Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers says Michael Jordan has always been the GOAT to him despite the magnificent career LeBron James has had and continues to have.
Rivers, who played against Jordan and has coached versus LeBron, told ESPN he's always going to take Mike over the field until he sees someone better than His Airness, h/t Steve DelVecchio of Larry Brown Sports:
“I played against Michael Jordan and have always put Michael as No. 1, but that shouldn’t take anything away from LeBron James or Magic (Johnson) or Kareem (Abdul Jabar), who I think gets overlooked way too much as well … Kobe (Bryant) 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.”
Michael Jordan won six titles with the Chicago Bulls during the '90s and went undefeated in the Finals. MJ also captured all six Finals MVPs.
LeBron James, meanwhile, has three titles and three Finals MVPs on his resumé. The King is also the only player in NBA history to rank in the top 10 all-time in both scoring and assists.
Jordan finished his legendary NBA career with averages of 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists with the Bulls and Washington Wizards. MJ won five regular-season MVP awards and 10 scoring titles during his run with the Bulls.
Moreover, he prevented a number of Hall of Fame players from winning championships.
LeBron's 3-6 Finals record is mostly the reason why pundits have him behind Jordan in their all-time rankings. Otherwise, James' career has been nearly perfect. He's won four MVP trophies, made the All-Star team 16 years in a row and compiled averages of 27.1 points, 7.4 boards and 7.4 dimes.
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