Back in February Michael Jordan ruffled a few feathers and added fuel to the fire of an ongoing debate about who’s the best player in the league. Of course it came down to two players, Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. Jordan originally picked Bryant noting that Kobe’s game was more similar to his and that he’d take Kobe’s five rings over Lebron’s one. Well things have changed since then. Lebron now has two championship rings, another Finals MVP and regular season MVP awards and Kobe has suffered a torn Achilles’. So has Jordan had a change of heart?
In an interview with the Associated Press Jordan was asked the question again and this time he switched up his answer.
When asked who’s the best player in the game, Jordan quickly responded, “I’m not playing” before letting out a laugh. “It’s hard to pick. It’s hard to say the best player,” Jordan said. “You would have to say LeBron because of what he’s capable of doing. Kobe is coming off an injury and you don’t know where he is going to be at his age. I would have to say LeBron.”
This debate is clearly never going to end. In my opinion Lebron is the best player in the league right now and it isn’t very close. I have a ton of respect for Kobe Bryant and what he’s done but he and Lebron are definitely in different parts of their career. Kobe is still playing at a high level but he’s past his prime while Lebron is in the middle of his. If we really want to compare the two the best decision is to wait until both of them are retired and then examine their careers as a whole. But of course no one wants to wait that long so in the meantime let the debate continue…
