Jason Williams has been making headlines in recent days, dropping some bold takes regarding all-time great players. First, he talked about Kobe Bryant not being a top-5 Los Angeles Lakers player of all time, claiming he doesn’t have Bryant as high as many people on his all-time list.
White Chocolate had more things to say and chimed in on one of the biggest debates around the NBA for many years now. Michael Jordan and LeBron James have been compared to each other a lot, and the point guard had some things to say about it, saying that Jordan had it easier than James in the 90s.
Talking on The Players Choice podcast, Williams explained why defenders couldn’t go against Jordan as they go against James (43:56).
“When MJ played, the refs would forgive you illegal defense, which would be a shot and a ball from the side. What that meant was, let’s say MJ had the ball on the wing, and his primary defender was guarding him. And then the guy on the weak side and the weak side corner, whoever was guarding that guy, had to stay on the opposite block. So MJ had to beat that first guy, and that primary defender had no chance because nobody can guard nobody one-on-one, especially Michael Jordan.”
“Nowadays, they changed the rule, and if LeBron has the ball on the wing, that primary defender is right there, and there is a secondary defender on the ball side elbow, and he has another secondary defender at the ball side block. He is not worried about the primary defender because he goes by him and makes the right pass. I think LeBron receives a lot of bullshit at the end of games because he doesn’t take the shot because he makes the right play for a guy that is wide open, and of course, he is going to make that play. Where MJ when he played, there was that illegal defense shit, so he would get by his guy and score all the time because he only had one guy.”
This is another hot take from Williams, but it’s common to see former players making these statements regarding the two greatest players of all time. This won’t stop happening, as everybody has a different opinion on this matter. Williams’ take is a very controversial one, but he’s not the first person to say this. Jordan and James are the two biggest legends in the game, and their names will always be linked. It’s up to people to decide who is the greatest of all time.
