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Michael Jordan and LeBron James might have a rivalry right now about which player’s truly the GOAT, but, back before the latter even entered the NBA in 2003, MJ wasn’t so sure James would even become an “upper echelon” shooting guard in the league. Seriously, the six-time champ — who did compliment LeBron’s potential — just didn’t have as high of hopes as everyone else who, back then, pronounced James to be the “king.”
With The Last Dance premiering the other day — a 10-hour documentary recounting Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty in the ’90s — we’ve had all sorts of reminders about how ruthless MJ was and examples of what made him so great. And because so many people are talking about MJ at the moment, somebody dug up his opinion of an 18-year-old James from an interview in 2003, showing how he challenged LeBron to go earn everything and not just rely on the hype from other people. Take a look below at the newspaper clip.
Michael Jordan on Lebron James 🤣 pic.twitter.com/6qBH12BoMc
— TodayInSports (@TodayInSportsCo) April 18, 2020
“I think once James gets on this level, he’s not in the upper echelon of shooting guards and small forwards. I think he’s toward the bottom. He has unbelievable potential, but he hasn’t played against the competition consistently in college or the pros. He’s played against high school kids who are probably under 6 feet and have the talent of storywriters.
“Five years from now, if he takes on the dedication of being the best basketball player he can be and continues to improve and accept challenges and not get comfortable with what’s been given to him, or what the expectations may be, he can definitely be a good pro.”
It might come across as a dig from Michael Jordan — and knowing him, it very well could’ve been — but it’s actually sound advice from the GOAT. After all, when James came into the league as the No. 1 overall pick in 2003, everyone had already crowned him as the next Jordan; which seems crazy to think about since he hadn’t even played in an NBA game at that point. Plus, he was far from the all-around player he is now, and had to mature physically and mentally before earning the respect of Jordan. Fast-forward 17 years and, boom, James can actually stake his claim as one of the best players in NBA history, but he was far from earning that distinction as a pimple-faced teenager.
Luckily for James, he didn’t settle for anything, and proved to develop a killer mentality that the all-time greats have, and has gone on to win three NBA titles and four league MVP awards. Given all that he’s accomplished in his career to this point — and the way in which he’s changed the game with his agility and transcendent successes off the court — should LeBron win one more championship, he could make a legit argument that he’s the GOAT; a title that Michael Jordan would never admit to giving up.