For most NBA fans, the GOAT debate comes down to Michael Jordan and LeBron James. But if you ask former NBA superstar Grant Hill, after Game 4 of the 2018 NBA Finals, the latter doesn’t belong in that conversation.

“He just did not seem mentally or emotionally in it,” said Hill. “Particularly when the game was somewhat close at halftime, they got down, but they fought back in the first half. And then the second half and the third, I think (he took) maybe one shot..”

Lebron was passive in Game 4

The Golden State Warriors got off to a strong start in Game 4 and built a 34-24 lead after the first quarter. LeBron rallied the Cavs back, and his free throw with 3:26 left in the second quarter cut the lead to 49-47. However, “The King” went scoreless after that, allowing the Warriors to close the first half with a 61-52 advantage.

In the crucial third quarter, James scored only two points after pouring 16 in the first half. In the final period, he had five points before being pulled out with four minutes left to play.

LeBron averaged 34.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 10.0 assists per game in that Finals series. However, in Game 4, he only scored 23 points on 13 shots—James averaged 23.25 field goal attempts per game in the series.

“It was not what I expected, and we have all these conversations and debates about GOATs and this that or the other, which you can’t really have that, you can’t really make an argument for that, and to me when you come out, and you’re passive and you could have just don’t give it your all when your team needs you, you can’t really have that conversation as far as I’m concerned,” added Hill.

Self-inflicted hand injury

After the game, James revealed that he “pretty much played the last three games of the series with a broken hand.” 

James called it a ‘self-inflicted injury’ as a result of frustration after a bizarre loss in the series opener—James scored 51 points, but J.R. Smith forgetting the score cost the Cavs an opportunity to seal what would have been a huge Game 1 upset.

“Very emotional. For a lot of different reasons, understanding how important a Game 1 is on the road for our ballclub, what that would have done for us, the way we played, and the calls that were made throughout that game, I had emotions on the game was taken away from us,” James said.

Still, the entire NBA world criticized James for giving up in Game 4 despite facing the Kevin Durant-led Warriors juggernaut. LeBron fans will always point to his injured hand as the reason for it. However, even that was his fault because he let the emotions get the better of him, which cost the Cavs the series. For Grant Hill, that also cost him the GOAT title.