MICHAEL Jordan once offered a bold take in the GOAT debate back in 2009, saying Larry Bird was better than LeBron James.
Picking the best five players of all time, Jordan put Bird in and explained no small forward could compare with the Boston Celtics legend.
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However, Jordan made the claim in the 2009 book When the Game Was Ours by Jackie MacMullan, just as James was claiming his first MVP trophy but even before he won his first NBA title.
Jordan said: “Larry was a debate. He still is.
“People ask me all the time who my all-time five top players are, and when I start saying Larry, they interrupt me.
“They say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. He can’t play with LeBron James!’
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“I tell them, ‘You guys don’t get it. Larry is far better than any small forward who played the game, and to be honest, I’m still not sure if he is a small forward or a power forward.”
Since then, James has proved more than worthy of making the all-time top-five, racking up four NBA championships with three teams and three more MVP honors.
And the 18-time All-Star continues to age like a fine wine despite turning 38 later this month.
In his 20th NBA season, James is averaging 27.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.2 steals – numbers no player aged 37 or older has ever logged in the league.
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The Lakers forward is closing on more and more NBA legends on various all-time lists, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the scoring record he’s held for over four decades.
Some might still omit James from their all-time starting fives, including Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry.
And the NBA recently named the new trophy for MVP award winners after Jordan – a six-time champion and five-time MVP – further proving the GOAT debate is far from being resolved.
But generally speaking, James has earned his place among the league’s greatest-ever players – ahead of Bird or alongside him.
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