ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has been on Team Michael Jordan in the GOAT debate, and he isn’t budging. Smith appeared on the latest episode of the Impaulsive Podcast, where he called LeBron James a basketball savant, but made it clear he is not the greatest ever.
“There’s no way that you could watch Michael Jordan and LeBron James and think that Michael Jordan is not the GOAT,” Smith said. “All right, so they asked, so let me break it down for you. Michael Jordan has 10 scoring titles. Michael Jordan was a nine-time All-NBA defensive team member.
“Michael Jordan won six titles, six NBA Finals MVPs,” Smith continued. “Never once allowed a championship series to get to a Game 7. Never once. That was in his 13 years in Chicago. We ain’t counting the two years with the Wizards. He was trying to become an owner, and they needed him to come out of retirement to have an ownership stake. That’s what they needed.
“We’re talking about his 13 years in Chicago,” Smith added. “That’s what he’s done. By the way, played 82 games seven or eight times. All 82 games. By the way, it was significantly more physical back then. You see, somebody like [Logan Paul] would have got arrested. You understand? You can’t touch him. Can’t touch him today. Back then, you could mug him. You understand? They created rules to stop him.”
Smith was referring to the infamous “Jordan Rules” that the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons had put in. The Pistons would hit Jordan when he came into the paint, and that level of physicality isn’t allowed in the game today.
Smith says James is on his NBA Mount Rushmore, and he believes he is one of the three greatest players of all time. He holds that 4-6 Finals record against him, though. When host Logan Paul pointed out that James has been in more NBA Finals than Jordan, Smith downplayed the feat.
“Did you see the soft a** competition he had to go through in the Eastern Conference?” Smith stated. “Are you kidding me? Michael Jordan ruined franchises. The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t win a title because of Michael Jordan. The New York Knicks didn’t win a title because of Michael Jordan. The Indiana Pacers didn’t win a title because of Michael Jordan. The Phoenix Suns didn’t. Utah Jazz didn’t. The Seattle SuperSonics didn’t.
“That means Karl Malone, John Stockton, Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Kevin Johnson, Charles Barkley, Dan Majerle, Reggie Miller, Rik Smits, Dale [Ellis didn’t win],” Smith added. “I mean, what are we talking about? There’s nothing to talk about here… Any basketball aficionado that you talk to and you ask them to compare the two, they will shut it down for you. LeBron is universally respected. All-time great. Michael Jordan was feared.”
That final point is one that many have brought up. Even Shaquille O’Neal has said that James isn’t feared like Jordan was. Now, there is no real way to measure the fear factor, but we can look at the resumes.
Jordan won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, one DPOY, and 10 scoring titles. As for James, he has four titles, four finals MVPs, four MVPs, one scoring title, and one assists title to his name. Most notably, there are two NBA championships between them. Smith will call Jordan the GOAT even if James ties him for championships, though. Good luck changing his mind on this subject.
