Michael Jordan and LeBron James are always going to be compared. Both players are NBA legends and have done countless great things off the court as well.
In terms of being an influencer though, LeBron doesn't have a shot of catching Jordan. That's at least what Hall of Fame writer Sam Smith — who covered Jordan's Chicago Bulls during the '90s — believes.
“I’ve never seen anybody skipping down in the commercials, saying, ‘Be like LeBron.' Obviously, it was commercial and marketing and all, but Jordan changed so much in the world and society—the long shorts, the shaved head, and, obviously, the sneakers,” Smith told Isaac Chotiner of the New Yorker.
“The sneakers were a revolution. Nobody thought that sneakers would be a fashion statement back in the early nineteen-eighties. Nobody thought it mattered if you put a player’s name on a sneaker…I remember friends of mine would be in Russia, and they sent me home these nesting dolls—the Bulls with Jordan and Pippen—things you would never see anywhere else. And you don’t see that with LeBron. LeBron’s a big figure and a great player, and he has an influence in society, but it didn’t change anything. Nobody has changed anything because of LeBron James.”
Jordan and the '90s Bulls, along with the 1992 Dream Team, helped the NBA's profile grow internationally. Everyone wanted to buy MJ's Jordan's shoes and be like Mike, and LeBron was one of those young kids as well.
His Airness won six NBA titles, six Finals MVPs and five regular-season MVPs with the Bulls. LeBron James, meanwhile, is still chasing Michael Jordan, as he has three titles, three Finals MVPs and four regular-season MVP trophies.
However, James could add title No. 4 in a couple of months, as his Los Angeles Lakers have the best record in the Western Conference. The suspended 2019-20 season is set to resume on July 30.
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