Michael Jordan Day debate 🚨 LeBron James is number two behind MJ! - Stephen A. Smith | First Take 

MJ's brand is officially a sponsor in at least three different sports. That's how iconic he is. All because of his otherworldly talent.🐐

Watching them argue about this topic will never not be entertaining to me 😂😂😂

Michael Jordan is way beyond an NBA player, legend, etc. People around the world know Jordan and don't even know what the NBA is. They don't even care about basketball, but still know Jordan. His fame and legacy has gone beyond the NBA and way outside of the NBA courts. He's an icon. No other player has ever reached that status. Lebron James might be famous in America now, but he's quite unknown in most places around the world. Jordan played in the 90s and he's still the topic of discussion. Jordan literally changed the game and inspired millions. His fastness, elegance in playing and his skill overall are totally unique. Lebron is very good, but he doesn't have a unique style of play. That debate is just ridiculous and there are way more players that could contend for the No2 position, such as Kobe.

The fact Lbj didn't show up vs. Dallas in the finals told me all I needed to know

Jordan is the legacy Lebron is longevity what MJ did in 15 seasons can't be ignored I have to agree with SAS on this one, LeBron has had an incredible career about to pass Kareem , but there was just something magical about MJ's game..probably never see another two players like them again

MJ was and still is the G.O.A.T.🐐

there was just something magical about the 90's era basketball

Perk already loss the argument he came in talmbout "I got Jordans on my feet"

Michael Jordan will always be greatest of all time it's not only about ability and achievement MJ's impact in game was incomparable

I live in Nigeria and know that Micheal Jordan is the only reason the NBA is known worldwide

I like how Perkins said ,LeBron has checked all the check marks , then in the same breath saids this ain’t bout individual achievements when it came to Jordan but not to LeBron 🤦🏻‍♂️

Say all you want about Stephen A and his hot takes, but you can’t deny his enthusiasm and work ethic… I personally find him very entertaining to watch😂

ESPN has created a whole day to celebrate Michael Jordan andddd lebron James getting mentioned tells the whole story .

Debate died in 2011 but congratulations to Bron for an amazing career of longevity

I really don’t know why this is still an argument. MJ is literally the reason why I still have hopes and dreams of playing rugby professionally. His greatness has inspired millions globally including me! If MJ played in the league for 20 years he would’ve broke the record ages ago lol

Stephen A humiliated him 😂😂😂😂

MJ the 🐐

Wow this is a fresh and interesting debate I've never heard before!

Jordan's move on the Nets is still the greatest layup I've ever seen by far.

I’m convinced perk doesn’t know about basketball!😂

SAS: MJ won 6 chips Kendrick Perkins : This is not an individual sport. Lebron about to be the all time leading scorer LOL

Jordan was 9 times all defensive first at the same time as scoring champ. That really shows how much of a beast he was on both ends. Also steals champ at the same time as scoring champ. Something that never gets mentioned. Jordan is top 5 in both totals and per game averages in both scoring and steals. Some players maybe both for one stat but not 2. Jordan took it to another level in the finals especially the first 3. 91-- average 11.4 assists per game highest for anyone not Magic. 92 - - average an impressive 42% for 3s and in game 1 shot six 3s in a half which was a record for 18 years until Ray Allen the only person to shoot more in a half 93-- average 41 points per game highest ever. Jordan has a higher peak which LeBron has not surpassed

Biggest difference between them is MJ could get buckets within an offense while lebron needed the ball too much. That’s why Lebron has played with so much incredible talent and had the highest payroll in the league multiple times but never elevated a single team into the top 15 in league history for season dominance score while Jordan has FIVE teams in the top 12.

MJ was 10x scoring Champion (1987-1993/1996-98) playing in an era that was no blood no foul.A feat that probably no one will ever accomplished again.We are talking here of 10 consecutive seasons!He is also the All Time Leader in Points per game.

If we can't compare era's then we can't compare stats. The cake has been baked....Jordan is the G.O.A.T.!! ....next question!

I have never heard a person make more points against their own argument like perk! Starting with the Jordan’s on his feet! 😂

Michael Jorden did this under 15 seasons in a tougher defense era Michael did this with the same team

Legendary monologue by Stephen A😂😂😂

Creating an “MJ day” to talk about MJ a few days before Lebron breaks the all time scoring record says all we need to know

They both have good points… that’s why MJ said u can’t compare eras..

Honestly, the way Jordan did it. -15 seasons with one team (Bulls) -6 championships 6 championships MVP’s -10 time scoring record -Never left the bulls in the 1980’s even though they did not go as far as they thought they would. Bron -4 teams and counting -could be argued that when things get tough, he stays a little bit and then when things get tough again, he leaves. Just the way jordan did it has to put him above lebron forever.

I thoroughly enjoyed the commentary by Stephen A on the top 5 favorite moments at the end. That was very entertaining

6x champion, 6x finals MVP, 5x regular season MVP, DPOTY, 3x steals leader, 10x scoring champion the ultimate GOAT is Michael Jordan no debate

At the end of the day, it all boils down to Longevity vs Peak. MJ had the greatest peak, with his multiple three-peats, MVP's, even getting a DPOY while still playing otherworldly offense. MJ brought basketball to the international stage. Lebron on the other hand, has played in so many games, top 5 in assists and will be number 1 in scoring in a few games in addition to going to a 10 finals, and has sustained his high level playing for so long. Personally, I think that MJ is still the GOAT, but Lebron is close behind. MJ has transcended beyond basketball. We still call someone who excels at their respective sport, or even other non-athletic speciality that they are the "MJ of ..."

LeBron had a head start coming out of high school while MJ spent 3 years in college. MJ was scored 32,292 in 1,072 games. LeBron passed MJ with 1,190 games played. That's 118 more games played than MJ. MJ had 2 seasons where he played 18 and 17 games. In his 2nd season, he got injured and only played 18 games, but still averaged 22 ppg. The 17 games was when he came back at the end of the season from retirement. He averaged 26 ppg. Both season were only worth 406 and 457 points. MJ retired 2 times before finally retiring. MJ missed almost a full 5 seasons due to retirement. MJ scored 23k his 1st season. Once he came back from injury in his 3rd season, he scored 3,000 points. From then, he scored, 2,800, 2600, 2700, 2500, 2400, 2500 before his 1st retirement. The season after he came back, he scored 2400, 2400, 2300 before retiring again. Now looking at LeBron, his 1st and 2nd season was 1600 and 2100. His 3rd season was 2400. That's the highest points he scored in a season. Every season following has been below that. He's had 8 seasons scoring below 2000 points. Even if you exclude the lockout and covid, he's had 1 too many under 2000 points seasons. His numbers during his 1st stint with the Cavs are way lower than MJ's with the Bulls. MJ was putting up monster numbers. MJ had 6 straight seasons scoring between 37 to 30 points ppg before his 1st retirement. The numbers tell the story. MJ would be way over 40,000 points had he not retired. He would have been the #1 all time scorer. This is embarrassing for LeBron who got a 3 year head start on MJ. Proof that MJ is the GOAT.

Facts it was much harder to score because you can play much more physically

Lebron played with more offensive talent than Jordan with Wade, Kyrie and AD. And he still didn’t win more rings than 4. Lebron is a more balanced individual talent but Mike was more dominant at offensive and defensive. More balanced doesn’t mean greater.

Imagine Shannon Sharpe and Kendrick Perkins vs Skip and Stephen A. in a Jordan vs Bron debate😂😂

Im in Malaysia and i started watching NBA because of Jordan in 1995 when i was 8 years old, and im now 36 and Michael is the greatest.

MJ was magical nobody moved like Mike. Making all those incredible shots.

Anybody that saw MJ play knows it's no contest imagine jj barea guarding Jordan in finals lol

Michael Jeffrey Jordan will always be the greatest basketball player.

Jordan has so many moments not in SAS's top 5 including his shoulder shrug, flu game, Cavs beater, Ewing dunk, and so many more. Lebron, I only remember the Iggy chase down block and the Game 6 maniac stare. Jordan 🐐

The poster on Ewing on my list... just filthy... the footwork my god.. 6-0.. Legend.

Perkins just said championships doesn’t define your legacy in a team sport… ITS THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF EVERY PLAYER TO BE A CHAMPION…. L take

@Perk: Back in the day, it was five defenders ALL knowing MJ was taking the shot, they still couldn't stop him. THAT is a big difference, to be considered. Not only the more physical game of the era..

The way Stephen A was reacting to his list! 🤣🤣

"Look at this move right here" Perk had to let it Out🤣🤣

Bron got 6 Finals LOSSES with handpicked superteams & Klutz Sports! I'm not understanding how this is a debate. MJ >>> by a landslide.

The only argument lebron has over MJ is longevity and one can argue tackling MJ to stop him from going at the rim contributed to him not playing as long as lebron

Can’t believed perkin even comparing 3s in the 80s and 90s n now lol

Bron’s scoring is impressive but multiple players are averaging 4 points higher a game than they did last year, because the NBA keeps making it easier for offense.

Sorry, MJ was better on both ends of the court. If you compare on a per game basis on stats, and add in the context of their positions (which takes longevity out of it), MJ was better at almost every stat.

How Jordan impacted his teammates growth at practice and n the locker room is just something Lebron can’t do. Mentalities are way different.

Asking two professional journalists if they know what "synonymous" means is hilarious

😂 now we are basing the debate off of who’s a better 3 point shooter 😂

Perk perk perk. MJ is the goat 🐐

Lol how it’s supposed to be Jordan day but they keep bringing up Lebron 😂

94-97 they shortened the 3pt line from 23.9 to 22ft almost 2 feet so they could shoot better and bring up scoring

This man said he got some J's on his feet but says Bron the goat 🤣🤣🤣

i love that Perk's argument is that Lebron is more of a team player than MJ when he holds the ball 99.9% of the time everytime he's on the court LOL

Perkins talking up Lerbon just to hyoe up his era. What he said about 2003 was hilarious! 🤣

Tell them Perks tell that dude Steven A from Django with da receding hairline, let him know what time it is. 😱

Just because you were able to tackle and elbow people back then. Doesn’t mean anything has changed as far as the physicality - Perk

Stephen A is right about MJ being The Goat over Lebron.

if throwing punches and tackling doesnt mean being physical then idk what is

Back in the day, you can end a career of a player by a foul. But now just a simple shrug and its a flagrant. Longevity was impossible with the way how basketball played at 80's and 90's.And I also like how MJ said that he will played whenever since he wants the people to see he's greatness. For me that attitude settles it all. Mj make sure you get the equivalent amount all the hard money you earned of.

Let me guess “you would have had to be there” 😂

My top 5: MJ Kareem Magic Bird Kobe I'm 52 and have been watching basketball since the 80's so I'm not commenting on people I've never seen play.

They need to define what they consider the word “greatest” means. People have different views on the meaning of the word and what criteria to include or exclude.

I would've had the 92 Finals game with the 6 3's somewhere in my top 5.

Perk out here in these streets talking CRAZY 🤯!!

"Just because you was allowed to tackle people and could throw punches back then, that doesn't mean the level of physicality was different." I think you may need to look up what physicality means.

Perk knows...you see how giddy Perk was during Stephen's A-List!!! 🤣🤣🤣

This should be one of Stephen As great delivery speech

I've always said that at this point Jordan is the goat b/c not only does he have the team success, individual accolades, his skillset was just ridiculous, but can we say that another athlete transcends their sport like Jordan? Literally everything is compared to MJ..the mans shoes are as popular as some humans lol..there are other factors as well but just the fact that even people that didn't see him play that much think Jordan when they talk about basketball...I'm not one that just uses that 6-0 in the finals or how many Lebron lost.

Perk be like: It's not individual sport. (But kept on highlighting individual accolades LMAO)

EsPn Please Fire Perk

Imagine saying a conversation is dead and not bringing any points with you 😂😂😂

I don't always agree with Steven A but this one I'm with him. The fact is free throws for ridiculous fouls is a big contributor to points scored in a game. I would argue that if they were to remove foul shots from the stats, Lebron scoring title would drop tremendously.

ESPN needs to hire some of these RU-vidrs who explain this debate way more critically and analytically

I said it once and I'll say it again Sports have that one guy that is just that guy. The same way at cornerback you have Deion Sanders, at golf you have Tiger, basketball is Michael Jordan. The skills + The achievements the sheer domination of his rival in his era. Man MJ did it like no one ever will.

It Aint even close I'd rather be 6 for 6 and all the numbers say Jordan on a year to year basis but if you've rather lose more Finals than win pick LeBron. I totally agree with Stephen A.

What's funny is Perk says the NBA/basketball "isn't an individual sport," yet much of his arguments are based on individual stats... Make it make sense? Perk's argument would've been better supported if he spoke on the narrative of LeBron making his team better, carrying less talent to the NBA finals, etc. Something must be said about the eras in which both Jordan and LeBron played, though. Anyways, Happy MJ Day!

#1 when he was on the baseline with 3 players around him he reversed course and dunked on Patrick Ewing

Back in the 60's there was only 2 bands to discuss, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The Beatles broke up in 1970 with a career of only 10 years. The Stones are still a band today in 2023 with a career of over 50 years with like triple the amount of albums the Beatles had....... The Beatles are still the superior band.

Doesn't matter if lebron is 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th all time, he's a 1 of 1 type basketball player and he's the best ever for our generation, appreciate his greatness while he's still playing cause he may be gone in 2 years so enjoy him while he plays.

2:05 "this is not an individual sport..." then immediately brought up an individual accolade.. individually (scoring title, dpoy, MVP etc), Jordan accomplish more & team wise (championships), Jordan accomplished more.

I hate the physicality debate. The talent today is so much better, back then centers couldn’t shoot, didn’t have elite ball handling skills, and you didn’t have to follow them all around the court. The game is way better now talent wise I think that says more than physicality

6 finals with no losess but didnt beat any of the dynastties or until they got old. Celtics, Pistons, lakers

Kobe is top 2 🔥🏀💯

i can't believe it's even an argument jordan all day . Clutch

Watching Stephen A react to this dude acting like he dug up the obscure word synonymous hahaha

He worked on his vocab to find that word🤣🤣🤣 I’m sure we all knew that synonymous in 8th grade

They done gave this man a day and he's still alive😂. Tf..

4:14 LeBron James won’t quit basketball because he knows that Michael Jordan is still reigning as the GOAT, so to retire now would just leave LeBron at Number 2 at best. He’s hoping for miracles by just playing more games.

But like all time points is a individual record tho?

Tell Dan Marino and Jim Kelly that championships don’t affect your legacy. They played a team sport too right?….

17:04 i wish he put the jordan shrug somewhere in that list 🤣🤣🤣

Finals 3pt%: Jordan 37% LeBron 35%. "Just because you were allowed to tackle, throw punches doesn't mean it was more physical" lmfao Perk needs more help than new words. Through 15 yrs LeBron shot MORE FTs than Jordan in a softer NBA and made FEWER of those FTs.