LeBron, Jordan fans may unite after all

There’s nothing worse than when a quick look at a basketball story turns into a LeBron James-Michael Jordan debate.

It always gets lost that we’re debating different eras, rules and opponents, and always gets heated.

Jordan fans bring up six-for-six, noting Jordan never lost an NBA Finals and never needed to go seven games in the championship round, and his reputation as the greatest scorer in league history.

Jordan detractors note James has never lost in the first round, and Jordan did three times. They also note his playoff record was 1-9 before Scottie Pippen arrived in Chicago.

James fans bring up eight straight Finals appearances, something that hasn’t been done since the Boston Celtics dominated a nine-team league and often received a first-round bye. He also defeated a 73-win Golden State juggernaut and was just 22 years old when dragged a team that started Drew Gooden, Daniel Gibson and Sasha Pavlovic to the Finals.

James detractors remind everybody he’s 3-for-9 in the Finals, and took advantage of free agency to link up with elite teammates instead of seeking out competition.

Go onto a “Lebron or Jordan” debate anywhere and pay me $1 every time one of those things gets mentioned. I’ll have enough to buy us lunch the rest of the week.

Some people have even built careers off of the debate. Fox Sports employs both LeBron hype man Nick Wright and LeBron detractor Skip Bayless. My favorite Bayless hot take was how Johnny Manziel would be bigger in Cleveland than LeBron could ever be. Johnny Football threw four interceptions to lose his Canadian Football League debut by 39 points.

But sports fans, hold up. There may be a uniting of the fan bases.

This past week, James helped open up the I Promise School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. The school will serve third- and fourth-graders this year and expand to future grades in the upcoming years. The school has a longer instruction period because its students probably fell behind at their prior school. Each student receives a bicycle (something James says helped him escape bad situations as a kid), and parents can receive job training. Kids get free breakfast, lunch and snacks, and families can come to the school’s food pantry.

James was asked why he didn’t just “shut up and dribble,” as Fox News’ Laura Ingraham advised him when he was critical of President Trump. James said he felt compelled to use sports as a platform to help people and noted he hated how Trump used sport to divide people.

Trump answered back, saying it’s not easy to make LeBron James look smart and that he prefers Mike.

Now Jordan — who was reluctant to be political during his playing career — released a statement in the wake of Trump’s tweet: “I support LJ. He’s doing an amazing job for his community.”

I’m not sure it was his intent, but well done, President Trump. If this ends up uniting Jordan and LeBron fans, you may want to put in for that Nobel Peace Prize after all.

Kevin Wilson is managing editor of The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at:

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