Michael Jordan having a day to himself makes perfect sense. Given that he made the jersey number 23 as iconic as it is, him being bestowed with February 3rd, 2023 just goes with it. Another man who also shares the same number as him however, is LeBron James, who wore 23 in Cleveland and his first few years with the Lakers.
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The debate on whether or not LeBron has passed MJ as the greatest basketball player of all time continues to rage on with the former adding new arguments in his favor seemingly every season. This year, he is on pace to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time regular season scoring record. After tonight’s 26 points, he’s 63 away from it.
Despite the individual accomplishments of ‘The King’, a majority of fans are yet to be convinced that James is indeed the ‘GOAT’ however.
Michael Jordan will be having his highlights on ESPN on February 3rd
With the date being 2/3/2023, ESPN has decided to put together a compilation of highlights and plays for Michael Jordan in his honor. NBA Twitter took this news in a different light as they suggested the only reason this was happening was to remind the public of his greatness in the midst of the hoopla surrounding LeBron James.
Many believe that MJ himself or at the very least his team made the call to have his highlights play on national television just to distract fans from James’s upcoming, monumental achievement.
first the “The Last Dance” during LeBron’s 4th title pursue and now THIS, when LeBron about to break the all time scoring record? LMAOOOO the thirst fam
— Brian Lares (@lares06) February 2, 2023
MJ paying them to do this while Bron about to break the scoring record is crazy
— ²³☄️ (@BronGotGame) February 2, 2023
*Bron about to break the scoring record*
Media: We need Jordan propaganda ASAP. We gotta protect his legacy. https://t.co/sERiTGCO51
— Zack Eisen (@zackeisen21) February 3, 2023
While what’s being suggested by the public does sound like quite the stretch, they shouldn’t put it past the 6x NBA champion. The best example for as to why he might’ve done something like this would be when he greenlit the production of his ‘The Last Dance’ docuseries after James had completed his 3-1 comeback against the Golden State Warriors.
Is Michael Jordan the ‘GOAT’?
For most NBA fans, yes, Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time. His 14 years in the league from 1984-1998 featured perhaps the greatest story in the history of the NBA. He presents the perfect amalgamation of individual greatness and team accomplishments.
The main argument against James in terms of being labelled the ‘GOAT’ is the fact that he doesn’t have as many rings as Jordan and has lost significantly more times in the NBA Finals. Aside from that, there is quite nearly no other argument that could be used against him in this debate.
