Skip Bayless calls LeBron James' GOAT case 'laughable'

The eternal debate has been reignited

To be fair, there is nothing new about what Bayless is doing. It has been his schtick for years now. Find the flaws and magnify them. The list he recites speaks volumes to where he is coming from. 2010. 2011. Specific NBA Finals matchups. Several possessions that somehow aged into definitive arguments.

The catch here is that if you are selective enough, you can make any argument you want to stick.

James' supporters, on the other hand, will strike back with the complete opposite approach. They will not point to a game or a quarter. They will highlight his two-decade-long career. His 10 NBA Finals appearances. Him being the all-time leading scorer in league history. How he consistently carried rosters that had no earthly business being anywhere near June.

Bayless knows that Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James will push buttons

Still, Bayless knows exactly what he is doing. This is less about convincing anyone and more about provoking them. That ship sailed a long time ago.

And after the provocation, this is what always comes next.

Fans will side with him. Louder than before. They have been waiting for someone to say it the way he just did. Others will just roll their eyes because they have already heard this before and already know the chorus by heart. And there are still those who fall in the middle and just watch the discourse unfold as entertainment.

Does anything ever really change?

The irony in all of this is that nothing really changes. James' resume does not suddenly take a hit because of a tweet, and neither does Jordan's legacy. However, anytime anything like this occurs, it feels like we are one more heated argument away from settling the debate.

We are not.

And deep down, every one of us knows that.

But if voices like Bayless continue to drop bombshells like "laughable," the debate will always continue to circle back like clockwork.

Because deep down, nobody actually wants it settled anyway.