This former LeBron James teammate thinks he shouldn't even be mentioned in the GOAT conversation with Michael Jordan.
Former two-time NBA All-Star and two-time All-NBA Third Team point guard Stephon Marbury, who was teammates with a young LeBron James on the ignominious bronze medal-winning 2004 U.S. men's basketball Olympic team in Athens, Greece, weighed in on the eternal James-Michael Jordan debate on Monday.
By benefit of playing in the NBA from 1996-2009, the 6-foot-2 vet witnessed both James and Jordan at or very near their respective primes. But he sided with Jordan, a six-time NBA champion and five-time league MVP shooting guard with the Chicago Bulls.Jordan has James beat on scoring and defense, but James is the better passer and has a massive longevity advantage. Jordan played for just 15 seasons and retired twice during his primes before walking away for good at age 40 in 2003.
It's a difficult comparison to make, as both players suited up at different positions in different eras. Due to the hand-check rule , there's a chance that James' own scoring numbers are fairly inflated in comparison to Jordan's. Would Jordan have played longer, had he known the threat of a seemingly injury-immune star like James was on the horizon? It's impossible to say for sure, but given his competitive drive, odds are decent that it was at least possible.
Marbury seems to cite Jordan's scoring as a key reason he's the greater player, and he may have a point. Jordan remains the most prolific scorer in league history, with his 30.1 points a game on .497/.327/.835 shooting splits. He also averaged 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 0.8 blocks a night in 1,072 career regular season games. Given the league's new emphasis on shooting, it seems likely Jordan would also have improved that 3-point rate.
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