LeBron James and Michael Jordan have contested the title of best basketball player of all time for many years. Stephen A. Smith continues to be sure that “Air Jordan” holds the GOAT designation before “King James.” Even the most ardent supporters of the current LA Lakers superstar have not been able to convince the legendary sports show host to change his mind. On the Paul George podcast, he spoke with Rich Paul, one of James’ closest friends and supporters, and this is what he said:
“[James is a] Great dad, great husband, great director, great actor. I did all of that and I said, ‘Did I miss anything, did I miss anything?’ I got him as the second-best player in the history of basketball. I got him ahead of Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar]. “I got him behind no one but Jordan and I said to Mr. Chirper himself, Rich Paul, my boy, and I said, ‘You act like that’s an insult.’ This dude, ‘It is an insult.’ I said, ‘Get the f**k out of my face,’ this is exactly what I said to him. I won’t talk to you no more, you can’t talk to me about it.”
LeBron James was not as good as Michael Jordan, according to Stephen A. Smith
Michael Jordan continues to be regarded as the GOAT, according to Stephen A. Smith. He supported the Chicago Bulls legend in one of his presentations by saying the following: “The obvious. You do know that MJ [Jordan] has six titles, right? LeBron [James] has four. You do know that MJ is undefeated in six finals appearances? You do know that Michael Jordan never allowed an NBA Finals series to get to a seventh game?”
Smith continued by highlighting the distinctions between scoring championships, All-Defensive team selections, and the Defensive Player of the Year award. The ESPN sports analyst also noted that, unlike James, Jordan had never been swept in a seven-game series.
“We’re talking about what you do on both sides of the court. We’re talking about Michael Jordan, in my mind, being the greatest, but I’m not throwing any shade at LeBron James ‘cause he’s a worthy No. 2.”
Stephen A. Smith went into great detail to support Jordan:
“Do you understand that during the LeBron James era, there were debates as to whether he was the best in the world because Kobe [Bryant] was still playing at one time? Tim Duncan was still playing for a large chunk of that time. And ultimately, Steph Curry has been playing for a large chunk of that time. “Do you know that when Michael Jordan was playing, there was never a debate, ever as to who was the best in the world? … Even before Michael Jordan won a title in ‘91. From ‘88 on, it was clear that Michael Jordan was the best player in the world. … That was not the case with LeBron James!”