In a never-ending quest to compare players to past greats, the name basketball fans want LeBron James to live up to is Michael Jordan. However, that comparison is better suited when discussing if LeBron can surpass MJ as the greatest of all time.
Stylistically speaking, LeBron best matches one of Jordan’s longtime teammates, and Scottie Pippen pointed out that opinion over the weekend.
According to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, Pippen said:
“I was LeBron James before LeBron James.”
Pippen played second fiddle to Jordan during the Bulls’ six championship runs, but the small forward averaged 20.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.2 steals over that eight-year stretch.
James has notched 26.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.6 steals since his streak of five straight NBA Finals appearances began in 2010-11. His unselfish offensive play and outstanding defensive contributions are certainly idential to what Pippen displayed during his Hall of Fame-worthy career.
So, Pippen’s self-comparison isn’t far off, especially considering when James passed Pippen for the career assists record by a forward, the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar said he shaped his game after Pippen.
Although James has reached a higher level of greatness than Pippen achieved individually, they’ve both won multiple championships playing similar styles of basketball.
Photo: USA Today Sports