Lebron James made his feelings clear earlier this afternoon in a post Miami Heat practice conference. When asked about comments by former Jordan teammate, Scottie Pippen, the King (Lebron) stated,
“I’m gracious, humbled by Scottie’s comments, especially with him being a teammate of his and seeing Michael on a day-to-day basis, but as far as me, I don’t know. I’m not going to sit here and say that I’m better than Jordan. I’m not better than Jordan.”
The specific comments he was referring to were made by Pippen during a recent ESPN interview on the Mike and Mike In the Morning Radio Show . He was quoted as saying,
“Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to play the game,” Pippen said Friday on “Mike & Mike In The Morning” on ESPN Radio. “But I may go as far as to say LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so potent offensively that not only can he score at will but he keeps everybody involved.”
After the quote by Pippen went viral, he immediately hopped on Twitter to defend and clarify himself:
“For all of you that don’t know, I played the game you keep watching and cheering.”
“Don’t get me wrong, MJ was and is the greatest. But LeBron could by all means get to his level someday.”
“Every NBA generation has a new set of stars and LeBron is there as the best all around player in the game.”
Other NBA analysts have also chimed in on the situation. Former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy said:
“There is no doubt that LeBron is the best player in the game today. However, he is on a team that has incredible talent. … Michael played on great teams but he never came close to the level of talent around him.”
I’m definitely a Jordan fan myself, but I have to agree with Scottie on this one that LBJ can and will get to and surpass MJ at some point in his career. What say you?
