"Is he a great dribbler? So, you’re saying the GOAT, and he ain’t even great in all of them categories?" - LeBron James' former teammate doesn't believe he is the GOAT

LeBron James is consistently a part of the GOAT talks. Some swear by his unmatched greatness, while others see flaws in his game that disqualify him from the enviable title.

Ray Allen, a former teammate of the four-time MVP, disagreed with an ardent fan who called the LA Lakers superstar the best ever. Here is Allen’s simple argument why “King James” shouldn’t be considered the GOAT:

“Is he a great free-throw shooter? Is he a great 3-point shooter? Is he a great dribbler? So, you’re saying the GOAT, and he ain’t even great in all of them categories?”

Free throws have always been a chink in James’ armor. He is a career 73.4% free-throw shooter and only 74.0% in the postseason as well. That area is a common argument made by critics against the 18-time All-Star.

Skip Bayless has relentlessly taken shots at James’ free-throw shooting. The sports show host repeatedly calls out James for supposedly running away from crucial moments of games to avoid free throws.

James would also assert that his range is once he enters the arena. That may be true, but his accuracy from 3-point distance leaves much to be desired. He is 34.6% in his career from beyond the arc, a number that drops to 33.7% in the playoffs.

To be fair to James, his scoring over the years, despite the inefficiency, has always been consistent. He even won the scoring title during the 2007-08 season when he averaged 30.0 points per game.

It was the first and only time in his career that he had at least 30 ppg until last season’s incredible run. The aging superstar averaged 30.3 ppg, second only to Joel Embiid's 30.6 ppg. (But James didn't play enough games to qualify for the race.)

"Greatest dribbler" isn’t on James’ resume. However, if the goal of dribbling is to orchestrate the offense, get to the basket and set up teammates, then there’s almost no one better. He once led the league in assists and is partly feared because of how he controls the offense.

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Ray Allen picked Michael Jordan over LeBron James as the GOAT

Ray Allen picked Michael Jordan over LeBron James as the greatest. [Photo: Pippen Ain't Easy]

Late last year, one of NBA history’s deadliest shooters had an interview with CBS. Inevitably, the GOAT debate between Michael Jordan and LeBron James was discussed.

Here’s why “Ray-Ray” considers Jordan the greatest basketball player of all time:

“In my opinion, MJ is the GOAT. LeBron is a product of MJ, so a lot of what's in LeBron – in his DNA – comes from Michael. For anybody that says that LeBron is the GOAT, they're growing up in today's era, and they believe what they believe based on how it feels and what he means to them, and that's OK.

“But the way MJ affected the game, man, he had a stranglehold on the league, and he struck fear in everyone because he was an unstoppable player.”

The glaring difference here is that he never brought up free throws and 3-point shooting as well as dribbling.

His Airness, in an era where trifectas weren’t given importance as much importance as they are today, averaged 32.7%, which he raised to 33.2% in the postseason. He took only 1,778 3-point attempts, making 581. James, on the other hand, has attempted 6,186, making 2,140.

The Chicago Bulls icon’s career average from the free-throw line is 83.5% in the regular season and 82.8% in the playoffs. Part of MJ’s big-game reputation was his unwavering desire to go for the last shot as he knew he could hit the freebies.

Jordan was arguably a better dribbler than James but never led the league in assists. When asked to play point guard, though, he was just as good as anybody with playmaking.