It is not a common occurrence to see Shannon Sharpe taking the time out to battle Twitter trolls online. But this time, ‘Unc’ seemingly couldn’t help but defend his take on calling LeBron James the most gifted athlete the world has ever seen. While an argument can be made for both sides of the argument, it seemed as if a fan already had Shannon’s number, only for the NFL legend to come back with a purpose and obliterate the naysayers.
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While on the show, Nightcap, Shannon Sharpe claimed that LeBron James is the most gifted athlete the world has ever seen, something the show posted on X[Formerly Twitter].
However, a fan in the comments section felt that Sharpe’s take was a little too far-fetched, to the point where the supposed fan claimed Shannon Sharpe was on the payroll and was being paid to praise ‘The King’.
“I heard Shannon was bought! To praise lebron.”
Usually, Shannon Sharpe does not entertain such comments. However, this time, Unc was ‘in his bag’, and clearly ready to clap back at the comment made by that fan.
“I receive the same amount as those that speak highly of MJ and Kobe. How much are we making?”
When it seemed as if the fan had backed down, another detractor of LeBron James decided to take shots at, what he assumed, was a defeated Shannon Sharpe on social media. The X user in question dug deep into Sharpe’s tweeting history, unveiling a post from him from back in 2012.
The post he referenced was a tweet where Sharpe claimed Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were two of the best basketball players in the world, specifically in that order. It is important to note that this tweet was from 2012 when LeBron had just begun to build the larger part of his legacy.
With this fact fresh in his mind, the avid fan of LeBron James went on to deliver a strong response.
“How how many rings, MVPS, All NBA selections, final appearances, Allstar appearances, All defensive selections did Bron have at the time of that tweet. Tweet me bck with his current resume.”
Sharpe clearly knew what he was doing, as his solitary line does objectively dismantle his fellow NBA fan’s argument.’ After all, in 2012, while LeBron James was a three-time MVP already, he had only just won his first NBA championship along with his first NBA Finals MVP, as per ESPN. While that is a great resume already, that wouldn’t have been enough to put him over the great Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan in this category.
However, does LeBron James’ body of work since then completely justify Shannon Sharpe’s argument?
Was Unc right about LeBron James?
LeBron James has gone on to win three NBA championships, three Finals MVPs, and another regular season MVP award, while also having been selected to multiple All-NBA teams since 2012. Of course, his collection before then was nothing to sneeze at either, with his collection including three Most Valuable Player awards, along with the NBA championship he won in 2012, per Statmuse.
These are just some of the accomplishments LeBron James achieved since 2012. If this wasn’t enough, the championship he brought to the city of Cleveland came after he rallied back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals, something that is now known as the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history. Additionally, since 2012, James has impressively made it to the NBA Finals eight times out of the 10 times in his career.
LeBron James is in year 21 of his career in the NBA, per Statmuse, and is still playing at a high level, something that has kept him in the ‘best players in the league’ conversation. He has surpassed the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most points in NBA history and has even continued to set new records while obliterating prior ones.
So, Shannon Sharpe’s take really shouldn’t come off as controversial since the kid from Akron has done enough in his career to back up such claims.
