Jay GreesonAsked Thursday whether he would take LeBron James or Michael Jordan, former Detroit Pistons bully Bill Laimbeer didn't hesitate.
"LeBron," Laimbeer said on Dan Patrick's radio show. "He can do more things."
James can do more things. Jordan won more.
It's a debate that carries more weight, and it will gain more fervor if LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals that start next week.
It was a question posed to a couple of James' teammates last week. And while Kendrick Perkins and J.R. Smith obviously are biased toward James, it's an interesting discussion magnified by one of Jordan's contemporaries citing James' versatility.
First, the debate of the next Jordan or the next Tiger or the next whatever becomes cliché. It's easy and never apples to apples. But it's also fun.
Of course Perkins and Smith are going to be pro-LeBron because he is willing a patchwork roster that includes them to the verge of an NBA title. It makes sense.
Want another experienced basketball voice on the James side? Pat Riley has long called James "BOAT" (as in "best of all time").
And maybe the semantics are important here.
Jordan was the greatest competitor in NBA history and maybe the greatest in the history of team sports. Lots of people hate to lose; by all accounts, whether it was golf or poker or H-O-R-S-E, Jordan was over the top.
Jordan is the best shooting guard ever, and he scored in ways that didn't seem possible when he was young, then scored in ways that made the game look too easy as he matured. In fact, Jordan's mid-career overhaul to become a pure shooter is among the greatest in sports.
Jordan and James also share the common dilemma of being far and away the most valuable player in the league whether or not they won the MVP award in a given season. The consistent excellence of Jordan and James created such a level of voter fatigue that those with ballots often looked for others to consider and vote for. Steph Curry, this year's MVP, had a great year for the Warriors, but James' value is off the charts.
James and the Cavaliers swept the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
It's only the second NBA Finals trip for the Cavs, who went in 2007 with James before he went to Miami in 2010.
He's back in Cleveland, and the Cavs are back in the Finals.
If your debate on value is simplistically Webster's, then it's hard to deny James' value. With him, the Cavs went to the Finals in 2007 and had the best record in basketball in 2010; in his four years in Miami, the Heat went to the Finals every year and won it all twice; in those same four years, the Cavs were in the draft lottery every year and had the first pick twice; in his first season back in Cleveland, the Cavs are four wins from the city's first major sports championship in more than 50 years.
Sure, he has not won as many championships as MJ, but this is a different era, too. Jordan has six titles, a total that would be tough for anyone, including LeBron, to match in today's balanced NBA.
But in regard to one-on-one basketball comparisons, it's impossible not to acknowledge that James belongs in the discussion right there with MJ as the best ever.
Breakdown the basketball skill set:
Jordan was the better perimeter shooter; James is a much-better passer.
Off the dribble-drive, James and Jordan are arguably the two best in NBA history.
James, however, is a better rebounder because of his size and a more versatile defender. In the Cavs' sweep of the Hawks, he guarded everyone from point guard Jeff Teague to center Paul Milsap.
And James is the better athlete.
So as there will always only be one Jordan - as much for his competitive fire as his titles and his namesake shoes - there will only be one James.
And they may be closer than most know.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6343. Follow him on Twitter at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com. His columns appear on A2 on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays and in the Sports section Tuesdays and Fridays. Read his online column, "The 5-at-10," weekdays starting at 10 a.m. at timesfreepress.com.