v2 G.O.A.T Round 2 Match 7

Today's second match up pits Bjorn Borg vs Gareth Edwards and the round 1 wildcard LeBron James

Please vote for the participant you believe has achieved the most in sport

Below are the previous round 1 articles written by forum members and the newly added LeBron James article

Please leave a comment as to why you voted

Bjorn Borg- Tennis- Championed by 88chris05

I wish Borg would let someone else have a go at the title for a change"" said tennis legend John McEnroe, after he'd lost the 1980 Wimbledon final to the ice-cool Swede Bjorn Borg. Indeed, of tennis' four major tournaments (now usually referred to as 'Grand Slams' although, as plenty of tennis fans will tell you, that's something of a misnomer), Wimbledon has produced the fewest champions in the open era, which spans from 1968 - the year in which the world's best professionals were allowed to play in the 'big four' - until the present day.

We've grown used to seeing one player make themselves synonamous with the green grass of SW19, and make the trophy their own; Roger Federer in the past decade, Pete Sampras before him, and Boris Becker before the pair of them. Certainly, this happens far more at Wimbledon than at any of the other tennis majors. But there was one man who got there first before all of them in guaranteeing that his name will always be linked with those images of strawberries, all-white kits and, unfortunately, Cliff Richard - and that man was Bjorn Rhune Borg.

It's impossible to do justice to the way in which Borg grabbed tennis by the scruff of its neck and slapped it in to life when he burst on to the scene in the mid seventies. Like Alex Higgins in snooker or Ian Thorpe in swimming, Borg's presence turned what was seen largely as a fuddy-duddy game for upper class Brits and our descendants from Down Under in to a cool, world-wide televised phenomenon. There was tennis before Borg, and tennis after, and no other player in the men's game has ever brought about as much change.

What was the reason for this? Well, there was no single one, but a combination of factors. The good looks, the quiet yet totally absorbing charisma, and the new level of power and athleticism which Borg gave to the game all helped. In 1979, he earned over one million dollars in a single season, a figure which would have been unimaginable just half a decade earlier.

He was also an incredibly young man in what had, until then, a little bit more of a slow-burning sport; Borg was still barely eighteen years old when he won his first of eleven majors, the French Open, in June 1974. When he repeated the trick the following year, as well as leading Sweden to their first Davis Cup victory, the message was clear - no longer could the old timers (such as the wonderful and indefatigable Ken Rosewall who, in 1974, had made the Wimbledon final aged forty, a whole two decades after his first) last the pace - Borg was ushering in a new era of young, athletic superstars such as Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe.

On the European red clay, Borg was close to unbeatable. He triumphed at Roland Garros / the French Open six times; 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981. Though his overall haul has since been surpassed by Rafael Nadal's seven, his mark of four on the spin from 1978 to 1981 is yet to be bettered.

Borg's other five majors were all won at Wimbledon, and all of them in succession; his 1976-1980 achievement has still not been outstripped, and even the phenomenal Roger Federer had to settle for equalling it, with a 'fivetimer' of his own between 2003 and 2007.

However, the pure statistics can't convey the enourmity of Borg's achievements in being so dominant in both Paris and London. First of all, in Borg's peak, there was only one week which separated the end of the French Open and the start of Wimbledon. In more recent times, this has been lengthened to a fortnight and, starting in the near future, will be extended even further to a three week break. For Borg, there was no chance to have a prolonged rest, to quickly ease his way back in to the different and varied rigours of grass court tennis after playing for so long on the clay. As soon as one was finished, the other was knocking on the door.

And even more crucially, the difference between how clay and grass courts played back in the seventies can not be overstated. I remember an interview with the long-time coach of André Agassi (one of the few men to have completed the coveted 'career Slam' by winning all four tennis majors at some stage), Gil Reyes, in which he touched on how difficult and large the shift in training for clay tennis and then quickly moving over to grass was. Reyes said that he and Agassi had to totally change their regime as, ""it's not just like a different kind of tennis - it's like a totally different sport altogether.""

That was true in Agassi's nineties pomp, and it was even more so in Borg's peak. Nowadays, it's common to see fans and players alike bemoaning the fact that grass courts, previously the fastest and most 'specialised' in tennis, have been made too similar to the slower clay and Australian hard ones, and that there is a lack of variation in the game now. A cursory glance at Wimbledon these days, in which you'll nary a see a serve and volley player making any great inroads in to the tournament (previously, these players had been the dominant ones on the surface) is proof enough of this.

However, during Borg's career, clay and grass were the antithesis of each other. The high bounce and slow play of Paris was startling different to the low, skidding grass of SW19; conventional wisdom said that, while baseliners would always be successful on clay, they couldn't hope to beat the more lythe, so-called 'artistic' serve and volley players who prospered on the faster surface at Wimbledon. Borg made a mockery of that theory - between all of his triumphs at both events, there were three years - 1978, 1979 and 1980 - in which he won both the French Open and Wimbledon back to back.

To me, this is one of the most remarkable feats in sport. After 1980, it was another twenty-eight years until Rafael Nadal became the next man to pick up the two tournaments in the same year and, while the Spaniard's form in 2008 was sensational, as far as I'm concerned it just doesn't quite have that same aura around it as Borg's achievement in mastering both the red and green surfaces so effortlessly and so often.

Borg's influence on the game is everywhere, even now. Whenever Roger Federer's ice-cool temperament and clear-headedness under pressure is mentioned, it's inevitably linked back to Borg, who became known appropriately as the 'Ice Man' because of these qualities. When there's talk of how Rafael Nadal has done so much to attract females and children to the game with his looks, youthful energy and star quality, there will always be those quick to point out that, in fact, it was this incredible Swede who was there first.

Although a major on a hard court alluded him (he seldom played the Australian Open which, at the time, was merely a poor relation to the other 'Slams, and McEnroe and Connors conspired to make him a runner up four times at the US Open), it is likely that Borg would have surpassed Roy Emerson's (then) record of twelve career Grand Slams had he not retired aged just 26 in 1982, months after losing to McEnroe in the Flushing Meadows final for a second successive year.

Despite this, Borg, incredibly, won eleven of the twenty-seven Grand Slams he entered in his professional career - a quite frankly ridiculous ration which no other man can get close to. He was six times ranked at the top of the world rankings during his time as a player. To the nearest percent, he won 90% of his matches in majors, and 83% throughout his whole career - and once more, these are records.

But Borg was more than just a record breaker - he was a true original, tennis' first superstar. Seldom can you find a person who has been involved in a sport for such a short amount of time but has done as much, not only in terms of achievement but also in terms of popularising the game and paving the way for a generation of mega stars who followed. The 1980 Wimbledon final, in which Borg edged out his great rival McEnroe in five sets in a classic, is still spoken of in reverent terms all these years later. In 2008, an ESPN poll quizzed a series of tennis analysts, former players and writers to hypothetically build their perfect player - and Borg's name was the only one to be mentioned in all four categories; defence, footwork, intangibles and mental toughness.

Gareth Edwards- Rugby- Championed by dummy_half

""People say I could probably have won more Grand Slams and it's probably true, but the decision was mine and I'm glad I made it"" said Borg in 1983, a year after his retirement had stunned the tennis world. But more tellingly, he finished off by saying, ""My dream is to be remembered as the greatest tennis player of all time - I guess you could say I have come close.""

"The facts - Wales scrum half 53 times between 1967 and 1978, scoring 20 tries. British and Irish Lions scrum half in 1971 and 1974, in successful tours to New Zealand and South Africa.

It is never easy to pick who is the greatest rugby player of all time - different requirements for specialist positions and the changes to the game following the introduction of professionalism make comparisons troublesome. However, Gareth Edwards is one name that always makes the discussion, and indeed he was voted the best rugby player of all time in a 2003 Ruugby World poll of present and former international players, and Will Carling named him the #1 in his list of 50 greatest players in 2007.

The Wales team of the 70s, even for this Englishman, is a team of legends. The Pontypool front row, Merv the Swerve Davies, Prince Barry John, Phil Bennett, Gerald Davies, JPR Williams. However, the collossus standing over all of them was Edwards. First capped at 19 and then playing the next 53 Wales internationals - never injured, never dropped and Wales's youngest ever captain. In his twelve year international career, Wales won the 5 Nations Championship 7 times. Sadly, at the time there was no rugby world cup to allow this Wales team to be regularly tested against the best the southern hemisphere had to offer - judging from how well the Welsh-dominated Lions did in New Zealand in 1971, they'd have had a good chance - the only British team even close to their legacy is the England team of 2000-2003, and they didn't dominate for anywhere near the same length of time.

Edwards was a talented youngster, given a scholarship to Millfields school where he excelled at football (even signing for Swansea City at 16), gymnastics and athletics as well as rugby. However, as a South Wales boy, it was always rugby that was closest to his heart.

Traditionally, scrum half is a very technical position, with the ability to pass the ball fast and accurately and to kick well under pressure are pre-requisites. Edwards had these attributes, but he had more also. The strength and tenacity of a back row forward meant he could dig the ball out of rucks and mauls and was prepared to carry the ball himself into the heavy traffic around the breakdown, plus while most scrum halfs of the time were defensive liabilities, he never shirked the tackling duties. Even more importantly, he was fast - as quick as most wingers, and it was this pace that saw his most famous moment, finishing off 'That Try' for the Barbarians against New Zealand in 1973.

I'm sure most of you have seen it - All Blacks wing Brian Williams kicks the ball across to near the Baa-Baas posts, where Phil Bennett retrieves and sidesteps 3 pursuers before passing to JPR Williams. Williams stands up under a high tackle and off-loads to Pullen, still in the defensive 22. Pullen, Dawes, David and Quinnell carry the ball forwards to just over the half way line, progressively passing towards the left touchline. Quinnell throws a one-handed pass aimed at his winger, but a faster-running Edwards 'intercepts' and sprints the remaining 40m to score in the corner. All this in the first 3 minutes of the most entertaining rugby match ever played.

The final words I leave to Will Carling, in summing up Edwards: ""He was a supreme athlete with supreme skills, the complete package. He played in the 1970s, but, if he played now, he would still be the best. He was outstanding at running, passing, kicking and reading the game. He sits astride the whole of rugby as the ultimate athlete on the pitch""."

LeBron James- Basketball- Championed by Spaghetti-Hans

"For centuries mankind had been tormented by visions of World’s End in the year 2012 - as prophesized by the Mayans. As the fates would have it, 2012 was not the End of the World, it was merely....

The End of The World as we knew it.

2012 brought no apocalypse, no fiery battle between good and evil, no Antichrist emerging to claim his throne as the Devil’s Favourite Demon. Instead, 2012 will forever be remembered for LeBron James claiming his throne as King James of the NBA.

April 16th 2003. Michael Jordan calls a pre-game press conference, attended by over 300 members of the global media, and announces that the Washington Wizard’s game at the Philadelphia 76ers would be his last in professional basketball. At this point there might well have been an avalanche of questions, given Jordan’s greatness in the sport, cries of ‘Why, your Airness?’, but Jordan’s announcement was greeted only with a knowing silence. There wasn’t a person in that room, or watching that broadcast, that blamed Jordan for quitting in the face of what was to come. That night, in the dying minutes of the 4th quarter, as Jordan made his way off the floor for the very last time, both sets of players, officials and the 21000-strong crowd at the First Union Center gave a 3 minute standing ovation. But they weren’t applauding Jordan’s departure, no, they were paying homage to the arrival of the Chosen One - LeBron James - who had just been declared eligible for the 2003 NBA Draft. The Miami Heat retired their #23 jersey, the jersey that LeBron had already declared would be his once he joined the ranks of the NBA, considering it sacrilegious to allow any other player to wear it and planning to dust it off only when they had acquired James’ talents.

Unlike most great sportsmen, LeBron didn’t need to develop his game or enhance his physique, he was a ready-made superstar right from the get-go. Quite simply, LeBron is a freak-of-nature. His physical gifts, unparalleled skill and innate basketball IQ saw him dubbed by High School coaches and College scouts nationwide as ‘The Anomaly’. LeBron’s sheer talent generated unprecedented mainstream attention and by the start of his senior year, LeBron had already appeared on the covers of Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine and SLAM Magazine. The attention become so intense and LeBron’s following so large, that St Vincent-St Mary was forced to move their home games to the University of Akron, to cope with the huge crowds and the broadcast requirements of ESPN - who started to televise High School games nationally for the first time. The NBA, according to reports, were even on the verge of lifting their draft eligibility rule that required prospective entrants to have graduated from High School, after James declared his intention to enter the 2002 Draft, but James had a change of heart and saw out the final year of his High School career.

Unsurprisingly, LeBron’s NBA career got off to a record-breaking start, and saw the #1 Pick become the youngest player to register 40 points in a game, against the New Jersey Nets, and claim the coveted NBA Rookie of the Year Award. LeBron’s talents and inspirational presence propelled the Cleveland Cavaliers from play-off no-hopers to Championship contenders. In 2007, LeBron dragged the Cavs to the NBA Finals. In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, against the Detroit Pistons, LeBron conjured up a magical performance, posting a franchise-record 48 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, securing victory for the Cavaliers with a game-clinching lay-up with 2 seconds left on the clock. Some observers were stunned, but not The Main Event Lads, for such unique excellence was merely what we had come to expect from King James. In March 2008, LeBron was given the honour of being the first black man, and only the third man ever, to appear on the cover of Vogue - posing with the World’s highest paid model, Gisele Bundchen. The Vogue cover sparked controversy due to the racial overtones but the issue was the biggest-selling in company history.

After seven statistically glittering years, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to break the 10K-points barrier, 6 straight All-Star Game honours, an Olympic Gold Medal and 2-consecutive NBA MVP Awards, King James had nothing left to prove in Cleveland.

LeBron realized that to increase the immense mainstream attention to which he was accustomed, and therefore increase his already massive clout on Madison Avenue, his character would have to be freshened up via a ‘heel turn’. James ran down the remainder of his lucrative contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers and announced to the World that he sought pastures new. The perceived disrespect James showed towards the Cavaliers organization and the Cavs fans turned the American people against him. James announced his destination in a live ESPN Special - The Decision, uttering the infamous words: ‘I’m taking my talents to South Beach’. The Decision was the highest-rated cable show of the week. The commendable self-indulgence of the process led to James becoming America’s Most Disliked Athlete - with LeBron #23 Jerseys being burned across the country. LeBron took a page out of the TME playbook: Controversy Creates Cash. Whether you loved him or hated him, considered his actions justified or indefensible, he was living rent-free inside your head.

After a successful debut season with the Miami Heat, LeBron took his heel persona to a new level by attacking his critics after the Heat were upset by the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. You didn’t have to read far between the lines to see that LeBron wasn’t concerned by the Heat’s Finals defeat because he had more money and more fame than you. After a hellacious pre-season training camp, LeBron emerged for the lockout-shortened 2011-12 NBA season re-invigorated and freshly motivated. His blockbuster performances were re-winning fans worldwide and LeBron’s marketing people decided that a ‘face turn’ was the only option. James quickly re-established himself as the most popular athlete in North America, even expressing remorse for his earlier actions, and the Heat’s Tour Le Bron swept into 2012. In a historic year for sport, LeBron James was the best athlete of 2012, picking up his 3rd NBA MVP Award, posting averages of 30-10-6 in the play-offs, leading the Miami Heat to the NBA Title and claiming the Finals MVP, plus winning an Olympic Gold Medal to boot.

Purely from a talent perspective, pound-for-pound, there has never been a more gifted player in the NBA than, The Chosen One - LeBron James. 'King James' is the World’s premier 'Sports Entertainer'. 6'8, 260, an electrifying offensive force and unbreakable defensive wall. A locomotive with career averages of 28-7-7, LeBron is the greatest overall statistical out-putter in the global era of the NBA, even out-stripping Jordan in terms of stat-lines. LeBron's 40-18-9 performance in Game 4 of last year's Conference SFs, on the road vs the Indiana Pacers, was the best stat-line in the play-offs for 51 years. In Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals vs the Boston Celtics, with the Heat facing elimination at 2-3 down, LeBron produced a superlative-exhausting 45 point-15 rebound performance that many observers believe was 'the first time that one man has beaten five'.

The mere fact that LeBron was being discussed as potentially the best ever straight out of High School, should illustrate to everyone what a unique talent that he is. In fact, just a few days ago, American President Barack Obama invited LeBron and the rest of the Heat to the White House, in order to pay homage to the Chosen One in person - leading the Daily Mail of London to headline the event: 'When the Most Influential Man in America met Barack Obama'.

June 21st 2012. Fever pitch is reached in Miami, Florida, as the Heat sit on a 3-1 advantage going into Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. That night, when LeBron James performed his patented ceremonial powder-toss prior to tip-off, the chalk flew up, caught the bright lights of the American Airlines Arena, and came down gold. The King had been crowned. And it was...

The End of The World as we knew it."

I've gone with Borg. My knowledge of him and his rival here Edwards isn't deep to say the least and I've had to go on which is the bigger name, a decision based on name recognition and gut instinct rather than facts.

Sorry Gareth, Bjorn gets my vote.

gareth, no question!

edwards on this one

Gareth by one and a half muttonchops.

Gone for Borg. Tough one. Gareth Edwards was exceptional when he played and he'd have been exceptional in the modern game too. James is out for me as I can't vote for an obvious bell-end.

A piece on LeBron by another TME member:

The Main Event Lads confess ourselves pleasantly surprised by the strength of support shown towards LeBron James amongst the 606v2 community. In what we anticipated would be a hard fought Wildcard group, the community, from Diggers right through to Super Realist, was united in its desire to see LeBron through at the expense of the flag-waving Finn Ben Ainslie, and the admittedly great, big fish in the smallest of ponds, Jahangir Khan. We thank you, and wish to reward you with a further instalment of the King James Bible. One of our esteemed fraternity has already penned an excellent expose above – well written brother – we hope we don’t replicate too many of the original article’s points – but then again, greatness always bears repeating.

Many of you will remember the buzz that began to build at the turn of the millennium –there was a kid from rural Ohio who could step onto any court in the state and make miracles happen. He was destined for greatness, and as the Y2K bug threatened to destroy everything that we knew, here was a hope that we could cling onto. Every game-night a spot on the packed rafters of St. Vincent - St.Mary High became the hottest ticket in America, as crowds clamoured to see Mr. Basketball Ohio. During those heady years admissions quadrupled, NBA scouts were discovered enrolling undercover as students, and no female student was deemed worthy of being 'Queen' to Prom King James. Everyone wanted a piece of the young Lebron.

The 2002/03 NBA year has been widely labelled as the ‘Silly Season’ as teams in both divisions self-sabotaged their seasons – desperately trying to avoid the play-offs in order to have a shot of drafting James in the upcoming close-season. Officials declared the season null-and-void but the race for last place was eventually won by the foresighted Cleveland Cavaliers. The 2003 draft was the most publicized in memory, as journalists fought to get the first picture of the Cav’s inevitable first-round pick. No-one man in sporting history has been as hyped as LeBron James before his professional debut. It would have been easy to wilt under the flashbulbs glare – see Freddy Adu, or the ‘White Pele’ Wayne Rooney – but not so LeBron. As a brilliant precursor to what was to come, James shot 25 points on debut: a record prep-to-pro debut score.

The rest is history. Our colleague has already recounted the constant brushes with greatness, his relentless accession to sporting nirvana: 3 NBA MVP awards and counting; 20,000 points (2 years faster than Jordan managed); career stats up year upon year, records tumbling in his wake. But we know that excellence so rarely comes alive in static words, and so this article would simply urge you all to watch just one Heat game this season – the Bobcats game tonight might be a good place to start – and tell us if you have ever seen a finer physical specimen, a better-built athlete, or anyone so dominant in every aspect of the sport they play. LeBron James is a 6 foot 8 inch, 270 pound colossus, who combines a frankly inhuman vertical leap with the lightning speed of the quickest wing player, and the show stopping skills of the finest point guard. He is an unparalleled game-changer on both ends of the court, capable of assuming any offensive or defensive position with equal acumen. As effective a half-court defensive anchor as he is a top perimeter scorer. Imagine Lionel Messi if he was two foot higher and could play partner Puyol at the back while still hitting hat-tricks and you come close to understanding LeBron James’ influence on the court.

There was once a time when one could perhaps point to the flaw of hubris within the young genius’ game – the haughty presumption he showed during the 2004 Athens games was the stick frequently used to beat him. But his detractors have through the years all fallen silent. The Playboy Prince has become the Benevolent King – James has learnt to share the wealth, he assists as often as he scores, bringing teammates like Wade and Bosh up to his level – he makes everyone he plays with more dangerous. Yet there are moments when you sense that he’s had enough of playing with mortals: see his 48 point (at 54.5%) single-handed demolition of the Pistons in the 2007 post-season – immediately heralded as one of the great all-time performances, and one that gets better every time you watch. The Main Event Lads were courtside that day and watched agog as King James took charge, claiming 29 of the Cav’s final 30 points, including the heart-stopping game-winning layoff as the clocked struck zero.

Suddenly the world woke up to the fact that here was a man who might just be the best to ever play the game. Yes, even better than Jordan. The truth is that this is still blasphemy in the eyes of many. As humans we like our legends to remain on their perch, we allow our hearts to rule, even if our heads, and our eyes, contradict all that we once held dear. How else is it that so many still believe Pele to be the greatest? Or the amateur Ol’ Rod Laver? Or Don ’Broken By Bodyline’ Bradman? Yet, the tide is turning, and more and more good men are embracing what was once heresy. The public face of TME’s American operations, Skip Bayless, once notoriously anti-James, now concedes that ‘he has more skills than Michael...he’s a better all-round player.’ Even Jordan’s old Bulls and Dream Team comrades in arms have changed their tune. Magic Johnson recently announced his allegiance to the good King James, and Scottie Pippen too risked the wrath of the city of Chicago by admitting that LeBron is ‘the greatest player to ever play the game.’ Meanwhile Michael Jordan rides around the country in a giant hummer, drawing up to journalists as they leave their offices, and attempting to intimidate them into silence (see Stephen A Smith’s account of this underhand tactic). But the people can’t be silenced, the cat’s out the bag – King James holds the throne now.

And 2012 was surely his coronation. A record-breaking NBA season reached a stunning climax with his 45 points – 15 rebounds – 5 assists tour-de-force against the Celtics in Game 6 of the play-offs, before culminating in his very first NBA championship with the Miami Heat. He then followed this achievement by leading Team USA to (his second) Olympic Gold in London. In a team of superstars, he shone brighter than any – and his performances were, with the possible exception of David Rudisha’s, the single most dominantly impressive and defining of the entire Summer. It will come as no surprise if sporting historians 50 years from now look back upon London as the LeBron James Games. Its legacy will indeed be one of ever-lasting greatness – a fitting showpiece for the finest athlete on the earth. All hail King James – trust us, he’ll be ruling for a long time to come.

Have a tough time understanding why anyone would think LeBron James should remotely contend for GOAT.
Not close to being Greatest in his own sport.
Not Greatest in his own sport this century.

Certainly he enjoyed a wonderful 2012, and has every chance of being best b'ball player of this decade, perhaps of the 21st Century, but not based upon his career to date. Can't speculate as to whether his achievements will rival Tim Duncan's or even Kobe's, but so far they certainly haven't and time is starting to run out for "King James" and his Heat.

Tim Duncan

I love the verb'ish nature of his surname.

kwinigolfer wrote:Have a tough time understanding why anyone would think LeBron James should remotely contend for GOAT.
Not close to being Greatest in his own sport.
Not Greatest in his own sport this century.

Certainly he enjoyed a wonderful 2012, and has every chance of being best b'ball player of this decade, perhaps of the 21st Century, but not based upon his career to date. Can't speculate as to whether his achievements will rival Tim Duncan's or even Kobe's, but so far they certainly haven't and time is starting to run out for "King James" and his Heat.

Did you read our articles on this thread expertly detailing why LeBron is, in fact, the greatest basketball player to ever set foot on the court?

Kobe and Tim Duncan don't compare with LeBron in terms of sheer, unadulterated talent. No one does.

Spaghetti-Hans wrote:Did you read our articles on this thread expertly detailing why LeBron is, in fact, the greatest basketball player to ever set foot on the court?

I did, but your previous posts on other sportsmen led me to conclude this was also probably also of no particular value.

This is an absolute clunker of a group for my money. Surely whoever gets through here will be trounced in the next round?

All good fun though, we have a group like this on the same day as Owens vs Senna.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Spaghetti-Hans wrote:Did you read our articles on this thread expertly detailing why LeBron is, in fact, the greatest basketball player to ever set foot on the court?

I did, but your previous posts on other sportsmen led me to conclude this was also probably also of no particular value.

Julius 1 The Main Event Lads 0

dont have much intrest in basketball but as a outsider i always thought jordan, magic johnsen and kareem are considered better than lebron, doesnt get my vote anyway, up until recently only the us have taken the sport seriously

tough one between borg and edwards, edged for edwards. just think his legacy for his chosen sport is more meaningful than borgs rather talented but short reign. as talented as he was the likes of nadal are already over taking his records

Spaghetti,

I thought this was about the Greatest, not the most talented.

Greatness is usually measured in events won, talent just as often squandered as realised.

LeBron James not qualified to be in the top 64, let alone in Round 2. Let's assess his career when his basketball achievements have matched those of his peers; long way to go in that respect

Edwards. Borg quitting too soon to enable him to allow him to realistically progress towards GOAT. Edwards has left an appropriate legacy to allow him to progress versus the competition in this round.

Lebron? "You didn’t have to read far between the lines to see that LeBron wasn’t concerned by the Heat’s Finals defeat because he had more money and more fame than you." Team loses, doesn't care, got cash. Anyone aspiring for greatness would put success as a goal. GOAT? Only (possibly) GIHOH (in his own head) and even there I think he'd be tempted to put Jordan on pole!

LeBron James got 22 votes when up against a field of 8 other wild cards. I'll be interested to see how many he gets against only 2 contenders who although talented are hardly likely to win the whole competition.

Voted for Borg. Fantastic player and a GOAT candidate.

VTR wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Spaghetti-Hans wrote:Did you read our articles on this thread expertly detailing why LeBron is, in fact, the greatest basketball player to ever set foot on the court?

I did, but your previous posts on other sportsmen led me to conclude this was also probably also of no particular value.

Julius 1 The Main Event Lads 0

Wait a minute, he said that another of the lads wrote this article. Give the new a guy a chance men!

Jeremy_Kyle wrote:

VTR wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Spaghetti-Hans wrote:Did you read our articles on this thread expertly detailing why LeBron is, in fact, the greatest basketball player to ever set foot on the court?

I did, but your previous posts on other sportsmen led me to conclude this was also probably also of no particular value.

Julius 1 The Main Event Lads 0

Wait a minute, he said that another of the lads wrote this article. Give the new a guy a chance men!

I'm fairly sure the 'main event lads' are just voices in his head. Don't listen to them SH.

None of these three are the GOAT

I picked King James. I have a serious problem with picking team sport players in these things. But the truth is James truly might be the greatest athlete walking the Earth. Ever. His speed is slightly overrated, while his stamina is questionable, but he is a freight-trein!

Edwards was before my time, but while he may be the greatest scrummie ever, the mechanics of rugby suggest a forward HAS to be the greatest player.

Borg? well, its a romantic thought, but he has been eclipsed. Also his lack of a hard court slam (I use Slam because Major sounds to golf) counts against him.
If V2 was more American, James probably would have walked this.

I picked King James. I have a serious problem with picking team sport players in these things. But the truth is James truly might be the greatest athlete walking the Earth. Ever. His speed is slightly overrated, while his stamina is questionable, but he is a freight-trein!

Edwards was before my time, but while he may be the greatest scrummie ever, the mechanics of rugby suggest a forward HAS to be the greatest player.

Borg? well, its a romantic thought, but he has been eclipsed. Also his lack of a hard court slam (I use Slam because Major sounds to golf) counts against him.
If V2 was more American, James probably would have walked this.

So Lebron beat Jahangir Khan but comes no where near these two, nothing dodgy about that at all.

If V2 was more pakistani then Khan would have walked this
If it was more philipino then Villa or Pacquiao would have walked this
If it was more Fijian then Singh would have walked this

Quite an absurd comment to make when there is very little representation from these shores in the 64.

I think I would rate :
Michael Jordan,
Magic Johnson,
Larry bird,
and Wlit Chamberlain greater basketball players than Le Bron James...

Not that it has affected the result but this voting reeks of fish yet again. I checked yesterday about 2pm and Lebron had all of 2 votes to c.20 each for the other two. In the final reckoning he has almost caught Edwards.

Is it possible to re-instate Jahinger Khan based on the dodgy voting that has surrounded Lebron James?

I thought Kobe was more gifted than James, did Kobe even figure in the GOAT list?