When LeBron James entered the locker room after the Los Angeles Lakers' series-clinching win on Friday night, James did so to a chorus of goat noises coming from his Lakers teammates. They were communicating a message to LeBron that Lakers head coach JJ Redick echoed during the postgame presser: James might very well be the greatest basketball player of all time.
"To me, he’s had the greatest career of any NBA player," Redick said of LeBron, who now has 42 playoff series wins on his ridiculous resumé. "He’s one of, if not the greatest of all time. ... For him to answer the bell again (in this series), it's baffling in some ways."
Lakers' JJ Redick suggests that LeBron James might be the GOAT
Redick went on to praise LeBron's leadership, a quality that was of utmost importance to the Lakers during this first-round series without Luka Doncic and, for the most part, without Austin Reaves.
But fans will focus on Redick's GOAT talk more than anything else the second-year coach said on Friday following a resounding 98-78 victory in Houston. The LeBron-Michael Jordan comparison has become one of the most heated debates in sports, with James making the discussion a lot more interesting in recent years by proving to be the most durable and enduring NBA superstar in league history. Simply put, there's never been a 41-year-old NBA player anywhere close to this.
Lakers rode LeBron James to series win over young Rockets
It was James who led the Lakers in scoring and seemingly everything else in Game 6, finishing with 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds on 10-of-25 from the field. He was a game-high +26 in a high-stakes contest against a Rockets squad full of young, hungry, and athletic defenders who were supposedly capable of wearing James down.
But LeBron conquered that test, much like he continues to conquer Father Time now 23 years into what has undeniably been the greatest career the NBA has ever seen. Redick wasn't saying anything controversial there. Is LeBron a greater player than Jordan? There's still plenty of controversy built into that conversation. But LeBron has done nothing but make a stronger case for himself lately.
For James, a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in round two -- still without Luka, by the way -- would undeniably be one of the greatest achievements of his career, which is saying a lot. The Lakers are facing a well-oiled machine that will make the Rockets feel like a junior varsity experience. If LeBron levels up and figures out a way to even make this a competitive series, he will have once again redefined what an athlete at his age is capable of.
Add us as a preferred source on Google