Is LeBron James the Best Athlete? Other Professional Athletes Weigh In
With his performance in the 2015 NBA Finals, plenty of people are asking the same question of LeBron James: Is he the greatest athlete in the entire world?
It’s a question that ESPN recently took to many top athletes across many different sports, and the answers from some athletes may surprise you.
During the NBA Finals so far, LeBron James has averaged 36.6 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 8.8 assists while playing about 45 minutes per game.
Many believe that LeBron James has singlehandedly taken his injured team to Game 6 of the NBA Finals, and still more believe that, even if the Cleveland Cavaliers lose to the Golden State Warriors, James deserves to be named MVP. That hasn’t happened in 46 years, according to ESPN.
Hasn’t happened in 46 yrs, but one @ESPNInsider says LeBron should be Finals MVP, win or lose: http://t.co/9Ow0yFgc0D pic.twitter.com/ercb2c0ZzB
— ESPN (@espn) June 15, 2015
Despite the dominant performance of LeBron James, some professional athletes said they couldn’t call James the best athlete in the world. For example, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins said that while LeBron is phenomenal, it’s not fair to call him the best athlete in the world.
“I mean, there’s a lot of different guys that are the best at what they do. … (LeBron is) a freak of nature, but you got J.J. Watt, who no one can stop. So you can’t really say that he’s the best. There’s a lot of people, in their profession, who can’t be stopped.”
And since Watkins mentioned Houstan Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, ESPN checked in with Watt to ask him his own opinion about LeBron James, of course. Here’s what Watt told ESPN.
“You’re asking an athlete that. I don’t know. I’m not a big judger on lists or opinions or anything. That’s for the general public. That’s for everyone else to decide. I’m an athlete myself, so I’m trying to be the best one I can be. I’ll leave that up to you guys. That’s what you guys get paid for. I just get paid to play.”
While Watkins and Watt weren’t prepared to call LeBron the best in the world, there were other sports professionals who were, including Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr. In fact, Kerr compared LeBron James to a horse.
“Maybe American Pharoah? No, I think I said when I was a broadcaster with TNT, I think I might have made the comment that (LeBron is) arguably the best athlete that any of us have ever seen in terms of size and speed and strength. I mean, he’s a force. We know that.”
Regardless of whether you believe James to be the best athlete in the world or not, it’s obvious that he’s the best basketball player in the world right now. No one is arguing against LeBron James in that capacity.
What do you think? Is LeBron James the greatest athlete in the world?
[Photo by Ezra Shaw / Getty Images]
