Former NBA player and current ESPN analyst Jay Williams gave a different perspective on the GOAT debate. According to the former second draft pick by the Chicago Bulls, LeBron James is the greatest of all time because he chooses to speak on issues that he feels are important. Unlike Michael Jordan, who did not get involved in social matters.
“When we consider the greatest of all time, this is why I think LeBron James is the greatest of all time. I think that the lack of willingness of Michael Jordan to speak out brings me to the ultimate conclusion that LeBron James is putting his career in jeopardy to speak out about things that feels are personally relevant to him and about where we are.
And I do feel LeBron James had some mishaps, he’s had some missteps but ultimately you feel like he is on a path, once again this is subjective, this can cause people to be divided, I understand that. Michael Jordan didn’t divide people at that time as far as it relates to political things. But I do like the fact that LeBron stands up and speaks out on the injustices that are happening in the world.
And when I look at guys, when we talk about greatest of all time, I think about Mohammad Ali, I think about guys like Jim Brown and I think about guys like LeBron James. Is Michael Jordan maybe the greatest basketball player skillset that we’ve ever seen? Yes, yes! And championships? Yes! But ultimately when I talk about the greatest of all time it’s about are you transcending and being standing for something bigger than yourself? Bigger than yourself. Bigger than your sport. For things that are happening in our world. And for that being the theme, LeBron James is the greatest of all time. In that regard he is,” Williams said on First Take.
