When LeBron James recently won his fourth NBA title, first with the Los Angeles Lakers, the argument of who the GOAT is between him or Michael Jordan was reignited. Sam Smith, a well-respected Chicago writer and long-time Bulls historian, explained why he'll always have Jordan as his GOAT.
“What separates Jordan and a few others — Babe Ruth, (Muhammed) Ali — is, to me, is the impact on society that Michael had, Michael truly had in clothing, in looks, people just wanting to see it,” Smith said. “As great as LeBron is, people don’t turn on to just ‘I’ve got to see what LeBron’s gonna do next.’
After winning an NBA Championship with the Lakers this season, LeBron now has four titles and a combined 4-6 record in the NBA Finals. As a result, his ability to consistently position his team to win a title has put him in the conversation of being the best basketball player of all time.
However, Jordan has long been considered the GOAT, especially to those who watched the NBA in the 1980s and 1990s. Jordan went six-for-six in his NBA Finals appearances, three-peating twice with Chicago during his career.
Smith, who wrote about the Bulls during Jordan's playing career, believes Jordan's impact on and off the court is what separates him from LeBron.
“And there’s been no basketball figure that — I’ve been watching since Wilt and Russell and saw those guys play and Oscar — and there’s not figure in basketball in this 70 years or whatever that I can point to an said has had a bigger impact on society and the world and the game than Michael Jordan.”
The argument of the NBA's GOAT will be a never-ending one with Jordan and LeBron fans coming up with different statistics to defend their opinion. However, Smith believes it is what Jordan did for the league itself that puts him above the reigning NBA Finals MVP.
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