Barkley: LeBron better than Jordan? Updated: October 4, 2012, 1:17 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK -- Charles Barkley thinks LeBron James can be better than Michael Jordan. Jordan is considered by many the best player in NBA history, but Barkley believes his teammate with the Dream Team can be surpassed by James. "I do think he can be better than Michael," Barkley said. "I thought I would never compare somebody to Michael Jordan. But this guy, LeBron James, he does everything well. Michael did everything well. LeBron James is just bigger, stronger, faster. That's the only difference." Barkley makes his comments on the first episode of NBA TV's "Open Court," to debut Tuesday at 11 p.m. ET. The series features a round-table discussion of NBA TV and TNT commentators. They include Shaquille O'Neal, Reggie Miller, Kenny Smith, Steve Smith, Chris Webber, Steve Kerr and Ernie Johnson. James won his first NBA title and third MVP award last season, joining Jordan as the only players to win the NBA title, regular-season MVP, NBA Finals MVP and Olympic gold medal in the same year. Jordan won six championships during his Hall of Fame career. "Unfortunately for LeBron, now that the monkey is off his back, he is going to be compared to two people: Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan," O'Neal said. "So now the question is how many championships can he get? We all know he is a competitor." http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8461397/charles-barkley-thinks-lebron-james-better-michael-jordan
Lebron CAN be better than Jordan. He isn't right now, nor is he even close but he has the tools to be.
For once, I agree with you. Lebron has the better raw talent, but Jordan just had a work ethic and desire nearly unrivaled.
If he continues to get better and better each year, then maybe he can be in the debate about greatest of all time. It amazes me that someone so good can continue to get better. If he keeps working on his post game, then there will be absolutely no answer for him for the next 3 or 4 years.
If he incorporates more of Hakeem's inside moves, than watch out. Jordan had that fadeaway post up move, but I believe LeBron could be a dominant post player.
What a difference one championship makes. This would be an uncomfortably hard argument to make (yes, even the potential to be better than Jordan). Now there are well-recognized players and Hall of Famers making this same statement.
I think it was more than just a championship. It was the way LeBron put that team on his back when Wade and Bosh were hurt. That Game 6 performance in Boston was historic. I think its a little bit more than just winning a championship. The way he did it is why people are now having this discussion. If Wade had done everything and LeBron had simply been a sidekick then we wouldn't be having this discussion even with the championship ring he now has.
theory: this is all being pushed by MJ. he knows that there's some chance that people will want to make these comparisons one day. By having guys like Pippen, Barkley, etc. say this now, they appear to be objective since they're friends with MJ/played with him. So when Lebron's career is over and Pippen/Barkley/all of MJ's guys say "nope, he didn't surpass MJ in the end because of _______" (regardless of what Lebron actually does)...they can say "yeah I was objective. I acknowledged it way back in 2012. But I saw both careers, and MJ is still king"
Oh, I completely agree. However, when he carried the team against the Pistons, I thought THAT was more historic than the Boston game 6. I did consider the fact that Lebron carried this Heath team into the equation when I made that statement; however, I think that the championship was the true difference maker.
This is from a guy who said that Yao would never score more than 19 pts in a game. To me, anything he says about basketball is worth a grain of salt.
Holy crap! I didn't care for anything else in that article but... "Open Court" is coming back?!!! Loved it when they had it on last year... awesome series!
Why do you say Jordan has a better work ethic? Can you show that he has trained more than LeBron? LeBron has worked incredibly hard on every aspect of his game. Sure, he has freakish natural talent, more so than Jordan, but that doesn't mean he doesn't work hard too.
I'm not saying Lebron doesn't work hard or that Jordan doesn't have natural talent. But Jordan was an *******, and that's what makes him the GOAT in my book. It wasn't enough to win- he wanted to destroy everybody, he had a drive I haven't seen since. It will be interesting to see what Lebron does now that he has won his first ring.
What a difference a supporting cast makes. No matter who is in your GOAT convo, LeBron has only had the type of supporting cast that they had when they won titles for the last 2 seasons. I don't care who you pick or what title year you pick.
Epic choker? #1) Aside from Jordan, I'm sure we can identofy a choking incident from most of the greats. #2) I can't really call someone a choker because they didn't win without a HOF type teammate on the roster when hardly anyone wins without a HOF type teammate on the roster. His 2nd best player in Cleveland was Mo. Williams. Mo Williams.
He better develop some skills that don't require elite athleticism if he wants to have the longevity of guys like MJ or Kobe.
