LeBron James’ latest move has barely settled, and the GOAT debate is already back in full swing.
James spent more than a month hanging over the NBA offseason before making his choice for what the source describes as his 24th NBA season at 41 years old. That delay left the league in limbo, with free agency effectively frozen while teams waited for him to decide.
As NBA reporter Evan Sidery put it, “Top remaining free agents are now all waiting to make their choices until after LeBron James, who has created a league-wide domino effect. Wherever LeBron signs will force interested teams into enacting their alternative scenarios.
Free agency is at a halt until LeBron decides,”
When the decision finally came, James picked the Philadelphia 76ers, turning down the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported, “LeBron James is signing with the Philadelphia 76ers for his final run at another NBA championship, he announced Friday," and added, “James, 41, is signing a two-year, $8 million contract with a player option, Klutch Sports Group CEO Rich Paul told ESPN's Shams Charania."
That move also gave Byron Scott fresh ammunition in a familiar debate. The Lakers legend said James doesn’t stack up the same way as Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because those icons stayed put far more often.
“Most of us judge LeBron based on the guys that you just mentioned and I’ll throw one more guy in there Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and he got traded from Milwaukee to LA, right? So two teams in his whole career.
MJ two teams basically, you know, in his whole career. So when you’re judging LeBron, you’re looking at the greatest players of all time and what they did at those organizations, they basically never left,” Scott said.
Scott’s point was simple: James has had more freedom to shape his own path, and that has meant chasing the best possible chance to win. That’s also been one of the longest-running knocks on him - that he’s often chosen the setup that gives him the cleanest route to a title.
And so the Jordan-James argument keeps going, with James’ team-hopping staying right at the center of it.
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