Here we go again.

It’s 2019 and we’re starting it off with the GOAT debate; as in: who’s the greatest basketball player of all time?

Most would say Michael Jordan because, well, that’s the most reasonable answer, given the combination of his impact, accomplishments, and abilities.

Some would say LeBron James, and that includes, you guessed it, LeBron James, who’s just revealed the moment he believed sealed his position as the greatest of all time.

For the four-time NBA MVP and current Los Angeles Laker, it was defeating the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals that he thinks made him the GOAT.

“That moment right there made me the greatest player of all-time, that’s what I felt,” James said, on a new episode of his UNINTERRUPTED show, “More Than An Athlete.

“I was super, super ecstatic to win one for Cleveland because of the 52-year drought. The first wave of emotion was everyone saw me crying. That was all for 52 years of everything in sports going on in Cleveland. And then after I stopped, I was like, ‘That one right there made you the greatest player of all-time.’”

Putting aside the GOAT claim for a moment, there’s no question the feat was an incredible one, from the championship drought in the city of Cleveland, to that Warriors team putting together probably the best regular season in NBA history.

James was the leader for those Cleveland Cavaliers, and led them to a thrilling Game 7 win over the then-defending champions.

“Everybody was talking about how they were the greatest team of all-time, the greatest team ever assembled,” James said. “And for us to come back, the way we came back in that fashion. I was like, ‘You did something special.’
Who’s your NBA GOAT?Source: AFP
“That’s like one of the only times in my career that I felt like, ‘Oh, s***. You did something special.’ I haven’t had time to really sit back and think about that. That was a moment.”

James has put together one of the most successful careers in NBA history, and it’s no described that the man who made his own nickname ‘The King’ has decided to label himself as basketball’s GOAT.

The fun part of the GOAT debate is that there’s no correct answer; it’s necessarily subjective. Most think it’s MJ, some will say LeBron, while others will throw the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and whoever else the heart desires.