LeBron James and Michael Jordan are widely considered the greatest players in basketball. However, when it comes to being competitive, Jordan is a cut above the rest. As made famous by ‘The Last Dance’, Jordan is always up to a challenge, and any small comparison can tick him off. In 2013, the player was interviewed on the release of the NBA2K14 game, where he talked about facing NBA players one-on-one.
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Jordan mentioned a long list of players he would like to have faced one-on-one. The list included Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Julius Erving, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. But, that was not it, as Jordan being Jordan claimed he would beat every one of them apart from probably Bryant.
“‘I don’t think I would lose, other than to Kobe Bryant because he steals all of my moves.'”
A surprised LeBron James, by the claims of Jordan, said, “MJ said that?” The player was more diplomatic in his response and accepted that he had thought of the matchup before. He said, “Absolutely, I thought about the matchup. But no one would ever see it. It’s not going to happen. But it’s good for people to talk about.”
Though James was being realistic with his response, people would pay huge amounts of money to watch a prime LeBron James and Michael Jordan face off against each other.
The two players have been the greatest performers in the NBA and have separated themselves from the rest of the league. Coincidentally, they are the only two NBA players to have reached the billion-dollar club amongst athletes. Unfortunately, the fans never saw the players match up against each other in the league.
Michael Jordan talked about Kobe taking everybody one-on-one
If there is anyone who is nearly as competitive as Michael Jordan, it’s Kobe Bryant. The Mamba mentality has now become a part of the NBA vocabulary. Bryant entered the league with this mentality and was ready to take on the best right from the get-go. In the 1998 All-Star game, the players in the locker room were talking about Bryant wanting to take everyone on during the game. This led to a hilarious response from Jordan.
“If I was his teammate I wouldn’t pass him the f**king ball. You want this ball again brother, you better rebound.”
Michael Jordan was referring to the rest of the players talking about Kobe Bryant refusing to slow down despite missing the first four shots. The six-time NBA champion talked about not passing the ball to Bryant if he did that on his team. During that time, the All-Star was played between the two Conferences. Jordan was part of the East team as he played for the Chicago Bulls, while Bryant being a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, represented the West.
