Stephen A. Smith on LeBron GOAT comments

    by Yetundejones: Lionel Messi

    Michael Jordan would never tell you he is the GOAT. I know him, I speak to him often. Why would LeBron do that? Because the man is addicted to trying to control the narrative. Stephen A. Smith made those remarks on James' GOAT debate comments. The comments in question appeared in a Time 100 article.

    Transcript (en)

    have something to do with the timing of the release of the article. I mean, it's possible. I don't know the answer to that. But he got something to do with the timing of the damn problem. There have been plenty of times. I remember I've gotten myself in heat on numerous occasions because people treat something that I said like I said it yesterday, and I said it six months ago, but the damn thing was held until six months later. I mean, it happens with magazine articles and stuff like that is what I'm saying, which is very frustrating because, damn it, had it been six months later, I might have said something a little bit different than I said six months ago, depending on, you know, what the question was and what have you. But to speak directly about LeBron, Big Perk is absolutely right in this regard. He's talking about they would say the same thing. No, they wouldn't. Michael Jordan would never tell you he's the GOAT. I know Michael Jordan. I speak to him often. I'm telling you, he has never, ever, ever once called himself the greatest. Ever. It has never happened. Kobe Bryant didn't call himself the greatest. Kareem didn't call himself the greatest. Magic didn't call himself the greatest. Bird didn't call himself the greatest. No, that's not true. That's not true. He could say they might have thought it, but they never articulated it to a reporter for print purposes to be disseminated to the masses. It is LeBron James, which brings us to LeBron James. Why would he do that? because the man is addicted to trying to control the narrative. These are the reasons problems exist. And so many people who support him, they haven seen the forest from the trees They get caught up in that moment He saying something that moment You know why you can get caught up in the moment with LeBron James Because LeBron James ain caught up in the moment Everything he does is calculating. He knows exactly what he's doing. He plots and he plans, hoping to have a specific impact. I would know, personally. I know what he does, okay? And I'm not even knocking it because he is on the Mount Rushmore basketball. He's one of the greatest basketball players to have ever lived. I have said repeatedly, I have him number two all time. But Rich Paul put it best. Yo, Rich, you acting like that's a damn insult to call him number two all time. It is an insult. That's how they feel. That's how they feel. And they feel that way in large part. They think for themselves. But they feel that way in large part because they know that's how he feels. He is still around because when all is said and done, he wants to eclipse every record because he knows down the line from a historical perspective, we ain't going to remember it took him 23, 24, 25 years to do what Jordan did in 13 or what Kareem did in 19 or 20 or something like that. All we're going to look at is the numbers, all-time leading scorer, this, this, that. We're going to look at all of those different things and we're going to say statistically he's the best that is why he is still around because he wants that narrative to be dictated as I told you before he's on a Mount Rushmore he's one of the top two in the history in my game but that's as far as it's getting as long as I'm breathing and I'm on airwaves it will never be what he wants it to be period