Doc Rivers played against Michael Jordan during his career and has coached against LeBron James on numerous occasions, so he has seen enough of both NBA legends to formulate an educated opinion on them. And based on everything Doc has seen, he has no problem labeling one the greatest of all time.
Rivers shared his thoughts on the Jordan vs. LeBron debate in a recent appearance on “SportsCenter,” and you could say he took the easy way out. He gave the nod to Jordan but said he can see how people would make the argument for LeBron.
“I played against Michael and have always put Michael as No. 1, but that shouldn’t take anything away from LeBron or Magic (Johnson) or Kareem (Abdul Jabar), who I think gets overlooked way too much as well … Kobe as well,” Rivers said. “But Michael, to me, is the greatest player. He’s the GOAT. It’s OK that everyone measures themselves against him.
“You can obviously make an argument for LeBron. Me, I’m always taking MJ until I see something better.”
Most people point to championships when comparing Jordan to LeBron, which makes sense. Jordan won six titles, whereas LeBron has three. Some people think LeBron is a better player overall but not as much of a winner as Jordan, and one former NBA player recently made a compelling argument for why he would place LeBron above Jordan.
The debate will never end, and there is no right or wrong answer. Even if LeBron won three more titles, plenty of people would still say Jordan is the GOAT. While it’s fun to hear opinions from people who have experience playing and coaching with or against both, there are always going to be arguments for both sides.
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