The GOAT debate between LeBron James and Michael Jordan will likely go on forever. Unless some player can completely blow both of their careers out of the water, they will go down as the two best basketball players of all time. Now and again someone chips in their opinion on who is the greatest of all time, and when it is an actual NBA player, their opinion matters more. Terrence Ross recently claimed that after the Paris 2024 Olympics, he believes LeBron now wins the NBA GOAT debate.
Terrence Ross Weighs in on the NBA GOAT Debate
Terrence Ross says LeBron James is the greatest player of all time
“I don’t know how you put Jordan over him.”
(h/t @MaskedInLA ) pic.twitter.com/916byiArB2
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 10, 2024
Long-time NBA veteran and journeyman, Terrence Ross, recently gave his opinion on the classic NBA GOAT debate. Ross mentioned on a twitch stream that for him, LeBron James is the greatest player of all time.
“I don’t know how you put Jordan over him,” Ross said.
Ross spent his career playing against LeBron, so his perspective may be slightly skewed. One of the main reasons Ross considers LeBron better than MJ is longevity. It isn’t Lebron’s height or wingspan advantage that puts him ahead of Jordan to Ross, it’s his graceful aging. LeBron is now almost 40 years old and he is still playing basketball at an incredibly high level. Although he may not be the young, high-flying, athletically dominant player of his youth, LeBron still has it.
LeBron’s Incredible Longevity
LeBron reminded everyone of this during the 2024 Summer Olympics. While the heroics of Stephen Curry in the final two games grabbed the headlines, LeBron was a key force to the USA gold medal. He earned the MVP award for the tournament, meaning the voters believed he was the best player in the entire tournament. LeBron led the team in assists and rebounds for the tournament. He averaged 14.2 points, 8.5 assists, and 6.8 rebounds in 24.5 minutes per game.
“I feel like people that say Michael Jordan is the GOAT, like no disrespect, but y’all just holding on to old feelings."
Michael Beasley on why he thinks LeBron James is the GOAT over MJ 👀
(via @theOGsShow)pic.twitter.com/URoB6XvSIQ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 25, 2024
His career isn’t over, but LeBron’s longevity is putting him into the NBA GOAT debate with Jordan. LeBron has now played 400 more regular season games and 100 playoff games than MJ. He has nine more All-NBA selections and six more All-Star selections. Remember, all of these LeBron stats have the asterisk *and counting* on them. Michael Jordan’s stats are nothing to sneer at either.
The NBA GOAT Debate Competition Argument
Another argument that Ross made about the NBA GOAT debate is that LeBron faced tougher competition in his career.
“I mean, in the level of competition he’s doing it against is, to me, more impressive than the competition that Jordan won against,” Ross admitted.
Ok, there may be a bit of bias with this one. After all, Ross is the competition that LeBron faced during his career. Terrence Ross has a 7-21 record against LeBron during his career, so it is no wonder he has respect for him. Ross never had the chance to play against Jordan. The competition argument doesn’t hold weight with many NBA GOAT debaters. Both LeBron and Jordan faced some of the greatest players of all time during their careers. The difference is, that Jordan went 6-0 in the NBA Finals against them and LeBron is 4-6. When Stephen Curry has the same amount of championships as you during your career, are you really the GOAT?
