retirement in March of 2019. With that said, the retired professional might have some bias.
It is worth noting, however, that Frye said recently that he doesn't think Michael Jordan would dominate in today's NBA.
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