Michael Jordan or LeBron James? It’s a debate that has been going on for years and has no obvious end in sight. A man who played against both in the NBA has weighed in.
Stephon Marbury’s NBA career began during Jordan’s second run with the Chicago Bulls and ran through the 2008-09 season, James’ first NBA MVP season. Marbury and James were also teammates on Team USA’s disappointing 2004 Olympic team, which won the bronze medal in Athens.
For Marbury, there’s no question. Jordan was the better player. In fact, according to Marbury, it’s not even a discussion.
An X (formerly Twitter) user shared a graphic detailing Jordan’s 10 NBA scoring titles. In addition to tagging Marbury, the user included the caption. “Lebron wish he could do this…he can never be better than Michael Jordan.”
Marbury agreed, responding “Shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as MJ.”
Shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as MJ. https://t.co/Dxk5wGHADS
— I AM PEACE STAR (@StarburyMarbury) August 13, 2024
James has been a talking point for Marbury of late. Following Team USA’s gold medal win, Marbury said that he thought Steph Curry, not LeBron, should have been named MVP of the Olympics in Paris.
“They gave the MVP to the wrong player,” he said, H/T Ben Stinar, Sports Illustrated. “Maybe they called out the wrong name by accident. I think we need to try to rewind the moment when @stephencurry30 displayed himself as the best shooter who ever touched the ball. In international ball, if you can’t shoot, you can’t have the ball at the end of the game. I get LeBron is the King to many, but let me say this: when you give him what he doesn’t deserve, you basically say that because of what he’s done, he should receive such a high honor on the biggest stage. No, he didn’t earn it this time.”
[Stephon Marbury on X, SI.com]
