Seattle SuperSonics legend Shawn Kemp recently weighed in on the GOAT debate between Michael Jordan and LeBron James. As far as the 50-year-old is concerned, there can really be no legitimate discussion regarding who the greatest of all time is.
“I’mma say Michael Jordan,” he said on the The Dab Roast show. “I think LeBron James has done great, but only thing Michael Jordan ever did was win.”
In Kemp’s estimation, Jordan pushed his Chicago Bulls squad to a level they would not have otherwise reached had he been absent.
“There’s players as myself who haven’t won a championship that were very good,” he continued. “There’s guys who I’ve seen win championships, they’re good players, but they had a good team also around them.
“And I look at Michael Jordan, he played with the Bulls, and he had Scottie Pippen. But without Michael being there, the Bulls wasn’t gonna win the championship. It came from Michael Jordan.”
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Kemp is not alone in this opinion. Houston Rockets Hakeem Olajuwon legend expressed something similar when presented with the same question.
“When people start comparing him (LeBron) with Jordan, then that’s not a fair comparison,” he said. “Jordan was a far more superior player in a very tough league, and he was very creative. That’s not taking away anything from LeBron because he is a great player, but it is not a fair comparison because Jordan is a far superior player.”
Boxer Floyd Mayweather also said something along those lines when he was tasked with determining the greatest basketball player of all time.
“I love LeBron,” he said.
“But one thing about Michael Jordan, he is going to come out there every night to kill you. Every night. LeBron feels like he playing nonchalant sometimes. LeBron James, I am going to choose, if they played against each other, LeBron James is too big and strong and too fast.
“But if I had to choose one, I’d go with Michael Jordan. I gotta go with somebody that will give it their all every night.”
It’s just a matter of mental toughness for Mayweather.
“When the clock is ticking, LeBron gotta pass it and MJ gotta shoot it,” he said.
“LeBron James is selling shoes not because he’s passing the ball, but because he’s supposed to go for the kill.”
At the moment, it feels like all the people that grew up watching Jordan do work will always hold him in higher esteem than James. That said – it will be interesting to see how people answer this very question 20 years down the line.
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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.