“Is he the greatest dribbler” Ray Allen reasons out why LeBron James is not the GOAT
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LeBron James vs Michael Jordan
Since his 3rd NBA Championship, LeBron James was constantly pitted in the GOAT debate, for winning an “impossible” championship for his franchise. LeBron played a huge part in every championship run, and even his presence in the team made the team huge favorites for the championship. With such an effect on the team and league, there is no doubt that he is consistently a part of the GOAT talks. Some swear by his unmatched greatness, while many others see flaws in his game that disqualify him from the enviable title. When we talk about “GOAT”, there will always be only one player sitting on the throne.
LeBron’s former teammate and important piece for his 2nd NBA Title, Ray Allen, disagreed with an ardent fan who called the Los Angeles Lakers superstar the best ever. Putting his views forward former 3-point champion, Ray Allen shuts LeBron James’ fans arguing for LBJ’s claim to the GOAT place.
Ray Allen points out some flaws in LeBron James to take away his GOAT Aura
The top pick of the 2003 NBA draft certainly lived up to his status. LeBron James entered the league as one of the dominant players on the court and continued his dominance from college to the best league on Basketball. He is one of few players who achieved almost everything in the league and is in the top 10 players list for points, assists, rebounds, and many other categories.
But when Tyriek Weeks — a basketball player from Commonwealth Academy in Rhode Island said, “He can score and pass it,” Weeks said, advocating for why he believed James was #1. Allen returned with his views, questioning Weeks, “Is he a great free throw shooter?” James’ ex-Miami Heat teammate fired back. “Is he a great 3-point shooter? Is he a great dribbler?”
Weeks himself answered negatively to all three questions, on which Allen said, “So, you’re saying he’s the GOAT, but he ain’t even the greatest in all them categories.”
So as 2-time NBA Champion Ray Allen, free throws have always been a chink in James’ armor. He is a career 73.4% free-throw shooter and only 74.0% in the postseason as well. Many critics used this flaw against 4-time Finals MVP LeBron.
While 3-point shooting also has always been a bit of a shortcoming for LeBron, his accuracy from a 3-point distance leaves some scope for improvement. And lastly, Ray mentioned ball-handling ability. Well “Greatest dribbler” isn’t on James’ resume. However, he has shown great footwork and powers his way through the defenses to make the basket.
Ray Allen had already mentioned his GOAT late last year, in an interview with CBS. Inevitably, the GOAT debate between Michael Jordan and LeBron James was discussed. Celtics great had played against both players in discussion – MJ and LBJ. Here is how responded to the GOAT debate, “In my opinion, MJ is the GOAT. LeBron is a product of MJ, so a lot of what’s in LeBron – in his DNA – comes from Michael. For anybody that says that LeBron is the GOAT, they’re growing up in today’s era, and they believe what they believe based on how it feels and what he means to them, and that’s OK.”
“But the way MJ affected the game, man, he had a stranglehold on the league, and he struck fear in everyone because he was an unstoppable player.”
Well “His Airness” did win more Championship in a shorter period of time and was Finals MVP in all of those wins. He does averages more points per game in the regular season and postseason than LBJ, Being a guard player, he is an efficient ball handler and technically one of the most sound players in history. He might be behind in the assist and rebounds categories, but in the postseason, he has fairly equal stats to LBJ.
And one of the most striking differences as Ray Allen mentioned was the killer instinct and effect on his opponent was never seen before in the league, not even LeBron had that control over the opponents. But, hey, everyone has a right to their own opinion.
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Kunal Chawda
(600 Articles Published)