James fell in the first round again, and it was no longer possible to compete with Jordan for GOAT?

The Lakers, led by James, were eliminated by the Timberwolves in the playoffs. This is his second consecutive year of being eliminated in the first round. His 22nd season of his career ended in disappointment again. James's championship ring is still at 4, making it more difficult for him to challenge the GOAT status of the basketball god Jordan.

Before James appeared, the NBA's GOAT was recognized as Jordan. In 2019, the American media "The Athletic" voted for NBA players who was GOAT. Jordan crushed James' 11.9% with a 73% vote rate, but James won the fourth championship in 2020, and became the NBA's historical scoring champion in 2023. His vote rate for the same vote in 2023 has grown to 33%, which is closer to Jordan's 58.3%.

▌GOAT player polls are getting closer and closer to Joe Shen

The third player vote for "The Athletic" in 2024, and James won 42.1% of the votes, which is less than 4% left from Jordan's 45.9%. Interestingly, this year, "The Athletic" also voted anonymously for NBA players, but did not include the question of who is GOAT, which also made the GOAT dispute between James and Jordan even more confusing.

James wants to challenge GOAT, his biggest advantage is his personal data, especially in the three main data of scoring, rebounding and assists. He defeated Jordan completely. This year he became the first player in history to break 50,000 points in the regular season + playoffs, and Jordan scored less than 40,000 points.

James has taken the lead in personal data. The biggest key is that he played long enough and maintained a high level for a long time. This is something Jordan cannot do, but his 22nd season in his career has 7 more seasons than Jordan, but he won two less championships. Especially since 2020, James has not won the championship for five consecutive years, which has become his flaw in chasing GOAT.

Recently, the US media proposed a criterion for rating GOAT, which is to add the player's championship ring to FMVP and annual MVP. Jordan has 6 championship rings, 6 FMVPs, and 5 MVPs. The combined number is 17, ranking first among all players in NBA history. This is a favorable condition for him to firmly sit in GOAT.

▌GOAT may become the biggest shortcoming in his career

, and James has 4 championship rings, 4 FMVPs, and 4 MVPs, the combined number is 12, and he is only ranked 4th in NBA history, not as good as Bill Russell's 16 and Jabbar's 14. Does James have a way to narrow the gap with Jordan 17 before retiring?

James has never won the annual MVP since 2013. It has been 12 years since now. With his 40-year-old age, it is inevitable that he will win this award again. Therefore, the annual MVP number will remain at 4.

The most likely increase in James is the number of championships. This year is the first season he and Doncic cooperated with each other, and won 50 wins in a single season and ranked third in the West, which is much better than the past few seasons. Unfortunately, the big center Ma Wei, who was traded in the middle of the season, was returned by the Lakers due to injury concerns, making the inside the Lakers the biggest life goal and the key to losing to the Timberwolves in the first round.

After being eliminated this year, the Lakers have a summer to strengthen the inside line they need most. Compared to this season, the Lakers have more capital to win the championship, but from the second half of this year to the playoffs, it is obvious that the Lakers' center of gravity has shifted to Doncic, and James has retreated to the supporting role. Even if he can win the championship with Doncic in the future, the FMVP will be high.

James has countless glories in his life. This season, he even fulfilled his dream of playing in the NBA with his son Brownie. The only thing he has to pursue is GOAT, but he failed to win the championship this year and is one year older next year. The situation is even more unfavorable. GOAT may become the biggest shortcoming in James' life.