Bill Simmons claims Lebron has surpassed Kareem and is now top 3

[lakers_forever]

Reading comprwhension, much? That's why I said you 3. Not over Kareem. Yet at least. Still has ways to go.

A number of Kareem's rings came as sidekick.

This thread and article posted are mainly about Simmons claiming Lebron has surpassed Kareem...

[kamil]

1a/1b MJ/Lebron

[DCL]

not top 3 right now... nope

but if he goes on an insane 4-peat or some shit from here on...

[ArbitraryWater]

definitely top 3 right now

theres just no one to touch the Jordan/James/Jabbar sustained greatness... all 3 have by far the most MVP's/Finals MVP's combined. And Jabbar should have another FMVP on top of that. Same for Bron.

Of course Russell would be close (or actually lead), but hes Russell, hard to judge, for me not dominant enough offensively. Missing the take over ability for him. If it were one thing of playing a lesser role offensively, but chipping in efficiency? Ok why not.. simply giving touches to more talented scorers. But it wasnt even that.

[HurricaneKid]

definitely top 3 right now

theres just no one to touch the Jordan/James/Jabbar sustained greatness... all 3 have by far the most MVP's/Finals MVP's combined. And Jabbar should have another FMVP on top of that. Same for Bron.

Of course Russell would be close (or actually lead), but hes Russell, hard to judge, for me not dominant enough offensively. Missing the take over ability for him. If it were one thing of playing a lesser role offensively, but chipping in efficiency? Ok why not.. simply giving touches to more talented scorers. But it wasnt even that.

Russell is one of the OGs when it came to playing team ball. But his offensive contributions were EXTREMELY limited.

For his 11 titles here are his TEAM rankings (not LEAGUE like we hold other greats to) in scoring/min. Regular season/Playoffs:

56/57 - 6th/6th
58/59 - 6th/Tied for 6th
59/60 - 7th/6th
60/61 - 6th/7th
61/62 - 8th/6th
62/63 - 10th/7th
63/64 - 9th/9th
64/65 - 10th/9th
65/66 - 13th/9th
67/68 - 12th (dead last on team)/10th
68/69 - 12th (dead last on team)/9th

Now I didn't exclude ANYONE so there are a bunch of guys that didn't play very much included in there. And I'm not one to denigrate defensive contributions. But no other defense ONLY player is ever given ANY acknowledgement as being an all time great player and Russell, as noted above, contributed VERY LITTLE offensively. If people really want to argue that LeBron is a lesser player than Russell... its just a poorly informed suggestion, given what a limited player he was.

[Keno]

i agree, definitely top 3. anyone watch that charles video? dude is delusional as fk and gets called out by bill so many times and doesn't know what to say reminds me of kobe stans.

edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0XlR2zRihE

oscar, kobe, duncan and bill.

charles comparing 30 year old, washed up, injured wade and bosh to PRIME, most dominant player in history in shaq. how retarded can one be

[fourkicks44]

F#ck Bill Simmons.

IT'S All ABOUT BEN SIMMONS BABY!

[Roundball_Rock]

LeBron has a case over Wilt and Russell but at this point he has no case over Kareem or Jordan.

[Sarcastic]

Simmons is an idiot. He said Wilt played against scrawny white guys, but then says Russell is number 2. If you're gonna disparage Wilt, then you are also disparaging Russell. I guess 11 of Boston's rings don't count, since they were only against scrawny white guys.

[HighFlyer23]

He's not ahead of Kareem

[Smoke117]

Reading comprwhension, much? That's why I said you 3. Not over Kareem. Yet at least. Still has ways to go.

A number of Kareem's rings came as sidekick.

He's already got one more ring than Wilt while being comparatively individually dominant of his era.

Wilt played with what would be tantamount in comparison to LeBron, in today's league? Harden (West) and Durant (Baylor) ... yet James has already surpassed him in rings. Wilt was a loser who under performed in the playoffs and Finals compared to his regular seasons.

Only two rings can you say are sidekick rings...the rest of them he was the best player and/or still the number one option on offense.

[IllegalD]

Only two rings can you say are sidekick rings...the rest of them he was the best player and/or still the number one option on offense.

Finals MVPs...

[G-train]

who cares what BS thinks

[Roundball_Rock]

Only two rings can you say are sidekick rings...the rest of them he was the best player and/or still the number one option on offense.

Exactly. Pat Riley himself stated it did not become Magic's team until 1987.

[Sarcastic]

So losing in 83, 84, and 86 is all on Kareem?