Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is in the unique position of being extremely well-acquainted with both Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
Kerr played and won championships alongside Jordan on the 1990s Chicago Bulls teams. Once that part of his career was over, he became the Warriors’ coach and frequently had to go up against James en route to a championship.
Seeing as Jordan and James are frequently debated as the greatest basketball players of all time, Kerr’s rare insight into who is truly the best carries a particular type of weight.
Recently, Kerr settled the debate on who the GOAT truly is once and for all.
In a conversation with Jon Greenberg of The Athletic, Kerr seemed to strongly side with Jordan.
“I mean, he is the greatest player of all time, so there’s a reason that most people agree on that,” Kerr said of Jordan.
“It goes beyond the shotmaking, it’s the totality of everything. He just had this incredible package of skill and knowledge and experience and it all added up to this aura he was just better than everyone by far.
“I think the most underrated aspect of Michael’s game was his emotional dominance in the arena every night,” Kerr said. “And I still have not seen that from anybody.”
Kerr is not the first person to weigh in on this debate. Dwyane Wade has done it. Allen Iverson has done it. Floyd Mayweather has done it. Shawn Kemp has done it. Even former President Donald Trump has done it.
Ben Simmons seems to be over his mental health issues. The photos speak for themselves. https://t.co/Is8wkpQh0X
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 18, 2022
For better or worse, this debate is never going away. Jordan loyalists will always claim he is top dog. James’ faithful will do the same.
The only way we will ever get a truly objective answer is 20 years from now, when both of their careers are a distant memory, and both can be compared with minimal bias.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
