Stephen Jackson has never been shy about leaning into some explosive hot takes on the I AM ATHLETE podcast.
In fact, the former NBA champion is standing by some claims he recently made about Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.
When asked by his co-host on the podcast who his top 5 current players are in the NBA, Jackson named Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Dončić, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum. Surprisingly, Jackson left off James, even though he views him as one of the greatest players of all time.
Needless to say, Jackson’s opinion of James seemed to ruffle some feathers on the panel.
Jackson seemingly justified his surprising answer, even though James is averaging 30.2 points per game as a 38-year-old in his 20th NBA season.
“Not right now,” Jackson shot back when questioned about his take on James. “He’s in my top 3 of all time, but right now in the league, he’s not a top 5 best player in the league right now.”
While James doesn’t lead the league in any offensive categories, the Lakers star is still having an elite season. According to Basketball Reference, James is currently No. 9 in PER (Player Efficiency Rating) — an advanced metric that measures the per-minute production standardized such that the league average is 15. James’s PER is currently 25.4, ahead of players like Zion Williamson and Stephen Curry.
Jackson’s argument certainly holds some weight, but there’s no denying that James is still playing at a high level.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.