NBA personality Michael Wilbon, a former journalist for The Washington Post who holds close ties with Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan, has been one of the more prominent figures that has made several appearances thus far in ESPN's hit series “The Last Dance.”
Himself being a confidant of Jordan, Wilbon recently opened up about what the six-time NBA champ truly thinks about Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. Wilbon made a guest appearance on The Rich Eisen Show recently and he revealed what Jordan has told him about LeBron in confidence:
“This is an off-the-record thing that he would probably frown on me for telling, but I’m going to tell it,” Wilbon said very much on the record about the NBA superstars, (H/T Orlando Silva of Fadeaway World). “There were times earlier in LeBron’s career, and sort of sprinkled throughout, where people got critical of LeBron. Whether it was ‘The Decision,’ whether it was a play, passing off to Donyell Marshall, whatever. People think Michael Jordan resents LeBron. To me, there’s evidence to the contrary, in that there’d be a phone call.
“I’d answer the phone, and this is what I’d hear on the other end. ‘Hey, don’t take a shot at LeBron, that’s just garbage. This kid is great. There’s no need to take a shot at him.’ That conversation is playing out with him knowing it’s not going to be repeated — it’s not going to be told on PTI, it’s not going to be written about in the Washington Post, or on ESPN.com.”
First off, we need to call out Wilbon here for breaking the sanctity of off-the-record revelations. We're not sure how well this will sit with Jordan, and how this will affect their relationship moving forward, even though it paints the NBA legend in a good light.
Then again, what Wilbon shared here is actually more of a nod on Jordan more than anything else. The writer is actually defending MJ here from all the untrue claims that he despises LeBron. As detailed by Wilbon above, it's actually quite the contrary.
Wilbon then went on to share that as a matter of fact, James is not the only player Jordan has come out to defend — to Wilbon at least.
“So that happened,” he said. “And that happened with young players that Michael liked, like somewhere between occasionally and frequently. You know, defend Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry, early on… there were certain players Michael would call up and say, “Hey, hey, stop. This is not…” or if he knew I knew the person he’d say, ‘Tell your boy he’s wrong.’”
“The Last Dance” has revealed how ruthless Jordan is as a competitor. However, this narrative from Wilbon shows a different side of the Hall of Famer — that he too has gone out of his way to defend and protect NBA players who he believes are being treated unfairly by the media.
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