The GOAT debate in the NBA has gotten pretty heated over the last few years, with superstar forward LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers reaching some remarkable milestones in his career.
Although James is lacking in the championships department compared to Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the versatile forward has accomplished everything else and is racking up all-time stats.
There will never be a definitive answer to the GOAT debate, but there is another angle when it comes to James: whether he’s tougher to guard than Bryant.
As someone that has had to guard both superstars at some point in his career, Richard Jefferson chimed in on this debate and believes James was the tougher player to defend, via NBA on ESPN.
Who’s the toughest player to guard? 🤔
“Kobe was gonna do what Kobe does. … That to me, wasn’t the hardest person to guard, it was still LeBron James.” —@Rjeff24 pic.twitter.com/SEX8dFhPzt
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 19, 2023
As it always is in these debates, it’s Jefferson’s opinion and not fact, which will always be the case, as it is different for every player that has guarded James and Bryant during their career.
With James being the only active player left in this discussion, the four-time NBA champion’s legacy will only continue to grow from here on out as he continues his Hall-of-Fame-caliber career in the league, which is now going into a 21st season.
That said, James will likely come out on top in a lot of these debates as he is the most relevant player, but the face of the matter is there will always be a debate, which is why these conversations are always interesting and tend to have a lot of different opinions.
