Really, LeBron? Really? James leaves Kareem off All Time Lakers top 5

1951WheatiesPremium

You couldn’t hold his jock, Mr. James.

I saw you both play and you could not hold his jock…

https://sports.yahoo.com/lebron-james-doesn-t-kareem-144506073.html

…but as they say, opinions are like armpits; everyone’s got them and they all stink!

thisistheshow

There are lot of great Lakers he could have included. I think the humble way to answer the question would be to say that it's too hard , but he'd put "this guy or that guy" at point, Shaq or Kareem, at center, etc, and leave himself off but say he could come off the bench. Lol.

1951WheatiesPremium

I think he’s delivered the least to the franchise of anyone you want to mention in his time as a Laker; his greatness as a Cav or Heat player don’t count.

erikthredd

Lebron has had a phenomenal NBA career but his Lakers career doesn't even stack up all time with former Lakers like:
Michael Cooper 5 (rings in LA)
Derek Fisher 5
Byron Scott 3
Jamaal Wilkes 4
James Worthy 3
George Mikan 7 combined championships

In his four years in LA, Lebron has won one title to go along with three very subpar seasons. Shaq & Kareem both deserve to be on the all-time Lakers starting five while Lebron's time in LA shouldn't even put him ahead of Wilt's Lakers career,imo.

Tabe

It's so silly to use rings to compare guys. No, Michael Cooper and his 9 pts and 4 assists a game was not a better Laker than LeBron.

LeBron has been outstanding as a a Laker. He's 37 and just put up 30/8/6 this past year. Yeah the team wasn't good but what do you expect from a team that had Avery Bradley as a starter?

I can see why he picked Shaq over Kareem but I don't agree with the pick.

doubledragon

As a Laker, Lebron James couldn't hold Elgin Baylor's jock.

erikthredd

Michael Cooper has played over 1000 games including playoffs with the Lakers helping them win five championships.
Lebron has played four years in LA where he led the team to one title,and his other teams finished 7th,10th & 11th in the conference.
Lebron had ONE great season in LA where Cooper made a much bigger on court contribution to that franchise's all time success.
Cooper also won DPOY and was one of the best defenders in basketball throughout his entire career so lets not act like he was some type of bum out there.

Tabe

@erikthredd said:

Cooper also won DPOY and was one of the best defenders in basketball throughout his entire career so lets not act like he was some type of bum out there.

Who said he was a bum? No one. You're arguing against a point no one made.

But let's not pretend Cooper is in the same universe as LeBron as a player.

2dueces

Let’s just say what everyone is thinking. China james is a waste of oxygen
After almost 40 years with AT&T I’m seriously thinking of dumping them because this waste of humanity is on every other commercial break.

Maywood

These type of threads will continue as long as everyone pays attention to what Lebron James says and not what he does on the court.

1951WheatiesPremium

@Maywood said:
These type of threads will continue as long as everyone pays attention to what Lebron James says and not what he does on the court.

I am talking about on court play.

I’m not a fool, LeBron James is an all time great…

…and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was simply a much better player.

I saw both men play and honestly, it’s not really even that close.

erikthredd

@Tabe said:

@erikthredd said:

Cooper also won DPOY and was one of the best defenders in basketball throughout his entire career so lets not act like he was some type of bum out there.

Who said he was a bum? No one. You're arguing against a point no one made.

But let's not pretend Cooper is in the same universe as LeBron as a player.

Career-wise,Lebron is on a completely higher level than Michael Cooper,without a doubt. All that I'm trying to say is that he's only played in Los Angeles for FOUR seasons and three of those years were nothing more than empty stats on bad teams.

If we're only talking about their years while playing for the LA Lakers Michael Cooper has contributed more to the franchise's 17 championship total than Lebron has,as do the other former Lakers I listed above.

craig44

Lebaby needs to shut up and dribble

Maywood

I saw both men play and honestly, it’s not really even that close.

I did, too. The Bucks with Alcindor and Robinson were my favorite team as a teenager. I'm not sure what LBJ's reasoning was or even what statements he made that gets everybody whipped up. I'm sure he knows about Kareem because he seems to be a student of the NBA's history. I just don't pay attention to this stuff and find it funny that he can piss off so many people after so long with what he says. For whatever reasons he remains one of the most despised professional athletes.

I just don't have time to waste on hate, there's too much good to waste my time on.

Doug5307

I'm thinking that's in response to Kareem recently saying LeBron wasn't a GOAT or something like that. Lebron is the most annoying professional athlete I think I've ever seen and or heard of. He can not keep his mouth shut on any topic and his responses are (to me) always against main stream fans. Personally, I can not wait until he fades into the background of history.

BTW, I do have one of his rookie card, don't tell anyone though, I don't want to seem like a hypocrite. LOL

1951WheatiesPremium

@Maywood said:
I saw both men play and honestly, it’s not really even that close.

I did, too. The Bucks with Alcindor and Robinson were my favorite team as a teenager. I'm not sure what LBJ's reasoning was or even what statements he made that gets everybody whipped up. I'm sure he knows about Kareem because he seems to be a student of the NBA's history. I just don't pay attention to this stuff and find it funny that he can piss off so many people after so long with what he says. For whatever reasons he remains one of the most despised professional athletes.

I just don't have time to waste on hate, there's too much good to waste my time on.

I just feel it’s the job of the elders to educate the young’uns. There are those who put stock in what he says and when it comes to this, I like to correct the record. There’s plenty of game film of Kareem to watch; a supremely talented and complete basketball player.

erikthredd

This topic would be like Kevin Garnett saying he should be in the Celtics All-Time starting five over one of Bob Cousy,Paul Pierce,John Havlichek,Larry Bird & Bill Russell. Garnett led the C's to a title in two Finals appearances over 6 seasons while Lebron has one title in 4 seasons.
Its safe to say that most,if not all of, Celtics fans would say Garnett didn't do enough to crack that top 5 Green team.

galaxy27

i am so completely sick of this guy's mouth and fingers

if he evaporated into the atmosphere it would be one of the better days of my life

jimrad

As a long time season ticket holder I too saw them play live in the forum and now Staples Center(Crypto).
I agree that Lebron has made his mark in the NBA. As a Lakers fan if I was picking players for my all time Lakers team it isn’t even close that I would choose Michael Cooper before Lebron without hesitation.
I remind everyone this would be an all time LAKERS team. Coop was amazing to watch and in every way a team player. JMHO

craig44

not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5...

erikthredd

@craig44 said:
not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5...

He was actually counting Finals lost, he's currently at 6. 😉

thisistheshow

@erikthredd said:
This topic would be like Kevin Garnett saying he should be in the Celtics All-Time starting five over one of Bob Cousy,Paul Pierce,John Havlichek,Larry Bird & Bill Russell. Garnett led the C's to a title in two Finals appearances over 6 seasons while Lebron has one title in 4 seasons.
Its safe to say that most,if not all of, Celtics fans would say Garnett didn't do enough to crack that top 5 Green team.

...
Perfect analogy.