Kevin McHale thought it pretty disrespectful of players like Russell, MJ, Kareem, Bird and Magic for LeBron to call himself the GOAT.
Boston.com Logo
NEWS
WEATHER
SPORTS
Share Tweet
Morning sports update: What Kevin McHale had to say about LeBron James calling himself the ‘GOAT’
Also: The unwritten part of the Patriots' playbook, Craig Kimbrel's status, and Antonio Brown's Tom Brady DM.
Kevin McHale Kevin McHale when he was coach of the Houston Rockets. –AP
By Hayden Bird 9:30 AM
The Celtics beat the Timberwolves on Wednesday night, 115-102. Gordon Hayward led the team with 35 points.
Kevin McHale on LeBron James’s ‘greatest of all-time’ comments: Celtics legend Kevin McHale recently spoke about LeBron James calling himself the “greatest player of all-time” during an ESPN special.
“We all sit at this table all the time and sing his praises, I think LeBron is a great player. I just think that’s disrespectful honestly to Bill Russell,” McHale explained. He went on to list other past greats.
“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan,” McHale added. “There are just so many. Two of my good…Larry and Magic, just led teams and turned the league around. You don’t need to say that about yourself. Let other people say that for you. I mean I was kind of surprised because I’d read about it, but that’s the first time I’d actually heard him say it, ‘Made me the GOAT.’ I’m like, [dang].”
https://www.boston.com/sports/sports-news/2019/01/03/kevin-mchale-lebron-james-goat
Heck, even MJ in an interview with Michael Wilbon in 2009 said being labeled as the GOAT was disrespectful to others that came before.
Of course MJ disrespected Kareem, Magic, Bird, Dr. J, Moses, Kobe, Duncan, Shaq, and everyone who came after him in his little talk. So what's the real difference.
I was wondering if you were going to be less of a super fan of Lebron after he left Cleveland. Didn't you say it was a pretty non-winning weak move to do? Do you think Jordan would have been interested in going to the Lakers or Clippers to make space jam two? Serious question.
I certainly never said it was weak, but him going there with that team as currently constructed he obviously had no intention of winning this year. I do think he trusts that Magic will build a team that can compete though or he wouldn't have gone there. Jordan played for the Wizards in a total business move so I do find it a bit strange you are chiding Lebron for possibly being motivated by financial factors outside of the court but aren't chiding Jordan for the same thing. And yeah, I know Jordan was in his late 30's, but Lebron right now is playing a career season that Jordan never hit. Lebron has far more mileage on his legs than Jordan did at the time he retired for the 3rd time, in large part because Jordan kept retiring before he face legacy altering seasons. That first retirement I think in part was a result of Jordan realizing the Bulls might not 4-Peat and him not wanting to hurt his legacy with a loss to the Rockets in the Finals (the Rockets throughout all 6 of the Bulls championship seasons played the Bulls even because they had no answer for the Dream). The Bulls under went a complete roster transformation between the first and second 3-peats (only Jordan and Pippen played on the 3rd and 4th title teams), and the Bulls did that because that first group quite simply was aging and couldn't really continue to hack it (Grant had a couple of decent seasons left, but no one else on the team did much of anything after leaving Chicago). Rather than tough it out he ran to baseball while the Bulls could re-form their roster. He then came back when the roster had almost complete turnover and the 2nd 3-peat could be built. The second time, he had basically driven Pippen (and maybe even Phil) away and he didn't want to play on a team that didn't have them because he knew they couldn't win and it would also hurt his legacy. 6-0 is great, but what about the other 9 seasons he played where the Bulls lost? Why doesn't anyone ever mention that Jordan couldn't even make the Finals in 60% of the seasons he played (Lebron is the inverse reaching the finals in 60% of the seasons he has played)? Do those seasons not count because they weren't one of the last 2 teams playing. Heck, Jordan lost in the first round 3 times (something Lebron has never done).
Does competition not matter? The Bulls had 2 or 3 HOFers on every single title team, yet in their entire 6 year playoff run played exactly 5 series against teams with at least 2 HOFers and for the most part those teams were past their prime (the Pistons and Lakers in 91, the 2 Jazz teams, and the 98 Pacers). The Pistons and Lakers were done as contenders after 91 and both were out of the playoffs within a couple of seasons. The Pacers had no business pushing the Bulls at all. That team had no superstar (Mullin was well past his prime) and was led by Reggie Miller who peaked as a 3rd Team All NBA player (just 3 times). That team had a lot of decent players and thus was very deep, but it lacked top end talent. In a normal year there is no way that team is even in the ECF. It just wasn't that good (though Larry was an excellent coach and really coached them up). The Jazz had Stockton and Malone, but after that have you actually looked at those rosters. Russell, Hornacek, Ostertag, Foster, Carr, etc. Just a bunch of guys that really should have been bench warmers and all clearly worse than their respective counterparts on the Bulls. The fact that those Bulls teams weren't blitzing through the playoffs is pretty sad. They had so much more talent then their competition, they should have been sleepwalking to the Finals (they really only did that in 91 with the 2 playoff losses and maybe 96 when they lost just 3 playoff games).
Topic: LeBron James: "I'm the Greatest Player of all Time" (Read 7852 times)