Byron Scott believes LeBron James’ movement between franchises should factor into the debate over the greatest player in NBA history. Speaking on Byron Scott’s Fast Break, Scott compared James with Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, noting that both legends spent the vast majority of their careers with one organization.
“Most of us judge LeBron based on the guys that you just mentioned and I’ll throw one more guy in there Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and he got traded from Milwaukee to LA, right? So two teams in his whole career. MJ two teams basically, you know, in his whole career,” Scott said.
Scott’s argument centers on the franchise loyalty associated with the players commonly included alongside James in the GOAT discussion. Abdul-Jabbar played six seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975, while Jordan spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Bulls before a late-career stint with the Washington Wizards.
James has taken a different career path. He played seven seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, four with the Miami Heat, returned to Cleveland for four seasons, and then spent eight seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers before joining the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2026-27 season.
“When you’re judging LeBron, you’re looking at the greatest players of all time and what they did at those organizations, they basically never left,” Scott said.
The criticism comes despite James producing elite numbers across all four stops in his career. Through 23 seasons, he has averaged 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists over 1,622 regular-season games, according to current career data.
James also remained productive during his final season with the Lakers. At age 41, he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists in 60 games while shooting 51.5% from the field, and he was selected to his 22nd All-Star Game.
His four NBA championships came with three different franchises: two with Miami, one with Cleveland and one with the Lakers. James also won four Finals MVP awards, four regular-season MVP awards and has made the All-NBA team 20 times.
