The 2023 NBA Draft saw a major shock permeate throughout the order, as projected top-five pick Cam Whitmore fell all the way to the Houston Rockets at No. 20, a team that considered Whitmore to be their pick with the fourth overall pick.
Whitmore spoke to The Spun and revealed that he looks at LeBron James as his GOAT while saying he can be as good as Jayson Tatum.
“My goat is LeBron [James]. He’s the greatest all-around player ever. My ceiling though and a great player who I think I can play like is Jayson Tatum.”
LeBron has a lot of massive fans in the 2023 Draft Class, with many of them having previously claimed LBJ as their GOAT over Michael Jordan. The modern era of NBA players grew up in the 2000s and got to see James dominate the league firsthand, so it’s no surprise that a wing like Whitmore looks at James as the greatest.
Can LeBron James Continue Climbing The GOAT Discussion?
By now, James is widely considered the second-greatest player of all time at worst behind Michael Jordan. The two have been compared for decades now, and with James’ career seemingly winding up, the debate will soon be set in stone. James has achieved enough for there to be a genuine conversation, but Jordan’s winning record is too much to overcome.
If James can lead the Lakers to a title in Year 21, he definitely adds another dimension to his argument. There will never be an undisputed answer that everyone will agree to. But as long as James is dominating, more and more young players will grow up holding him as the standard of excellence in basketball, not Jordan.
