Dwyane Wade talks with Kobe Bryant after the game at Staples Center on December 25, 2013. Wade reportedly visited his baby son while in town for the game. (Getty)
In the era of comparison, Michael Jordan and LeBron James is all everyone is talking about.
NBA Hall of Famer, Ray Allen is not a fan of it.
“They’re just not the same player,” Allen tells me of MJ and LeBron.
GettyMichael Jordan holds the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player trophy and former Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson holds the NBA champions Larry O’Brian trophy after winning game six of the NBA Finals with the Utah Jazz.
“They’re totally empathetical to each other. Like, LeBron is power, he’s a mismatch, he’s like a train. MJ is more like grace, with a mix of power, flash, and finesse. The comparison really is unfair to the both of them because they’re both in their own space.”Six championships vs. three championships.Jordan has become the measuring stick for James’ greatness in today’s NBA game.“
“I think it has always happened,” NBA Hall of Famer, Julius Erving told me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast.
“I think people always make comparisons to people who are done. LeBron may play another six years, LeBron may play one year, we really don’t know.”
Insert Scottie Pippen, MJ’s former Chicago Bulls teammate.
“When I look at LeBron James, he’s not what Michael [Jordan] was as a player,” Pippen said recently on ESPN.
“He’s not even what Kobe Bryant was as a player. When you talk about trying to compare Michael’s instinct, his ability to take over games, his ability to want to have that last shot. LeBron doesn’t have that gene.”
GettyLebron James #23 backing down James Harden of the Houston Rockets.
“Mike did all his championships on one team and guys wanted to play for him,” Knicks legend, John Starks told the Scoop B Radio Podcast this summer.”Scottie [Pippen] and Horace [Grant], he kind of raised those guys. Later on when he got back, other guys like [Dennis] Rodman and [Ron] Harper joined the team. Mike didn’t move around, didn’t want to move around. He wanted to play against the best. He felt like he didn’t need to go chase players to join his team to beat the best because he felt like he was the best, and I think that’s the difference. I think that’s probably going to hurt LeBron when you look at it in that perspective against Michael, [Larry] Bird and Magic[Johnson]. Those guys stayed with one team, and they won with that team.”
Million Dollar Question: Does Dwyane Wade compare to Michael Jordan more than LeBron James does?
He is clutch! Did you see that shot against the Warriors?
He’s a legend, yeah he’s a legend,” Mark Cuban told NBA scribe, Landon Buford recently.
The fifth pick in the 2003 NBA Draft out of Marquette, Wade got the world’s attention in Game 1 of the Heat’s first-round playoff series against the New Orleans Hornets in 2004.
With 1.3 seconds remaining and tied at 79 apiece, Wade hit Hornets point guard Baron Davis with an ankle breaker crossover and drove to the basket making a running jumper amid the outstretched arm of Hornets center Jamaal Magloire.
Dwyane Wade game winner vs. Warriors. 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽
What say you, Ray Allen?
“No, Kobe to me is the only comparison to Michael,” Allen told me. “And I think Michael is on another level. But Kobe is the only other comparison because, he dominated the games, he carried his team. Michael was just; there was only one Michael.”