According to sources (himself), LeBron is the GOAT

LeBron James is a three-time NBA champ and four-time MVP, one of the best ever to set foot on the hardwood. No one could seriously argue otherwise. But he just made a statement that confirms him as an egomaniac, too.

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

Yahoo – LeBron James crowns himself the GOAT because of his 2016 Finals win over the Warriors

The quote was in a documentary that appears on ESPN+ (a site that inexplicably charges $4.99 per month for full access).

What @kingjames considers being the GOAT 🐐 ⁣
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New episode of More Than An Athlete out on @espn+. pic.twitter.com/7XSQ2GpOVo

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) December 30, 2018

We’ll give LeBron credit for not referring to himself in the third person, but c’mon man, this is bad form.

I respect that LeBron James thinks he’s the greatest player player of all time. He should think that, especially after 2016. Thinking that is probably what got him this far. I also think the entire point of the GOAT debate is that you can’t crown yourself.

— Ben Rohrbach (@brohrbach) December 31, 2018

You can’t crown yourself.

Despite that rule of etiquette, “The King” is saying he’s moved past Michael Jordan (6 rings, 5 MVPs) in the GOAT debate, not to mention legends like Bill Russell (5 MVPs, 11 rings, two of them as a player-coach) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6 rings, 6 MVPs, all-time leading scorer). Or Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Tim Duncan and Steph Curry, to name just a few.

We’re not going to try to settle the GOAT debate here. That’s impossible. But we will point out that winning one playoff series – even while coming back from a 1-3 deficit against a 73-win opponent – does not outweigh the entire careers of other unstoppable ballers. It’s delusional to think so.

And by the way, the title-winning shot in 2016 was made not by the self-proclaimed GOAT, but by some other guy: