I agree, and I also think that the rules of the game have changed enough to allow for better stat lines across the board in comparison to 80's/90's NBA. And another issue that will always dog him is that he picked superstars to play with. He's not the only one who does it in this current generation of players, but it isn't looked upon well when comparing him to the greats. That said, I agree, he's minimum top 3, and I would argue top 2, but I can see if others have someone else at 2. Once you get into the top 5, you can argue the merits for quite a few other players as well. But for some to disregard his accomplishments because you don't like his persona or his political stances devalues the argument. I mean, it's like me saying Curt Schilling was a meh pitcher because he is an awful human being. Schilling was an incredible player, you can separate the player from the man. And no, i'm not comparing Lebron and Curt Schilling, just saying that both have made statements that people might disagree with, but their play speaks for itself.
Jordan played with Pippen and Rodman (and Phil Jackson)....Jordan likely doesn't win more than two or three titles without Pippen. I think that is an unfair expectation people put on LeBron. LeBron also left that team and went back to Cleveland and beat arguably one of the top two or three teams ever in the finals. I also know that isn't the argument you're making -- but FA is different now, and who is to say Jordan doesn't make a move after Doug Collins is fired? Magic had Kareem and Worthy. Shaq has Wade and Kobe. Kobe had Shaq and Phil Jackson, plus a really good roster built around him in 2009/2010. Point is the idea that looking down on players for wanting to play with other great players isn't really fair
Jordan had a much better jumper and in his prime he was an elite defender, but he had Pippen often guard the other team's best player so he could rest on defense. Lebron used to be an elite defender who could guard positions 1-4 but has lost lateral quickness with age. He is also a better driver and passer than Jordan, I don't think Lebron gets enough credit for his passing skills, he's easily top 5 all-time in that category.
Yeah I always wonder what Lebron would've done to the competition if he played in the 80s and 90s. He's way too big for the lanky defenders of the 90s to guard him, and way too fast for the lumbering big power forwards to stay in front of.
Jordan is the GOAT but he also benefitted from playing in an era where athlete's failures weren't as scrutinized. If ESPN and all these terrible sports take shows were around back in the late 80s early 90s, Jordan would've gotten crucified for losing to the Pistons all those years.
Lebron is definitely the best over the last decade. Steph is great but he has a ton of help (not to mention Lebron beat Steph's 73-9 team in epic fashion), KD won 2 rings on a stacked team and has done nothing since, and Kawhi had a spark but quickly fizzled out due to injuries.
Irving is an anti-Semitic bigot. He didn’t hurt anyone’s feelings. He spread a false, bigoted trope and stood by it. He deserves to lose all of of his endorsements and he should not represent any organization that doesn’t want to be tarred by putting him out there. Lebron’s statement is weak— the focus is not on the people Irving disparaged, but on his hatred. And it has nothing to do with left or right.
And for anyone defending Irving, which is unfortunately a large number of people, what’s Meyers Leonard doing these days? There are way too many people jumping in on the “Jews control the lives of black people” troupe. Like you said, Donald Sterling and the Suns owner received far harsher punishment for being bigots. Meyers Leonard, a clean cut white guy, out of the league for being a bigot. Irving is only been suspended for 5 games. The league has been pretty consistent on its treatment of bigots. It’s not hard, don’t spread hateful messages and you won’t be “cancelled”.
And the players just don’t learn. At least this guy was smart enough to at least take partial responsibility right away. Jaylen Brown clarifies tweet applauding extremist group's support of Kyrie Irving
And by the way, I’ve mentioned it before, but black antisemitism isn’t new, it’s just finally being shown. ADL Survey Finds Anti-Semitism High in Black Community a longer read on the background. https://www.inss.org.il/publication/black-antisemitism/
