Los Angeles Lakers: Paul Pierce has a ludicrous argument against LeBron

Paul Pierce recently stated that Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is not a top-five player all-time.

Right now, the debate for the greatest basketball player of all-time has re-emerged because of “The Last Dance,” and if it was not clear before, it is clear now that Michael Jordan is the greatest of all-time. However, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is considered by many to be number two.

If not number two, LeBron at least deserves to be on the Mount Rushmore of all-time basketball players, that is something that almost every basketball fan can agree on. Put personal opinions on LeBron aside, his talent is generational. He is the face of American sports.

Paul Pierce does not think that LeBron James belongs in the NBA’s all-time Mount Rushmore. In fact, he does not even think that LeBron James is an all-time top-five player.

Pierce’s argument is ludicrous and easy to break down.

Why Paul Pierce is wrong about LeBron James:

First off, let’s look at the names that Paul Pierce mentioned in the top-five conversation on ESPN’s NBA Countdown. The first five players he quoted were Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan. He goes on to also say names such as Kobe Bryant and Larry Bird.

His finished top-five consists of Jordan, Kareem, Russell, Magic and Kobe.

What is Pierce’s main qualifier in leaving LeBron out of the top five? The fact that he “did not establish or continue a tradition” with any franchise. He says that Bill Russell does not get enough credit for building up the Celtics organization (which is true) and says guys such as Kareem, Magic, Jordan and Duncan either built up their organization or continued a tradition.

Pierce then brings up the number one argument against LeBron and that is the fact that he left Cleveland for Miami to play on a super team then returned to Cleveland with more pieces and then left to Los Angeles.

Now, top-five lists are subjective and they really do not mean anything. Every basketball fan is going to have their own top-five and there are probably a good portion of Laker fans who have a similar top-five to favor Kareem, Magic and Kobe over LeBron.

It is Pierce’s reasoning that does not make much sense. Yes, LeBron left Cleveland to go play for Miami, but he also was not granted the opportunity of being drafted to a team that already had a Hall of Fame big-man and another top-10 player of all-time, like Magic and Kobe was.

Cleveland did not even give him that great second star to play alongside, as the Bulls did with Scottie Pippen. And as instrumental as Bill Russell was to the Celtics and the NBA, look at the competition he was playing back then.

If we are going to continually leave Wilt Chamberlain out of the conversation because basketball was different then we also have to do the same to Bill Russell. You cannot pick and choose when that is applicable.

And let’s not forget that LeBron James brought the city of Cleveland their first championship in 52 years. Not just the first Cavs’ championship in 52 years, the first championship for the entire city in 52 years. Quite impressive considering they have an NBA, MLB and NFL team.

Every superstar needs their supporting cast and if you place anyone else in Pierce’s top-five in the situation that LeBron was in during his first tenure in Cleveland and they likely would have done the same thing. Heck, Kobe actively tried to get traded from the Los Angeles Lakers because of the lack of support.

It is also quite ironic that Pierce is criticizing LeBron for building his super-team when he did not win anything for the Celtics until Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen came along to form the first “big three” of this generation.

Yes, it is true that among those guys, LeBron jumped ship for greener pastures. But he still gave Cleveland their first championship in half a century and established a winning culture for so many years in a city that did not have one.

He also came into the league in different circumstances. Russell played in a different era, Kareem left Milwaukee to go to Los Angeles Lakers, Magic was drafted to play alongside one of the greatest of all-time, Jordan, although still the GOAT, had Pippen, Kobe got drafted to play alongside Shaq in his prime.

All of those guys either came into the league in great situations or benefitted from being on a big-market team. LeBron did not have that in Cleveland and in the era that LeBron played in, he had to team up with someone to contend for a championship.

Franchise loyalty has not been prevalent in the league during LeBron’s career, and while he absolutely did have an impact on that, he did not start the trend.

There is nothing wrong with saying that LeBron is not the greatest of all-time. But to say that he is not top-five? That is ludicrous.