If you thought Stephon Marbury was done throwing shade at LeBron James, think again. The ex-Knicks star’s latest dig at the 4x champion was one that aligns well with the greatest debate of all time – LeBron vs Michael Jordan. While there are many facets to this, the GOAT debate is perhaps the biggest of them all. And while all James fans pointed out that the MVP honor earned in the Olympics made his case stronger, ‘Starbury’ destroyed it with just one statement: “Shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as MJ.”
Of course, Gil’s Arena would jump right on the ship to discuss the hot topic of the NBA. But what Rashad McCants revealed in the course of the discussion was a shocker. “The competitiveness of Bron is this. This comes from a high-table source. Told me they had a conversation after the 2005 season. A bunch of (NSFW) on the table and Bron just happened to say some sh*t, randomly. ‘I’m trying to make that other No. 23 disappear.’ The guy who told me looked up. Everybody else at the table said, ‘Good luck, young fella’,” McCants narrated.
USA Today via Reuters
Per Rashad’s story, the ‘Akron Hammer’ would be 20 years old when he made that statement. King James is pushing 40 now, and even after almost two decades, the debate over the LeBron James vs. MJ GOAT continues endlessly. Pretty much like parallel roads, never really intersecting at any point. And why?
For all the arguments Jordan fans put in favor of ‘His Airness,’ the James faithful have a counterargument. And if there’s anything that the latter group can hold over the Bulls legend, it’s the 20x All-Star’s longevity. Only a handful have played as long. And even fewer have done so at the elite level that Bron has and still is.
But it seems like this whole back-and-forth might be a generational thing.
Gilbert Arenas believes that the LeBron James vs Michael Jordan dispute is an “age” thing
There’s no contesting that the 6x champion was a major reason why the NBA started getting global recognition. MJ practically turned himself into the ultimate brand that anything and everything he touched automatically and instantly became marketable! His word was the law. And perhaps that was one of the reasons why the Jordan loyalists would never take ‘No’ for an answer.
Arenas put forth a similar line of thought, too. “It’s all age groups,” he said in the latest episode of Gil’s Arena. “Anybody who’s probably 35 and under, you have new thinking. Before that, the 40s and 45, there’s no thought process because the media we have today didn’t exist then. You did not talk down on Michael Jordan’s name or your a** was gone!”
To clarify things further, ‘Agent Zero’ provided a well-known example. “Skip Bayless – what he’s done to LeBron, he wouldn’t had no job past the first motherf***ing month! … There was no making a career off of Michael Jordan slander,” he added. In fact, we don’t have to look that far. The latest Stephon Marbury public outlash at Bron is a perfect example of just how much control people have gained with the popularity of social media. Or media in general.
Anyway, McCants’ admission surely comes as a surprise. But what are your thoughts on the matter? Was that the competitive mindset we have all come to associate with LeBron James? Or is there something more? Let us know in the comments.
