LeBron James and Michael Jordan are widely considered the two greatest basketball players who ever lived.
For many, not even Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can hold a candle to MJ and King James.
Most believe Jordan and James are 1A and 1B in the NBA GOAT discussion, whichever way around you have it.
For NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, there’s only one clear winner, with LeBron not even above the late, great Kobe Bryant in his eyes.
“I’ve never seen a better basketball player than Michael Jordan,” Sir Charles told NFL legend Jason Kelce on his new “They Call It Late Night” show.
“I don’t even put LeBron above Kobe,” Barkley added.
For the 1993 MVP, the difference between MJ and Kobe, and LeBron, is clear.
Jordan and Bryant shared a win-at-all costs mentality that bordered on the obsessive. They routinely got into it with teammates and weren’t afraid to ruffle feathers in their relentless pursuit of excellence.
James, on the other hand, has always been the consummate teammate. There are no stories of LeBron punching his teammates, like MJ did with Steve Kerr, or refusing to speak with his peers for two years, like Kobe did with former Lakers point guard Smush Parker.
King James has always been the ‘nice guy’, in Barkley’s opinion, and that removed some of the fear factor around him.
“The difference is LeBron is a nice guy,” Barkley went on.
“Nobody ever said that about Michael and Kobe. Michael and Kobe are mean guys, they’re going kick your a** and tell you about it the whole time.
“LeBron ain’t like that”.
Fans caught wind of Charles’ comments and shared their thoughts online.
“LeBron has never been a killer,” wrote one person.
“Charles knows better than I do, but I think LeBron could take either of them one on one. He’s the unicorn, at least physically,” argued someone else.
“This is exactly dead on point. Kobe and Jordan wanted to kill their competition. LeBron wants to join his competition and win,” a third added.
“Barkley spitting facts here,” posted a fourth.
It’s hard to argue with Jordan being No. 1 all-time.
Between 1991 and 1998, No.23 dominated the NBA, winning six NBA championships — and six Finals MVPs — across two separate three-peats.
Had he not retired to play baseball between 1994-1995, there’s a legitimate chance he could have won eight straight titles.
Not only that, MJ was five-time MVP, ten-time scoring champion, nine-time All-Defensive First Team member, ten-time All-NBA First Team selection and Defensive Player of the Year – a résumé unlikely to be seen again.
Jordan’s high was higher than any other player in NBA history.
Where it gets a little murky is LeBron vs Kobe.
Kobe has the edge in terms of championships, five to LeBron’s four.
But The King’s clear edge is his unparalleled longevity.
The 40-year-old is currently in his 22nd pro season and holds the majority of the NBA’s all-time statistical records.
When it comes to points, rebounds, assists, games/minutes played, and playoff appearances/wins, the ‘Chosen One’ from Akron, Ohio, is near or at the top of the tree.
James has been named to a record 20 All-Star teams, and is the only player in league history to have at least 10,000 points (he has over 40,000), 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists.
Despite being a facilitator, first and foremost, James is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, and recently surpassed Jordan for career 30-point games.
Kobe, however, will always hold a special place in the hearts of fans, particularly for the way he approached the game.
Bryant modeled his entire game on MJ, and in many ways was Jordan 2.0.
He may not have been the most popular with his teammates, but he succeeded doing it his own way and in the process left an indelible mark on the game of basketball.