Sixers legend Julius Erving doesn't have LeBron James on all-time NBA teams
Ky Karlin
4/28/21
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is certainly a polarizing figure in the “who is the greatest of all time?” debate. Some will look at his individual numbers and accomplishments and say he is for sure, at least, in the top five of all time.
Then there are others who look at the super teams he has been on and use that as an argument against him.
James has certainly had some superstar teammates with him, such as Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Anthony Davis with the Lakers. Having that much talent can make it easier to win the titles he has won and that can be tough to argue against.
Philadelphia 76ers legend Julius Erving hopped on the “Posted Up” podcast with Chris Haynes of Yahoo! sports and for those super team reasons, he does not have James on his all-time NBA teams:
"He’s the guy who had led the charge in terms of super teams being put together. He put together a team in Miami, he basically put together a team in Cleveland as well, and put together a team in Los Angeles. So he can pick his own team, I ain’t going to pick his team."
There is no mistake James is an all-time great, but where one ranks him amongst those greats, will be up to the eye of the beholder. Clearly, Erving is not impressed with the titles that James has won due to the way he has gone about it.
Erving named Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Elgin Baylor to his first team, and Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the second team. He went on to explain why he ultimately decided to exclude James.