The “greatest basketball player of all-time” debate never gets old, especially when a Hall of Famer shares his perspective.
When Kobe Bryant passed Jordan for third place on the all-time scoring list, comparisons of the two greats flooded the Internet. But now two-time NBA champion Hakeem Olajuwon is pitting Jordan against LeBron James.
“When people start comparing him with Jordan then that’s not a fair comparison,” the former Rockets star told CNBC’s Worldwide Exchange. “Jordan was a far more superior player in a very tough league, he was very creative. That’s not taking away anything from LeBron because he is a great player but it is not a fair comparison because Jordan is a far superior player.”
Jordan finished his career with six NBA titles, six NBA Finals MVP awards and four league MVP trophies. James, at age 30, has two NBA titles and four league MVP awards to his name.
Olajuwon never played against James, but he did mentor James to improve his low-post game after his Heat team lost to the Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals.