LeBron James is one of the only modern star athletes to achieve enough success to engage in the debate about his own case as the greatest of all time in his sport.
And ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who has chronicled most of James’ legendary career and was singled out by the Los Angeles Lakers star last year, believes he should stop doing that.
In an interview about James’ career from a media standpoint on The Press Box podcast this week, Windhorst suggested James has little to gain from offering his own opinion on the NBA GOAT debate between him and Michael Jordan, which has become a constant topic of conversation across the industry roughly since James’ third championship in 2016.
Windhorst said that James thinks about his legacy and how it stacks up to Jordan’s “more than I think he’s willing to admit,” which is why James often gets caught up in the argument during interviews and public appearances.
“Not that he’s looking for my advice, I would say stop talking about legacy,” Windhorst said. “Your body of work is your body of work. It’s a gigantic mountain range that’s lasted decades, and it is majestic. You don’t need to get in a measuring contest about who has the highest mountain.”
The ESPN NBA reporter believes it is an “impossible conversation,” with James defenders talking up his staying power and Jordan defenders valuing his individual dominance.
“I have made the argument for maybe five or six years that (James’) claim to greatest-ever is his longevity,” Windhorst explained. “The way I describe it is, which is more impressive to you, the highest peak … or the breadth of the mountain range? Which do you prefer?”
Windhorst referenced a recent profile of James in Time magazine as just the latest example, including in his podcast or former HBO show The Shop and interviews with other outlets, of James getting carried away with the debate.
“Nothing LeBron’s gonna say is going to talk anyone out of what they’ve already decided,” Windhorst said. “Because of course he cares and is proud and he has a case, it seems like he can’t help himself once or twice a year.”
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.