LeBron James: 5 Reasons why Paul Pierce’s comments don’t matter

Paul Pierce made some interesting comments about LeBron James.

Paul Pierce made sports news this week stating that LeBron James is not in his top 5 all-time list and why. Everyone seemed to have a beef with what he said. Lake Show Life weighs in not criticizing Pierce but the LeBron fans who really should care less at this point.

The NBA cannot start soon enough for so many parties at this point. Now that “The Last Dance” has come to an end last Sunday night, the conversations are back to the same old subjects.

• Who’s the greatest player of all time?
•  Who’s on Mount Rushmore of being the greatest of all time? 
• Now that Michael Jordan has been reminded to the basketball purists and introduced to the casuals as the best player period (Something Lake Show Life has been saying for quite a while now!), where is LeBron James ranked?

Now that the greatest sports documentary ever has left sports networks with no NBA content outside of the pending announcement of the NBA schedule to commence, the debate for the greatest basketball player of all-time has re-emerged again.

“The Last Dance” has now gone from being the much-needed bridge for brand new NBA content for starved NBA fans to a launching pad for the most tired and horse beaten conversation that looks like will be carried on for the next 6-8 weeks.

Figuring out a narrative to get Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James to the number two spot.

The conversation is dumb in essence if the love of the game is pure, but the backlash of the opinions makes it worse. Let’s use this video for an exercise. It was the last game LeBron James shared the court with the “Icon” Kobe Bryant.

What went through your mind while you were watching?

• Man these are two great players competing at the highest level.
• Kobe Bryant is really that good! The feet work.
• LeBron James really caught that alley-oop with his left hand!
• We are looking at NBA history here between two eras greatest players.
• Then there’s the obvious. Man! I really miss Kobe Bryant RIP. 

Or was it, “See that’s why LeBron James is not top 5 or on Mount Rushmore” or “Where Kobe Bryant on this list?” In other words, not appreciating greatness. Lake Show Life covered this subject for Lakers Nation during the tragedy of Kobe’s death talking about Lakers fans uniting at that time.

Paul Pierce made it clear earlier this week that he doesn’t think that LeBron James belongs on the NBA’s all-time Mount Rushmore. Okay, let’s take this further, he does not even think that LeBron James is an all-time top-five player.

Yes, Mr. Pierce, we will get into that discussion soon enough. But let’s look at the entire list that was stated in Paul’s argument. First off, let’s look at the names that Paul Pierce mentioned in the top-five conversation on ESPN’s NBA Countdown. Besides the players that are seen above, Tim Duncan and Larry Bird were included as well.

Now let’s go into the context of the argument in Paul Pierce’s way of analysis.

• LeBron James “did not establish or continue a tradition” with any franchise. (Okay LeBron’s first tenure in Cleveland may fracture this argument and his second might put this discussion on life support!)
• He says that Bill Russell does not get enough credit for building up the Celtics organization. (Agreed. He partnered with Red Auerbach to architect the Boston Celtics to the level we have today!)
• Paul Pierce notes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan either built up their organization or continued a tradition. (BEEEEEEEP, flatline, we’re losing him! Clear! The discussion has just been saved with a defibrillator! We can continue.)

Paul Pierce’s list is not what is disappointing here. The backlash is what is maddening here. Like, who cares? No seriously, who cares? Top-five lists are subjective and riddled with opinion. Every basketball fan from every generation will have their own top-five based on the era and style of play.

More than likely there are knowledgeable Lakers fans who won’t have LeBron James in the Lakers  top-five.

Over the next several pages, Lake Show Life will provide a in-depth take on why it is totally ridiculous that Paul Pierce has replaced “The Last Dance” as the hottest topic in the NBA news cycle.