Skip Bayless raised question marks surrounding the legacy of LeBron James by selecting him as the 9th best NBA player of all time. This led to several fans’ disbelief while one questioned the controversial all-time ranking. Consequently, James became a key area of talking point in the latest episode of The Skip Bayless Show as the host shut down the listener.
From the start, Bayless stuck with his declared rankings before providing justifications. Initially, he shed light on the Akron-born’s career free-throw percentage before pointing out its drawbacks. Soon, the 72-year-old compared those stats with a handful of all-time greats to elaborate on his stance.
“LeBron [James] is a terrible free throw shooter, certainly compared to anybody in the top 10. LeBron is a 74% free throw shooter in his career…74% is atrocious. It’s shameful. The best player ever Michael Jordan and somebody who certainly threatened him for best player ever Kobe [Bryant] – 84% free throw shooters, ten percentage points higher than LeBron,” he mentioned.
The focus shifted to James’ long-range shooting as Bayless labeled him a “below average” shooter. Despite the sports analyst admitting the 4x champion’s recent enhancement in three-point scoring, he soon highlighted the sole reason behind it. He credited the 20x All-Star’s “high volume” attempts as the primary contributor while downplaying his career three-point percentage of 34.7% as per StatMuse.
Bayless continued to discredit the Los Angeles Lakers talisman while mentioning his failures in the NBA Finals. Shedding light on his 4-6 run across 10 finals appearances, the analyst put under the microscope each of his series defeats. Calling the losses “epic fails”, he even questioned the impact of James’ noteworthy longevity.
The harsh comments certainly brought out Bayless’ inner feelings toward the 4x MVP. However, his standpoint remained debatable as it completely neglected the holistic influence of James on the NBA culture. Hence, his seeming bias toward the 39-year-old stayed a prominent driving force in the argument.
How Skip Bayless had initially attempted to justify his stance on LeBron James
Credits: USA Today Sports
A few days back, the sports commentator publicly announced his list, putting James in the 9th spot. At that time, he also pointed out how longevity failed to positively impact the legacy of the 4x Finals MVP. He further elaborated on similar pointers, attempting to justify his selections as an NBA analyst.
“LeBron James is not better than Larry Bird, whom I have at 8th…LeBron James is not better than Kobe Bryant at 7th… both Bird and Kobe were much better shooters and much better clutch closers than LeBron has been in these 21 years…LeBron James is not more valuable than the big men I have in my next four positions,” he declared on his show as visible in ClutchPoints’ tweet.
Undoubtedly, Bayless is bound to stand firm on his grounds in the future. As his narrative fails to take into account several immeasurable factors, the rankings continue to fuel controversy. Simultaneously, the justifications remain debatable, taking away the volume of the statements as a whole.