LeBron James is one of the greatest basketball players of all-time and by the time he retires, he’ll likely be near the top of the list in every major statistical category.
The NBA’s GOAT conversation begins and ends with Michael Jordan, but LeBron has made things interesting in recent years and should he continue on the path he’s on for a few more years he’ll likely surpass Jordan in many areas. The one that will always end up being the trump card in many people’s minds is the rings argument, where Jordan has six and never lost a Finals while James has three rings, but has been knocked out of the Finals five times.
Whether that’s a good argument or not is in the eye of the beholder, but Finals record is always going to be something Jordan supporters lord over LeBron (and everyone else). For Eddie House, who was teammates with James in Miami in 2011, it’s not just that James has lost in the Finals, but specifically how he lost the 2011 Finals to the Mavs, saying the King “quit” on Miami in Dallas (6:10 mark of the below video).
“I can’t get over the fact he didn’t show up in Dallas,” House said. “Not only because I was on the team, but the fact he was the best player and everybody was dependent on him to show up and do what he does, and he was M.I.A. He had a bad series. No, a bad series. Jordan never had that. People killed James Harden for having a bad series last year, right. ‘Oh no, he ain’t as good as he is,’ but you going to say somebody who quit in the Finals, at the end of everything, when all the marbles are on the table, that he’s the greatest of all time? I can’t buy it. I can’t buy it for that reason right there.”
House insists it isn’t him being salty about not getting another ring in 2011, but it certainly seems like there’s a little bit of personal hurt here. House’s career ended after that 2011 Finals, so he wasn’t able to be part of the later title teams the Heat had during the Big 3 era.
This does jive with the report from Dan Le Batard about how the Heat felt he quit in 2011 and also sabotaged them on his way out of Miami in 2014. It’s clear there are some issues between the Heat and LeBron that go a little deeper than him simply choosing to return home in 2014, and, at least as of now, those grievances still remain fresh in the minds of those there during his tenure on South Beach.
[h/t Sporting News]
