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There is no doubt that Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has had an incredible career thus far which has some people putting him as the greatest basketball player of all time. While James had his own Mt. Rushmore of quarterbacks in the NFL, he is 100 percent no doubt on the basketball one, but people seem to care more about being the abbreviated GOAT which resulted in a interesting point of view from legendary play-by-play commentator Mike Breen.
Breen was being interviewed by Chris O'Gorman on the show “Questions for Cancer” where he was asked the popular question about who the GOAT is in basketball between James and Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan. Breen would not give a straight answer to the question, but mentioned how he has a great case as being “the greatest player of his era.”
“‘Comparison is the thief of joy’, and I love that phrase and when you start saying okay who’s better? LeBron… You wind up having to criticize the one that you don’t pick and we’re criticizing one of the greatest to ever play the game,” Breen said. “I never understood that. And the other thing is every era is different. LeBron James is the greatest player of his era, Kobe Bryant you can say in his era was there, Michael Jordan certainly. Go back to Kareem, go back to Wilt, go back to Bill Russell.”
If there is one aspect of the conversation that has been constant, it has been that James and Jordan are the two players fans debate about being the undisputed GOAT. The former has an outstanding legacy where besides the all the championships, NBA Finals appearances, scoring records, and more, he just added another achievement by obtaining his third Olympics gold medal.
Mike Breen on Lakers' LeBron James and others playing in different eras
For Breen, he is reluctant to answer the question when the players in question come from different eras whether it be James, Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and others.
“The game is so different, it was played differently 20 years ago, 40 years ago, it was coached differently, it was officiated differently,” Breen said on the “Questions for Cancer” show. “To compare eras and say he’s better than that player or that player is the best of all time, I just I can’t do it. If you want to tell me that you think Michael Jordan is the greatest of all time, I’m gonna say can’t disagree with you. If you tell me LeBron, can’t disagree with you. You say Wilt Chamberlin I can’t disagree with any of them.”
“They are all legendary generational-type players that to me it’s impossible to pick one over another,” Breen continued. “The way I always phrase it is, somebody asked me ‘Do you think LeBron James, because I’ve called so many of his games and it’s been an honor to call his games, do you think he’s the greatest of all time?’ I say I can’t say that, what I can say is he takes a backseat to no one.”
James can still add to his resume turning 40-years old in December competing for the Lakers in the quest for another hopeful championship alongside Anthony Davis, his son Bronny James, and new head coach JJ Redick.
