Michael Jordan makes his feelings clear on whether LeBron James could have played in his era

Michael Jordan has addressed the question of whether LeBron James could have played in his iconic era of basketball.

The two men are without question two of the greatest NBA stars of all time and both would feature on a list of candidates for the sport’s GOAT.

Jordan’s legendary spell on the court came with the Chicago Bulls and latterly with the Washington Wizards.

The now 62-year-old is a six-time NBA champion following his time with the Bulls, also being crowned the MVP in the NBA Finals a total of six times.

Jordan was also named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player overall on five occasions.

James meanwhile is still playing at the age of 40 with the Los Angeles Lakers and has four NBA Championships to his name in a career which has also included spells with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat.

James has also been named the NBA Finals MVP four times and the NBA’s overall MVP on a quartet of occasions.

And he recently also became the first player in NBA history to have multiple 40+ point matches at the age of 40 and above, surpassing the great MJ in the process.

The two players’ eras never really intertwined, thus Jordan and James did not meet on the court in their prime.

LeBron James and Michael Jordan. (Image: Getty)
Jordan retired from playing in 2003, the same year that James began playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The question of whether current players can play in different past eras of the NBA is one that is always posed and is an intriguing and longstanding one.

And it includes if James would be able to play on the same basketball court as Jordan, whom many regard to be basketball’s GOAT.

But Jordan himself recently had his say on the matter and made his stance on the issue quite clear, though his friend Jayson Williams.

Speaking to NBA Insider Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson, Williams revealed a conversation that Jordan, he and Charles Oakley had during a recent game of golf about the subject.

And Jordan is said to have told Williams: “LeBron James could play in any era.”

There is clearly mutual respect between the duo, with LeBron previously saying he wears the number 23 because of Jordan.

LeBron James made his true feelings on Michael Jordan clear when naming his NBA starting five of all-time

LeBron James named his dream NBA line-up, in the process revealing how he rates GOAT rival Michael Jordan

In an interview with former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand, LeBron James listed Michael Jordan among his dream NBA starting five.

Filmed for Ferdinand’s 5IVE brand back in 2009, the ex-Three Lions star asked the basketball icon to pick his all-time greatest line-up.

James, who had not yet won any of his four NBA titles or four MVP awards at the time, decided against putting himself in his imaginary team, instead giving himself the role of general manager.

“Since I’m picking the team, I’ll be the GM,” he said.

James then selected Oscar Robinson – a title winner with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971 and nicknamed ‘The Big O’ – as his point guard.

He chose Boston Celtics legend and three-time MVP Larry Bird for the small forward position, the role the current Los Angeles Lakers star has most often played in his own career.

At power forward, he chose Lakers icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And he plumped for 7ft 1ins big man Shaquille O’Neal – a team-mate of his on the Cleveland Cavaliers at the time – as the centre.

Throughout his storied NBA career, James has been compared to Jordan. Widely considered to be the two greatest players in basketball history, the pair often find themselves on either side of heated debates among fans over who should be considered the GOAT.

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But James, who grew up idolising Jordan and chose to wear the No 23 to honour the Chicago Bulls superstar, didn’t hesitate in picking the six-time NBA Finals MVP to start as the shooting guard in his dream line-up.

To coach the team, James made the left-field choice of James Naismith, the Canadian PE teacher who invented the game back in 1891 by hanging peach baskets high up on a wall.

In February 2023, James became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, eclipsing Abdul-Jabbar’s previous high mark of 38,387, and the 39-year-old is about to begin his 22nd season in the league.

But with four MVP awards to Jordan’s five and four titles to the Bulls legend’s six, he is still playing catch-up when it comes to the key accolades that drive the GOAT debate.