“It Will Help His GOAT Case a Little Bit”: Skip Bayless Discusses How LeBron James’ In-season Tournament Win Will Impact the GOAT Debate

Infamous LeBron James critic Skip Bayless once again brought up the GOAT debate during a segment on Undisputed earlier today. The LA Lakers are one of the 4 teams in contention to win the In-Season tournament in Las Vegas and Bayless believes winning it will help LeBron’s GOAT argument, albeit just a little bit. Bayless, well-known for his love for Michael Jordan, thought that there were only two areas that supported LeBron James’ claim to the GOAT title.

“If LeBron leads the Lakers to this first In-Season tournament championship, it will help his GOAT case a little bit. It just will because it is another achievement. Right now, all he has got going for him in the GOAT debate is longevity, records,” Bayless said on his FS1 show, to the immediate chagrin of his co-host Keshawn Johnson. Johnson wanted to know if Bayless was serious, as the analyst claimed he very much was.

The 72-year-old once again referred to the fact that James simply did not have the accolades to match Michael Jordan’s resume. He said that in addition to longevity and his records, including becoming the league’s all-time top-scorer, LeBron needed a few more achievements to have a serious claim to the status. 

“He [LeBron] needs body of work…He needs accolades. He is the all-time leading NBA scorer…He went into a Bubble and won a championship…If he goes to Las Vegas and wins this championship, it’s another little feather in the cap,” Bayless added. 

.@RealSkipBayless says if LeBron leads the Lakers to an NBA In-Season Tournament Championship it would help his GOAT case…Just a little bit pic.twitter.com/8UH4AOQlkT

— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) December 7, 2023

The veteran commentator also wanted to specify that winning the In-Season tournament would only help LeBron’s case to a minor extent, even if people might act as if he won half a championship. Johnson, in response, claimed that Bayless was easily the only person who would try to push such a claim. However, the veteran host seemed adamant and claimed that he would not be surprised if such a situation arose.

Richard Jefferson believes winning the NBA In-Season tournament will eventually become a notable achievement

While Bayless seemed adamant about discounting the importance of the In-Season tournament, others have recently made different claims. Richard Jefferson, for example, recently claimed that he thought Kevin Durant needed to win it for his ‘legacy.’

“I think we are gonna look back at this in 10,15 years, and this is going to be a part, just like how they have In-Season records, it’s like, if you were never able to win this somewhat single-elimination tournament and how they do it,” he said.

Hence, while the initial response might be mixed, with respect to the In-Season tournament, it might as well, in due time, become an important competition. That might guarantee that winning the first edition of the competition will be viewed as a major achievement, in due time. While Jefferson claimed KD would have a better list of accolades if he won the first-ever In-Season tournament, Bayless believes that LeBron winning it almost makes no difference, as far as his claim to GOAT status is concerned.

However, LeBron and the Lakers still have to win two games in Vegas to secure the NBA Cup, against two very good teams. They will start their campaign against the New Orleans Pelicans in a few hours.