It’s been 20 years since the day LeBron James made his debut in the NBA as a 17-year-old Kid from Akron. The 19x All-Star would style his play like Magic Johnson but would also go on to break the scoring record of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
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He came into the league when Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson were the superstars in it, and then he became the face of the league probably alongside Kobe Bryant. Years after his fellow draftees Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and almost everyone from the time retired or hasn’t been picked up in a team this season, James still stars for the Los Angeles Lakers.
That might be the reason why Iverson believes he is God’s gift to basketball.
Allen Iverson’s unique take on LeBron James vs Michael Jordan, the GOAT debate
The 2001 MVP, and one of the NBA’s greatest players of all time, Allen Iverson, recently sat down for an interview with Marc J. Spears talking about his impact on the game of basketball.
He also talked about Michael Jordan, LeBron, and the GOAT debate. While he declared Jordan his GOAT, he had plenty of good things to say about the Lakers superstar.
“I hate it because I love both of them so much and both of them did so much for our game,” Iverson said to Andcape. “LeBron, I think, to me, is the best overall basketball player that we’ll ever see. If you look in the dictionary and look up basketball player, there’ll be a picture of LeBron. But for me, it’s so different because Mike was everything to me…”
He then talked about Bron, “but LeBron is just everything that you want in a basketball player. He’s a total package. He’s God’s gift to the basketball world.”
Like he was unique with the ball in his hands, ‘The Answer’ has a way with words as well. Fans must always want to listen to what he has to say, his stories are as mesmerizing as his game was.
Is there an end to the GOAT debate?
If you ask players, most of them say MJ is the best, irrespective of anything they saw before him and are witnessing since his retirement. And fans are divided.
It’s only about perspective because a simple eye test would have you confused between him, James, Magic, KAJ, and a couple more players from the past.
It would not be justice to call Jordan the GOAT when the likes of Kareem and James have given a bigger chunk of their lives to the game and have as good a resume as him (better at some things and not as much at others).
