[Senator Clay Davis]

It's tough to ignore that most of LeBron's Cleveland/Miami run was at a time when the Western Conference typically had 10 of the 12 best teams in the league. During Jordan's time the league was as balanced as it ever was. Making all those Finals while in the quite literal JV conference isn't as impressive as it seems. They still count, but when the toughest guys you had to get through to make a Finals were DeMar DeRozan, Paul George and a faded Pistons and Celtics team, it doesn't seem all that impressive. It actually seems like a base requirement to even be remotely considered in the GOAT conversation.