LeBron James revealed the one thing he learned from watching Michael Jordan play, and that spoke volumes about the forward, who then 17, was destined for greatest and regarded as the rightful heir to the Chicago Bulls legend.
“A lot of players know how to play the game,” James said when he was interviewed by Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl. “But they really don’t know how to play the game, if you know what I mean. They can put the ball in the hoop, but I see things before they even happen. You know how a guy can make his team so much better? That’s one thing I learned from watching Jordan.”
James was touted as a generational superstar and the Akron native lived up to it by winning four NBA titles over the course of his illustrious 20-year career and has shown no signs of stopping.
James was drafted as the first overall pick of the 2003 NBA draft by his hometown franchise, the Cleveland Cavaliers. He played for the team till 2010 before moving to the Miami Heat and winning two championships before returning to the Cavaliers and leading them to a championship in 2016. He signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018 and won a title with the team.
Coming back to his words about learning from Jordan, one can only admire the astute knowledge of the game James had at an early age. To have a 360-degree perspective of what was happening live on the hardwood at such a young age is commendable and impressive.
Magic Johnson Explains What LeBron James Needs To Do To Surpass Michael Jordan As The GOAT
Time and again, the Jordan vs. James debate makes the headlines and with the latter surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the leading scorer in NBA history, the Lakers’ stars stocks have skyrocketed giving his fans a reason to call him one of the greatest players to play the sport.
Former Lakers star Magic Johnson had his say on what the 38-year-old had to do to set the comparisons to rest.
Speaking on ‘The Dan Patrick Show’, Johnson explained: “I don’t know. It might take a couple more championships to do that. LeBron is special. I don’t want people to always get mad over this. We have got to celebrate both guys. Michael is the best, and we should celebrate him and we should celebrate LeBron.”
The answer is quite simple, James needs some more rings to perhaps get the people to hail him as the GOAT. Jordan leads the pack with six trophies, and James has four to his name. With the Lakers playing some promising basketball this season after their initial stutter, it remains to be seen if he can get his hands on his fifth title.
Source: fadeawayworld
