Michael Jordan and LeBron James are widely regarded as two of the greatest basketball players of all time. Which one is the better of the two? That is very much a matter of opinion.
This week, Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas appeared on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast and offered his take on the ongoing debate regarding who is the superior talent between Jordan and James.
“We have never seen a player like this in the NBA,” Thomas said. “He (LeBron) breaks a record every single night just to remind you you’ve never seen anything like this before. When it’s all said and done, it’s going to be hard for people to look back and say ‘He (LeBron) wasn’t the best.’”
Thomas then went on to liken James to one of the greatest athletes of all time.
“Imagine if Bo Jackson had stayed healthy and kept getting better,” he said. “That’s LeBron James.”
It goes without saying that Thomas’ opinion is a bit biased. He and Jordan have had some notable issues in the past, and that no doubt clouds his judgement to at least some degree.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Thomas and Jordan constantly went at it for control of the Eastern Conference. Their rivalry got so intense that Jordan allegedly kept Thomas from being a part of the 1992 Dream Team.
During his extremely popular ‘The Last Dance’ documentary, Jordan referred to Thomas as an “a******.”
Tristan Thompson shoots a far better percentage off the court than on it. https://t.co/f70gUH87z5
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Thomas, for his part, said he had no idea that Jordan had such hostility towards him.
“It seems like it was only one person that had a problem [with me on the Dream Team], and that was Jordan,” he told Sharpe. “Until I watched ‘The Last Dance,’ I didn’t realize MJ felt that way about me.”
Thomas then went on to say that, objectively, he was dominant over Jordan for the majority of his career.
A straight up arms race is unfolding. https://t.co/IC93nIpGOc
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“Head to head, I was dominant over him (Michael Jordan),” he said. “Until 1991 when I basically had career-ending wrist surgery, my record against him and his team, it really wasn’t competition there.”
As such, Thomas ranked Jordan as the fifth toughest competitor he ever faced.
JaVale McGee, folks. https://t.co/nWjPr28CpB
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“[Jordan] just wasn’t my competition,” he said. “My focus was Bird, Magic, Dr. J, Kareem.”
Based on his and Jordan’s shared history it’s fair to interpret Thomas’ GOAT rankings with a bit of scrutiny. That said, he is not the only one to rank James above Jordan in that regard. Last week, Los Angeles guard Alex Caruso did the same.
One way or another, it’s safe to assume this debate isn’t going anywhere. For years to come, folks will argue the specifics of who is better between Jordan and James. Who will ultimately emerge victorious when all the votes are counted? Time will tell.
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Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
