Where does LeBron James rank among the all-time greats? Will he ever surpass Michael Jordan? Is it even worth asking these questions when LeBron is still in the prime of his career? Lang Whitaker and I debate all of these questions and more with Complex senior editor Russ Bengston. Then Scott Howard-Cooper stops by to help us look ahead to the 2017 NBA Draft.
Highlights below:
7:30 minute mark, on what Michael Jordan did better than LeBron
“I don’t know, 6-0 during The Finals and world domination during the league’s golden era. Other than that, not much.”
12:00, on the difficulty of comparing players across eras
“The comparisons are inevitable, but they’re not necessary to appreciate what LeBron is doing now.”
14:00, on what LeBron needs to do to surpass Jordan
“He can’t go back in time and go 6-0 in The Finals. But you can’t blame him for losing with that Cavs team to the Spurs in 2007.”
20:00, on the different amount of scrutiny LeBron faces
“We didn’t go over the highlights of every Jordan game and dissect it the way we do now. And if we had, maybe our daily conversations about him change.”
29:00, on how Jordan changed the greatest of all-time debate
“Before Jordan, the best player in NBA history was a very, very, very subjective thing. There wasn’t an objective best player ever.”
32:00, on the importance of championships to the debate
“Jordan embodied all of the best attributes of a champion.”
37:00, on how this whole debate will never have a definitive answer
“There’s no real answer if any of these guys are better than any of the others. To me, it’s a feeling.”
42:00, on how younger generations view the Jordan era
“All of a sudden, the Jordan highlights are ancient, archival content now for people in their 20s. Like Dr. J highlights were for us.”
46:30, on potential sleepers in the 2017 NBA Draft
“Jonathan Isaac, a PF/SF at Florida State, is a name that could jump up the board.”
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