LeBron James Calls Hall Of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. The GOAT And Says He Made Baseball Cool
LeBron James is a big fan of Ken Griffey Jr., so much so that he called him the greatest of all time.
Griffey Jr., who is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, is featured in the documentary “Junior,” which will air Sunday on MLB Network at 5 p.m. PST. James retweeted MLB Network’s preview video with 10 goat emojis.
“The way he looks, the way he runs, the way he swings, it’s like he makes the game of baseball cool,” James said in the documentary.
The documentary, which is narrated by actor Sterling K. Brown, is described as “the story of the baddest man in the land.”
James, a three-time NBA champion, is a fan of baseball and was once courted by a a minor league baseball team, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, as he headed into free agency in 2018. The team, located in Allentown, Pa., tweeted, “Our Pitch: If @KingJames really wants to catch MJ, he needs to spend a season in Minor League Baseball.Choose the IronPigs this summer.#LVWantsLeBron.”
Michael Jordan, of course, played for the Birmingham Barons in 1994 in between winning six NBA championships.
James played for the Cleveland Cavaliers while Griffey Jr. played center field for the Cincinnati Reds. James’ first stint with the Cavaliers was from 2003-2010. Griffey started his 22-year MLB career with 10 seasons in Seattle, then played in Cincinnati from 2000-2007.
Griffey Jr. grew up in Cincinnati when his father, Ken Griffey Sr., played for the Reds. Griffey Jr. was in the clubhouse when his father won back-to-back World Series titles in 1975 and 1976.
“For me, playing baseball was what I wanted to do,” Griffey Jr. said in the documentary. “I wanted to be able to leave a mark on the ball, somehow, someway.”
Griffey Jr. became popular not just for his 630 home runs, but also for his smile, engaging personality, smooth swing, ridiculous catches that often had him crashing into the center-field wall, and his speed. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 2016.
