Recently, the Lakers took a surprise loss to the Houston Rockets in an overtime thriller. However, they should never have gone into overtime. In almost a Ben Simmons-like moment, LeBron James passed up an open layup in the final play of the game. Reacting to this, an analyst took things too far, saying that one pass is the reason James isn’t the GOAT. However, fans were quick to defend the 4-time league MVP.

Analysts have often criticized LeBron James for not wanting to take the last shot. The King has always been a pass-first player looking to make the right play. Mostly, James has always made the right decision to put his team in a winning position. However, he did not help his case with one of the most surprising plays against the Rockets in the dying seconds. This caused Jay Williams to say the pass killed James’ argument to be the greatest basketball player.

It seemed to be a rather extreme take on the costly mistake. Likewise, fans took LeBron’s side and bombarded Williams for his claim.

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LeBron James gets fans’ support

Taking on the Rockets, the score was tied at 120 apiece. With the ball in LeBron’s hand, he did what James does better than anyone in the NBA. He took it right to the basket. The majority of the time, a team’s defense collapses and leaves a man open. However, this time around, James lost his defender and had a game-winning layup opportunity. Without realizing it, he kicked the ball out to Carmelo Anthony who missed the three-pointer. This mistake seemed to be too much for Williams.

He said: “When you have a chance to bully your man to the rim and finish the game in regulation, but you decide to pass the ball to Carmelo Anthony, I want to quit the argument, I throw my hands up. I’m just like, ‘That’s what people are going to use against you, LeBron.'” He continued saying, “It kills the whole argument about him being a G.O.A.T.”

Fans were right to come to the defense of the King. While the mistake may have cost the Lakers the game, it was a rare mistake on LeBron’s part. As the player to have reached his fair share of finals, LeBron is often the best person to make the right play down the stretch. While he may not choose to take the last shot, the Akron Hammer takes a more successful approach, trusting his teammates to do their job. And even when he takes the last shot, James has eight game-winners with six coming in the postseason.

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Furthermore, his achievements this season surpass the expectations from a 37-year-old player. James is 3rd in the league in scoring and is putting up insane numbers for his 19th season. He is leading the Lakers with 29.3 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Hence, theis one pass surely doesn’t affect his legacy. However, it does affect the Lakers this season who further fall into more trouble.