Maybe not Charles Barkley’s, but plenty of people’s top-5 NBA players of all time shuffled a bit when LeBron James became NBA’s top scorer on Tuesday. However, Stephen A. Smith thought of putting out his unchanged list as it happened. And it looks like it didn’t sit well with Shaquille O’Neal.
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After the NBA announced its 75(+1) greatest players of all time, ESPN came out with its ranking of those 75 players. The veteran ESPN analyst had then come out with his top-5 where he had Magic Johnson at #5, Bill Russell at #4, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at #3, LeBron James at #2, and Michael Jordan at #1.
For some reason, he again alluded to it recently, perhaps he was pointing out that James has not taken the #1 spot on his list despite the record. But Shaq might be having a different sort of problem with it.
Shaquille O’Neal recats to Stephen A. Smith’s top-5 list
Sharing Smith’s all-time list on his Instagram, The Diesel did not exactly have a say, but let the fans decide how good it is without Shaq and Kobe Bryant in it.
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And the fans, including Hollywood superstar Jamie Foxx, responded.
Everyone has their opinion. Even O’Neal’s friend and studio partner, Chuck, does not even have him on his top-10 list, and Bryant and James in his top-5. So, everyone has a different perspective on greatness, and it should not be too big a deal if it omits some of the all-timers.
Debates seem fun as far as they are healthy.
The GOAT narrative has changed
It was an entirely different debate when LeBron James was not the NBA’s highest scorer of all time to now when he is.
He might have a championship or two less than Kobe, Kareem, and MJ, but the 4x champ is arguably the most decorated player who has impacted the game more than anyone else.
His presence in the top-4 assists leaders of all time and 6x All-Defensive Teams is a testament to him being as impactful as a playmaker as he is a scorer. This kind of dominance by an individual is never going to be seen again.
