Former Boston Celtics player Danny Ainge doesn’t seem to agree withLeBron Jamescalling himself the GOAT.
During a recent appearance on his ESPN series,“More Than an Athlete,” James talked about beating the heavily favored Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals while a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs had faced a 3-1 deficit in the series against the Warriors, a hole that no other team in the league had ever come back from in the Finals.
When reflecting on what the feat meant to his legacy during the episode, James simply said, “That one right there made me the greatest player of all time.”
The comment launched a sports-wide debate — with many basketball fans questioning not only ifJames is the greatest of all time, but whether he was right to give himself the title.
Inan interviewon theToucher & Richradio show, Ainge — who is currently the general manager and president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics — compared James’ comment to those ofPresident Donald Trump.
“His career’s not over,” Ainge said, according toNBC Sports. “I’d just like to — why he’s saying that, I don’t know.Maybe he thinks that that sells.Maybe he’s taking the Donald Trump approach and trying to sell himself. I don’t know.”
Ainge went on to say that while James is in “the conversation” of being called the greatest athlete to ever play basketball (an argument that usually involves the likes of James, Michael Jordan andKobe Bryant), he believes the title should be given only when the 34-year-old’s entire career can be put into perspective.
“Obviously LeBron is in every conversation with who is the greatest player of all time,” Ainge said on the radio show, according to NBC Sports. “But time will tell. I don’t know if anyone knows who the greatest of all time is, because the years are so different.”
Jason Miller/Getty Images; REX/Shutterstock
James has, of course,been highly critical of the president— and vice versa.
“You know, we are in a position right now in America where this race thing [has] taken over,” James said in July. “I believe our president is kinda trying to divide us. He is — I don’t want to say kinda. He’s dividing us.”
In one tweet from September 2017 that came to the defense of the Warriors’Stephen Curry, James referred to the president as “U Bum.” It received over a million likes.
James is a three-time NBA champion, has earned four MVP awards and multiple All-Star appearances. He left the Cavaliers to join the Los Angeles Lakers last summer.
source: people.com
