FRIDAY FEATURE: LeBron James is the NBA’s all-time record scorer but where does he rank in the GOAT debate?

Last season in February, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James dropped 38 points on the Oklahoma City Thunder – in a historic moment. This meant that he had surpassed the NBA all-time scoring record set by the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar which stood at 38,387 points. James, who currently has 39,124 points at the time of writing, is showing no signs of slowing down at 38-years-old so there’s no telling how many points he will rack up before his retirement.

So if James is the greatest scorer of all-time, does that make him the best player? What qualifies a player to be the greatest? If it was based on stats then he would have to be No 1. But, if it was dominance it would have to be Shaquille O’Neal and what about the defensive greats whose importance/skill doesn’t show on the stat sheet like Dennis Rodman?

Well, read on to see who I rank as my top five players of all time!

To clarify this is my opinion and I am ranking this on based of players I’ve watched, their own personal playing style and dominance. Stats will also be taken into consideration but will hold little weight in the decision. 

Let’s get into it!

5. Larry Bird

This may be surprising for some people but for me, this is a no brainer. Larry Bird was the MVP three years in a row in the 1980’s winning the trophy in 1984 through to 1986. On top of this, he is a three-time NBA champion, the first coming in his second season, as well as being a two-time Finals MVP. On top of this, Bird has won three-consecutive three-point contests – winning one while still in his warm-up jacket!

Like I said, this list won’t be all about stats, so how did Larry Legend play? Standing at 6ft 9in, but rumoured to be around 7ft, he made basketball look easy. His shooting ability, for the time, was sublime, making quick use of the newly-implemented three-point line and often showing off his range from deep. His passing ability is easily top-two of all time with his no-look passes, full-court bounce passes and nutmeg passes as well as always being able to find and make the right pass. Watching him play truly makes you believe he has eyes in the back of his mullet. 

Another large part of Bird’s legacy is the stories. Countless NBA players say how he would tell them what move he was going to do and do exactly that, as well as the ruthless trash talk that he would always back up. And then there’s the numerous times he would ask staff or water boys to find out the scoring record in an arena then proceed to go and beat it that night. Not to forget his left-handed game, where he became bored using his right hand so decided to use his weak hand for a whole game and ended up dropping 47 points on the Portland Trail Blazers in 1986. 

Bird is a Boston Celtics hero and a top-five NBA player of all time. 

4. Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal’s feud with Big Show in the WWE is enough to put him in this top-five list alone, but on top of this he was pretty good at basketball.

His large stature and immense strength made him an unstoppable force in his playing days. His strength was often put on display by putting nearly all of his defenders on a poster. O’Neal won the NBA title four times, the Rookie of the Year award as well as the MVP award in 2000.

His play style was one of a kind really, using his large frame to clear the way to dunk the ball, but one underrated part of his game is his passing and touch. For such a big man, Shaq had a surprisingly soft touch often converting baby hooks and mini floaters around the rim. His passing was also a big part of his game as his joyous personality would cause him to throw no looks and often convince himself that he was a guard.

O’Neal is often considered the most dominant player of all time, and I agree, as if he was on form no one could stop him. He would easily put up 30 points and 20 rebounds a night as he struck fear into big men across the NBA. However, his temperament and laid-back attitude may have been the thing that stopped him from achieving his full potential. He was often criticised for not wanting it enough and often fell out with ex-teammate Kobe Bryant due to this issue. 

Despite the negatives and the fact he could’ve done and won a lot more, O’Neal is still the greatest big man of all-time as well as the most dominant player ever and deserves a spot on this list.

3. LeBron James

Being the biggest high school star ever and most hyped high school player of all-time, James skipped college and went straight to the league and most definitely lived up to the hype. He carried his Cleveland Cavaliers for many years, winning back-to-back MVP awards in 2009 and 2010 before heading to Miami then returning to his beloved Cavs in 2014. The King now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers and in total has four NBA MVP awards under his belt as well as four NBA titles. And of course, the all-time scoring record.

Coming out of high school, James had the weight of the world on his back and certainly delivered. His early game relied a lot on his speed and athleticism, being able to get to the rim any time he wanted and taking off for a dunk seemingly anywhere on the court. His freakish jumping ability stayed with him though most of his career as he started to develop and excel in other parts of his game, such as passing and shooting from three.

As James has become older he has learned to adapt his game. Doing so though, hasn’t stopped him from being an elite-level player in the NBA. His passing ability now is masterful, and paired with his previously owned supreme ball knowledge, he often gets his team on the scoresheet. 

His iconic performance in the best NBA Finals of all time in 2016 should be enough to put him on this list. Coming back from a 3-1 deficit against the Golden State Warriors, who tallied the most wins in a season ever, James really showed his greatness and put to rest questions about his heart. He pulled off one of the most impressive defensive plays of all time in Game 7 with his iconic block.

Being top 10 in everything (points, assists, rebounds, blocks etc.) as well as the greatest scorer of all-time, the King goes in at No 3 on my list.

2. Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant doesn’t get the respect he deserves. Often scrutinised for his lack of teamwork and his willingness to pass the ball, he was some player. 

Taking the same route as James by skipping college and going straight to the NBA, his first professional contract had to be co-signed by his parents! The Lakers took a chance on Bryant and he seemed to struggle in his first season, but he later showed why he is one the greatest to ever play basketball. 

Sticking with the Lakers his whole career, Bryant won them five NBA championships as well as taking home two NBA Finals MVP awards for himself and just one NBA MVP award. His partnership with Pau Gasol is one of the best duos of all-time. The two players had elite ball knowledge and were the perfect guard-big combo. Both Gasol and Bryant knew what they had to do to win and were willing to make sacrifices to do so, leading to the winning of numerous championships together. 

Bryant mastered the mid-range shot, and every other shot for that matter, scoring the second-highest number of points in a single game at 81 points.

Bryant’s relentless pursuit of greatness is often documented with stories all over the internet revealing his toughness. Such as when he completely tore his Achilles during an NBA game and wanted to continue, despite not being allowed to do so he got up and walked to the free-throw line and hit his shots before walking again to the locker room. Another is when he broke his finger and changed his whole shooting form to allow him to continue to play. What about his extreme routine then? Waking up at 3-4am most days and completing four-five workouts a day all on less than five hours of sleep – he claimed he only needed as little as three hours of sleep. 

Bryant’s dedication to being great is what makes him the second greatest player of all-time.  

1. Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all-time. He set the standard of greatness in the NBA and every great player that followed was always chasing this man. 

His stunning list of achievements include winning six championships and pulling off two three-peats. There there is winning the Finals MVP for each championship and being a five-time NBA MVP. Jordan is a serial winner and is well known for how he would tyrannically engage with team-mates in order to get them up to the level they needed to be for the team to win. 

His short hiatus, when he left to play baseball, didn’t hinder his basketball ability, in fact he came back stronger. Treating every game like the Finals, his obsessiveness meant he took everything to heart and would use this to prove everyone wrong. 

Like when Clyde Drexler was called the best shooting guard in the league as he was a better shooter than Michael Jordan. In the Chicago Bulls next game against Portland, Jordan guarded Drexler and made a point of proving he was better. Clamping down Drexler and limiting his impact on the offensive end, Jordan made it clear Drexler couldn’t be put in the same conversation as himself. He then went on to hit six three-pointers in the first half, putting to bed the questions of his shooting ability, before running back on defence and giving the infamous shrug.

His clutch gene and ability to make the game winning shot is like no other player to ever play the game. There are so many clutch shots to choose from but two that really show his willingness to take the last shot and his immense confidence in himself are the two most iconic shots of his career. The game winner against the Detroit Pistons, after the bad boy Pistons roughed him up throughout the game; and of course, the 1998 shot against the Utah Jazz to win the NBA Finals. 

There are many stories that highlight the greatness of Jordan, but the ultimate feat was his last-second half-court dunk against the Monstars to win the game for the Toon Squad in Space Jam.

Jordan won everything and always went out his way to silence the haters and so, in my books, makes him the GOAT.  

That’s my top five, who is in yours?

By Jamie O’Sullivan