Despite being an age-old rival with Larry Bird, Michael Jordan had no hesitation in claiming that the Boston Celtics legend was greatly superior to LeBron James. As many of us might be aware, Jordan and LeBron are the subjects of intense debate by NBA fans when discussing who the greatest player of all time could be.
According to many fans, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are right on their heels and without a doubt part of the top 10 greatest players of all time. Both Bird and Magic dominated the league prior to the coming of Michael Jordan and have been widely forgotten by modern NBA fans.
One person who will find it near impossible to forget Larry Bird is Michael Jordan. After all, a young Jordan and the Bulls were unable to defeat Larry and the Celtics a single time. In fact, one could argue that Jordan’s prime only began after Larry retired from the NBA back in 1992.
In any case, it might sound quite controversial for MJ to claim that an old rival is better than LeBron James. Before dismissing it blindly as jealousy or something of that nature, we should take a closer look at what Jordan had to say and understand the situation better.
Michael Jordan opined that Larry Bird was a better small forward than LeBron James
Many modern-day NBA fans are quick to forget how good a player Larry Bird was. Much like Magic and Kareem carried the Lakers in the 1980s, Bird did the same for the Boston Celtics and helped solidify the franchise as a basketball dynasty. He had an incredible post-up game and shooting ability. Especially for a player from that era.
After having retired from the league, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird wrote a book called “When the game was ours.” Michael Jordan was asked to share his thoughts so that they could be included in the book. It was here that Jordan claimed Bird was superior to LeBron.
“Larry was a debate. He still is. People ask me all the time who my all-time five top players are, and when I start saying Larry, they interrupt me. They say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. He can’t play with LeBron James’! I tell them, ‘You guys don’t get it. Larry is far better than any small forward who played the game, and to be honest, I’m still not sure if he is a small forward or a power forward.”
Although it is difficult to compare players between eras, we should wonder if Jordan still feels the same way now. After all, the book was released in 2009 and LeBron hadn’t won a single championship at the time. He now has 4 on his resume and one more than Larry Bird.