Many Basketball fans got their wish tonight… Lebron James was eliminated from the playoffs. Are Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart next?
He is the highest scorer of all time but that does not make him the GOAT. On top of that the Los Angeles Lakers organization has 17 rings. As much as the league might have wanted this years finals to be the Lakers versus Boston Celtics for the ad revenue I believe that many more fans will actually watch with the Lakers out of it whether or not Boston finds a way to be the first team in the NBA to ever come back from a 3-0 deficit.
In tonights game Lebron scored 31 points in the first half and only 9 lonely points in the second half. If he belonged in the conversation about being the GOAT he would have won at least one game in this series and he’d already have more than six championship rings. Oh, and he’d have stayed in Miami instead of moving to home to Cleveland in 2014 and then leaving the Cav’s again in ’18 to go to LA. Here is the thing folks… Lebron is a great player but he is incapable of carrying a team that is down but not out. Jordan and Kobe were able to do just that.
I will always have a bias towards Jordan being the GOAT in this conversation. However, Kobe deserves credit where credit is due and I believe he is a very close second and he belongs in this Conversation. I do not say this because of his sudden death back on January 27, 2020. I say that because of the facts about his playing career. Without him the Lakers probably would not have 17 rings.
Moving on to what looks like the last game in the Miami series tomorrow night. My boy Jimmy Butler is on his way to the second NBA Finals appearance of his career. With the Nuggets never having won as an organization and him never having won and the Heat having three championship titles when the Heat advance tonight I will be literally on the fence as to who I am rooting for. Why you ask? It simple, I would love to see Jimmy Buckets get his first ring; however, I also think it would more intriguing to see the Nuggets win their first as an organization since joining the American Basketball Association back in 1967 as the Denver Rockets.
With that… it’s almost time for tipoff in Miami.
If you cannot play with them, root for them!