During this Friday’s edition of First Take, Stephen A. Smith and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo debated whether or not LeBron James is a top-three player all-time.
Smith made his stance on James abundantly clear. He believes the four-time NBA champion is undoubtedly one of the three best players to ever step on the hardwood.
“I am critical of LeBron James, and I’m telling you right now, the man is a top-three player in the history of basketball,” Smith said. “He’s grossly underpaid. From an average per year salary throughout his career, there are several players that are higher than him.”
Smith’s colleague, however, didn’t agree with this take.
Russo believes Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson should be ranked ahead of James.
At this point in James’ career, it’s so tough to keep him out of the top three. After all, we’re talking about a player who just needs to pass Abdul-Jabbar to become the league’s all-time scoring leader.
Of course, the big knock on James is that his record in the NBA Finals isn’t that great. That could change though depending on how he finishes his career.
Do you believe James belongs in the top three all-time?