Milwaukee Bucks news: There will always be a raging debate as to whether or not LeBron James should be considered the GOAT. For more than a few folks, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar has done enough to establish himself as the greatest player to ever pick up a basketball.
For his part, new Bucks recruit Damian Lillard isn’t exactly declaring the NBA’s all-time leading scorer as his GOAT. However, there’s no denying that Dame holds LeBron in extremely high esteem.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Damian Lillard Sounds Off on LeBron James’ Legacy
For Lillard, it’s all about consistency. The seven-time All-Star lauded LeBron’s unbridled ability to continually dominate the NBA throughout two decades — a feat that no ordinary superstar could ever accomplish.
From a player’s perspective, Lillard is able to appreciate all the sacrifice and hard work James has put in through the years, and he believes it is this aspect of LeBron’s game that some fans seem to conveniently overlook:
“I think people will look back at that body of work over 20 years or however long it’s been, and when it’s over with, I think they’ll have more respect (for James),” said Lillard, via Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “For the guys who are in it like I am, and the rest of us who do this job, got to put our bodies through it and got to deal with the pressure and have to perform and all of these things to go along with our personal lives, I think people like us respect it.
“But when it’s over, what I think you guys, fans that just have watched, will respect him more later.”
It won’t be long before LeBron James calls it a career. In his mind, Lillard believes it is only by then that the supporters will be able to truly appreciate the man’s greatness.
LeBron Has Lived Up to the Pressure
Lillard is no spring chicken. However, the fact that he arrived in the NBA nine years after LeBron first took the league by storm as a rookie speaks volumes of just how long James has been doing his thing.
“I was watching him on ESPN back then, so to have that type of hype and to live up to it and then some,” Lillard said, “to come out as your all-time leading scorer in this league, to win how he’s won, to be as scrutinized as he is and has been. … I can just respect how he (has handled the pressure).”
You could argue that among any player who has ever played in the NBA, LeBron James has had to go through the most pressure throughout his career. And so far, he’s been able to handle all that with flying colors. This is exactly why Lillard has nothing but respect for the future Hall of Famer.
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