Jordan’s former teammate, Scottie Pippen, thinks there’s a much better player to compare King James to… himself. And while Pippen racked up more All-Defensive Team selections during his career, LeBron is on pace to match or better him in that department, too.
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“I was LeBron James before LeBron James,” Pippen told the Northeast Ohio Media Group.
“I was LeBron James before LeBron James“.
In terms of the way LeBron plays defense and his ability to aptly defend all five positions on the court, the closest comparison may actually be Pippen. “It’s not even close”.
So while Pippen has every right to say that he “was LeBron James before LeBron James“, he’s probably going to have a tough time convincing people to start comparing LeBron to him instead of MJ or Magic. He’s the only player who can single-handedly carry his team to the brink of a championship, travel a whole bunch and get away with it and receive comparisons to Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan – an exercise in NBA historical thought that still seems to sell LeBron’s talents short. “It’s natural for folks to say that, but if you look at how he plays the game and how I played the game, you’ll see more similarities with us”.
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[RELATED – Tables turn for Jimmy Butler in restricted free agency]. He would run the point, pass, rebound and score. At 6’7, he played some point-forward and would take the opposing team’s best perimeter player out of the game. Obviously, he could not put up the huge numbers LeBron does because he was playing with one of the top 5 players ever. LeBron has also talked at length about his admiration for Pippen, so the comparison isn’t completely ridiculous.
