James might have won his first title in , but he still had a long way to go in Jordan's eyes. When asked which player he would choose if he was starting a team from scratch, James or Kobe Bryant, Jordan sided with the Lakers star, who already had a fistful of rings -- though still one less than Jordan himself. And not that [James] won't get five. He may get more than that, but five is bigger than one.
But I wouldn't take Russell over Jordan. Russell has 11 rings, Jordan has six. Or I'd take Robert Horry over Kobe. I wouldn't do that. You look at a guy like Jud Buechler, who has multiple rings. Charles Barkley doesn't have one ring. He's not better than Charles Barkley. Patrick Ewing is one of the greatest of all time.
Reggie Miller is one of the greatest of all time. Sometimes, it's the situation you're in. Timing, as well. I don't play the game and try to define who I am over what guys say or how they feel about me. If he goes right, he's going to the hole and I can't stop him.
So I ain't letting him go right. Like the ring-counting argument, James didn't side with Jordan here, either, calling Jordan's theory "wrong. James then did the same to Paul George two months later to win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Was Jordan on his mind? We'll never know. MJ had bad games. He had turnovers. He had games where he felt like he should have been better.
But I think the greatest thing about MJ was that he never was afraid to fail. And I think that's why he succeeded so much, because he was never afraid of what anybody ever said about him. Never afraid to miss a game-winning shot, never afraid to turn the ball over.
Never afraid. That's one of my biggest obstacles. I'm afraid of failure. I want to succeed so bad that I become afraid of failing. Though James and Jordan never met on the court as opponents, they've been in the same building plenty of times, including during the playoffs, when James' Heat swept the Jordan-owned Charlotte Bobcats in the first round.
During Game 3, Jordan had a courtside view for a vintage James breakaway dunk, one that seemed to follow James shooting a look at Jordan. Don't start that. Absolutely not, man. Absolutely not. I was able to read [Josh] McRoberts, get a steal and push the lead back up. I absolutely didn't look at MJ , for sure. You know this is an ESPN question. You know it's gonna be all over ESPN. If I was in my prime, could I beat LeBron in a one-on-one game?
No question! Jordan was holding court with attendees at his Flight School camp when the question came up -- though it's unlikely it was the first time he was asked about it. We'll never know the results of a hypothetical matchup, but we can at least check out the tale of the tape:. The ghost played in Chicago. I think it's cool to put myself in position to be one of those great players, but if I can ever put myself in position to be the greatest player, that would be something extraordinary.
One day before his 32nd birthday, James was asked by a reporter if he studied a year-old Jordan, whose game had evolved from all fire and fury at the rim to more fadeaways and jab steps. Jordan, as the reporter pointed out, last averaged over James didn't bite.
He was much more of a scorer. At that point, he did a lot of post work, but our games are just different. His body is different, my body is different than his.
You recognize the dominance that someone had at that age, but there's no similarities in our game, at all. When you're growing up and you're seeing Michael Jordan, it's almost like a god. So, I didn't ever believe I could be Mike. I started to focus on myself, on other players and other people around my neighborhood, because I never thought that you could get to a point where Mike was. I shot fadeaways before I should have.
I wore a leg sleeve on my leg and folded it down so you saw the red part. I wore black-and-red shoes with white socks. I wore short shorts so you could see my undershorts underneath. I didn't go bald like Mike, but I'm getting there. Other than that, I did everything Mike did. Miner has remained out of the spotlight, but did have his USC jersey retired in I just want to be the next Harold Miner.
But after his time at St. He never stuck with a team, left the NBA after , and ended up signing with a franchise in Spain. In , he did an interview with Sports Illustrated in which he talked about starting a foundation to help at-risk kids in the South Bronx and working with USA basketball to establish clinics around the world. First mention: The comparisons wrote themselves: As Bill Barnhart pointed out in a story from , Lewis, like Jordan, was from eastern North Carolina.
Both were shooting guards with some size, athleticism, and a strong all-around game. Career arc: Lewis went on to be drafted by the Houston Comets 21st overall in and played for the Charlotte Sting and Minnesota Lynx before retiring in After she retired, Lewis started a nonprofit organization called Itsdoable Inc. First mention: Less than a month after Lewis was called the next Jordan, a Sports Illustrated cover asked whether Augustus, then in eighth grade, was the next Jordan. Career arc: Augustus actually lived up to the billing throughout high school : She averaged 28 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, and five steals a game as a senior, was a Gatorade Player of the Year, and a member of the Louisiana All-State team four times.
There, she became a two-time All-American and won the Naismith Player of the Year, the Wooden award, and the Wade trophy in and She was the no. I was 9. There was a free throw contest and I won and I was going to the nationals. She was a six-time All-Star, as well as the Rookie of the Year, and she became the first female basketball player to land on the cover of Slam magazine. Since retiring, Holdsclaw has written an autobiography in which she discusses her history of depression , and a film has been made about her career and her experiences with mental illness.
In one article , he was said to be the next Kevin Garnett and to possess Jordan-like potential. Quote: This Wisconsin State Journal writer … sort of nailed this? First mention: A Los Angeles Times article makes one of the first references to Jordan when discussing Leonard, who at the time of this piece had just buried the Clippers in the playoffs with a point game.
Career arc: Unlike a lot of the players on this list, the talk of Kawhi being the next Jordan did not ramp up until the middle of his career. Throughout high school, college, and the early part of his career, experts projected him as an elite role player.
Then the Finals happened. By then, Leonard had honed in his style further, and last season he seemed to have complete control of it, leading the Raptors to a Finals win. The Clippers are now hoping he can do the same for them.
Dikembe Mutombo got it once. Jordan, of course, teased him about the nickname. My favorite might be Ben Gordon, who after a run of clutch shots in , prompted this paragraph , from an AP piece:.
Around , Sebastian Telfair then in high school was called the next Jordan once, but then the conversation began to shift slightly. Elementary school, here we come. The Jordan comparison quickly expanded beyond basketball borders. Other sports saw their up-and-coming talent being described as the Michael Jordans of their respective fields.
Ken Griffey Jr. Dave and Chris welcome back chef Diep Tran to celebrate the treasured elixir that is Red Boat Fish Sauce before embarking on a whirlwind survey of their all-time favorite potluck play—Vietnamese summer rolls.
Phil Jackson also became free to pursue another coaching gig. He chose Los Angeles as they had the best center at the time, Shaquille O' Neil, and one of the best emerging guards in the league in Bryant. In Jackson's first year with the Lakers, he was able to use his patented "Triangle Offense" to catapult the storied team to its 12th championship. Teams could simply not handle prime Shaq as he steamrolled through the competition.
Double and triple teams could not stop him. The team won two more championships, with Shaq being the MVP every time. Shaq getting the spotlight did not sit well with Kobe. Both wanted to be the alpha dog. Despite the team winning, there was trouble in paradise. The then three-peat Lakers got an added boost as ring-chasing veterans Karl Malone and Gary Payton joined the team. It was widely predicted that this newly minted super team would easily win the NBA Championship. However, injuries and chemistry issues ruined that and the team was disbanded the next season, leaving only Kobe to pick up the pieces.
The Lakers would not be in the championship picture again until the arrival of Pau Gasol and the emergence of Andrew Bynum. Post Shaq, the Lakers were in rebuilding mode and lost in the first round of the playoffs several times.
At times they did not even make the playoffs. In and , the Lakers were back in the promised land. After a bitter defeat at the hands of their rival, the Boston Celtics, the Lakers were on top of the mountain once again. Kobe finally got his rings without Shaq. This was a huge monkey off his back. The season was an important one for the Lakers. It was the last season that they were deemed as championship contenders and the season that the legendary Dr. Jerry Buss passed away.
However, just as in the season, the lack of chemistry and injuries took its toll on the team and derailed their championship aspirations. The Lakers were unceremoniously knocked out of the playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs. The next four seasons would be frustrating for Kobe. Not only would he never sniff a playoff game for the rest of his career, he was also beset with a myriad of injuries.
However, he capped his career with the perfect Hollywood ending when he scored 60 points and led his team to victory over the Utah Jazz. Even after retiring from the NBA, Kobe was still firmly entrenched in the sport. He regularly advised the Los Angeles Lakers on personnel moves. He also decided to pay it forward and mentored young players such as Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving.
He passed away in helicopter crash on January 26, Lebron James is one of the best in-game dunkers in league history. He was a phenom on the St. During his senior year, LeBron averaged The opposition was simply no match for him. LeBron wanted to declare for the NBA draft but was unsuccessful in lobbying to change the eligibility rules.
He then had to wait a year before declaring for the star-studded draft. This draft was one of the most loaded of all time. LeBron was picked first overall by his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Though James was a bonafide star, he did not have the best supporting cast during his first stint in Cleveland. After seven years of trying to win a championship for the hometown team, LeBron decided to take his talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat along with his buddies Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
LeBron moved around based on what was the best situation for him. Going to Miami was both a good and bad decision. On a positive note, this led to four straight Finals appearances and two straight titles. On a negative note, this infuriated Cleveland fans, who resorted to burning jerseys, creating Internet memes, and booing LeBron whenever he visited Cleveland. They are an extremely tight-knit and influential group of players who have a large pull in the NBA as well as in the corporate world.
LeBron is one of the most polarizing players ever. Either you love him or you hate him. There is no in-between. He has always been a lightning rod for controversy.
Critics of his, such as Skip Bayless, would criticize his lack of a "clutch gene" as he would oftentimes falter in the dying moments of a game or pass the last shot to a teammate instead of taking it himself.
He was also criticized for taking the easy way out when he decided to team up with fellow Dream Team members Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in order to win a championship when he tried and failed for seven years to get one himself. He is also widely criticized for never having joined the Slam Dunk Contest, where his predecessors such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant competed in. He has also been castigated as a serial flopper who regularly exaggerates contact in order to draw calls from the officials.
While appearing in seven straight NBA Finals may seem like a great feat, we must consider that the Eastern Conference has been weak ever since Michael Jordan retired.
What is glaring is his lack of success in the Finals, going only three of eight for a Compare this to Kobe who won five of seven for a While LeBron may be one of the greatest players ever, his vision extends far beyond the basketball court. With friends like Warren Buffet and Jay-Z giving him advice, he plans to be a business mogul when he retires in the same vein as Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. After all, all the accolades in the world would mean nothing if you retire penniless and in debt after a stellar NBA career.
Answer: It is always difficult to compare players of different eras but Kareem is the all-time scoring leader and has 6 rings to LeBron's 3. There are simply not as many two-way players in league history.
Think of great offensive players like Dirk Nowitzki and James Harden. They are not as great offensively. Think of great defensive players like Michael Cooper or Ben Wallace. They aren't as great offensively. He was leader in Steals during three seasons with an incredible 3.
He averaged 2. Taking that in consideration, he only played 11 years in his prime. He was a very effective player. Last time I checked, only four other players combined yes combined have done that. The difference between MJ and the rest is how great he was both offensively and defensively.
So good defending that he is considered the best defensive shooting guard in the history of the NBA. Both had bigger opportunities compared to Jordan who played only 13 complete seasons and started. He also retired twice during the best time of his career. Kobe was a better three point shooter than Michael but wasn't as solid a defender.
Through his year career, Michael Jordan was one of the most dominant players in the league. However, there were some that challenged his dominance.
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