One debate has persisted throughout the history of a sport that has been around for more than 50 years and a league that has helped it reach new heights for 75 years. The GOAT discussion Additionally, three players stand out from the rest if you have followed the sport for the past three decades. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan.
In the 1990s, Jordan dominated the league and claimed six NBA titles. One of the greatest dynasties in history is credited to his two triple-doubles with the Chicago Bulls.
Kobe Bryant accomplished a comparable feat. He won three titles with the Lakers and completed the triple crown to open the most recent century. Then, to finish the decade, they replicated the feat and won 2 more.
LeBron James, the youngest of the three and still playing, has been a member of the NBA for more than 18 years. Four times in his career, he has won championships, and at the age of 37, he is still going strong.
LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, though, both grew up idolizing Michael Jordan. They idolized his game and way of thinking, just like countless others did. But which of Kobe and LeBron does Jordan like better?
Michael Jordan makes the challenging decision. Upon turning 50 in 2013, NBA TV aired an exclusive special where Michael Jordan sat down with Ahmed to choose.
“In terms of dominance of the game of basketball, at this stage, it’s LeBron.” , MJ said praising LeBron first. Then getting to Kobe he said, “Championship-wise, it’s Kobe.”
“He wants it so bad, he’s willing to go to the extremes. Guarding that guy, guarding the point guard at the age of 34, playing 38 minutes, 40 minutes. That’s ludicrous.” And then in the ultimate compliment, Michael compared Kobe’s winning mentality to his own, “He’s cursed as much as I am.” The 6-time Finals MVP then went on to sum it up perfectly. For context, this was in 2013 before LeBron made 9 straight Finals appearances and won 4 championships. At this stage, he only had one NBA Championship.
“If you had to pick between the two, that would be a tough choice. But 5 (championships) beats 1 (championship).”
And is anyone surprised that MJ picked winning over everything else? To Michael Jordan, winning comes first, winning is right. Everything else is secondary, everything else is wrong.
