LeBron James and Michael Jordan have been intertwined in a neverending GOAT debate from the time James won his third Championship in 2013. With the numbers and fame to back up his claim to the GOAT status, the King and much of his fans are already of the belief that he surpassed Michael years ago.
But thanks to “The Last Dance” Jordan advocates are pushing back on that narrative now more than ever. Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf was the latest to speak up on the ongoing debate.
“This is history. It makes for fascinating stuff,” Reinsdorf said, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “And ‘The Last Dance’ obviously should establish in the mind of any person with normal eyesight that Michael was beyond a doubt the greatest of all-time. In my mind, anytime anybody wants to talk to me about comparing Michael to LeBron (James), I’m going to tell them to please don’t waste my time.”
He sounds pretty convinced. In fact, he described himself as “tired” of hearing Bron and Mike mentioned in the same sentence.
“I’m really pleased it showed how great Michael was to people who hadn’t seen him play,” Reinsdorf said. “I’m truly tired of people trying to compare LeBron to Michael when it’s not even close. They should try to compare LeBron with Oscar Robertson or Magic Johnson. Michael was so head and shoulders over everybody, and that really came out in this documentary. He was a phenomenon. We may never see another like him.”
He didn’t elaborate on why, exactly, he ranks Jordan so highly above Jordan. Of course, he had a front-row seat to MJ’s theatrics, and here is no doubt a little bias there.
Interestingly enough, most basketball fans seem to agree. In a 600-person poll by ESPN, they gave Jordan a significant edge in every single category including scoring, defending, passing, and even off-court impact.
Whatever your feelings about James, you’d be hard-pressed to find another player who’s come closer to reaching Jordan’s tier. James is a 3x Champion, 4x MVP, 16x All-Star, 2x Olympic Gold medalist, and the NBA’s third All-Time leading scorer.
Is he better than Jordan? Probably not. But is it close? Maybe closer than most would like to think…
