Rich Paul did his first interview of the NBA offseason this week when he joined Gilbert Arenas’ show. Paul gave his argument for why his client and longtime friend LeBron James deserves more serious consideration in the well-worn NBA GOAT debate.
While others might point to James’ longevity or the totality of his stats, Paul spoke about it from the perspective of what James had to overcome externally. Especially compared to Michael Jordan and other past superstars.
“LeBron is the first player to have to deal with a 24/7, 365 news cycle of sports and opinions from those that’s not even capable or carry the expertise to give a valid opinion,” Paul said on Gil’s Arena.
“LeBron is the first player to have to deal with a 24/7 365 news cycle of sports and opinions.”
Rich Paul speaks to how the coverage of LeBron is different from the other greats. pic.twitter.com/aL4scR4l4b
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) September 4, 2023
It may not have been the most important sports story of the day as Undisputed would lead you to believe, but the comments are worth looking into because of what it says about the current media environment and what James has faced from Skip Bayless and others.
Paul highlighted the criticism James received for The Decision as well as his losing record in the NBA Finals as examples of how media voices created doubt and negativity around James that Jordan did not face.
“You have this environment and this sports society … and now you have the ‘root against,’ and that’s something Mike never had to deal with because his hardest critic was probably Peter Vecsey,” Paul said, referencing the longtime print and television NBA commentator.
While Paul’s proximity to James already means many NBA fans take his words with a grain of salt, it seems disingenuous to say Jordan had it easy. He may have been friends with famous personalities like Ahmad Rashad and Michael Wilbon, but Jordan dealt with headlines. Headlines about his gambling and alleged infidelity during his career. There are infamous tales about Jordan’s flu game actually being a hangover. Plus many more conspiratorial NBA fans believe he was actually suspended from the NBA during his first retirement.
“He had to be compared to Mike; who did Mike have to be compared to?” Paul asked the retired NBA players who host Arenas’ show.
From the jump, Jordan was in the shadow of NBA-building legends Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. He then faced the perception that he could not beat Isiah Thomas and the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons.
Jordan’s career also coincided with the explosion of sports media, with his own Chicago Bulls games being aired on national cable TV through groundbreaking deals with Turner.
Perhaps most notable about Paul’s claims is that he challenged the media barrage James faces on one of many new player-hosted NBA shows, which, while coming from a different perspective than ESPN or Fox Sports have only increased the scrutiny and conversation around NBA players.
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.