(Audacy) Michael Jordan and LeBron James are considered the two best basketball players of all time, but the debate rages on about who's the greatest to ever play.
The Bulls legend Jordan held that honor without dispute for a long time, as he was a 14-time All-Star, a 10-time scoring champion and a five-time MVP while also winning six titles.
Meanwhile, James is the NBA's all-time scoring leader and a 19-time All-Star while winning four titles – and counting. He’s more than lived up to the astronomical hype that he had.
Hall of Famer Phil Jackson coached Jordan and the Bulls to all six of their NBA championships in the 1990s. On the Audacy Original Podcast “Stacey King’s Gimme The Hot Sauce,” he shared one simple fact for why he believes Jordan is the GOAT.
“You can only turn to the fact that Michael went to the Finals six times and won six championships,” Jackson said. “How many seventh games in the final series did Michael have to go through? Never did. Never happened. We won in six at the most. The reality is the record stands, and that’s what happens in careers.”
Jordan was a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals in his career and took care of business in six games or fewer all six times.
James has won four championships amid 10 trips to the NBA Finals. Making the NBA Finals 10 times is no easy feat, but those six defeats for James give Jordan the edge in Jackson's view.
“The game has changed and the players have changed and how the game has been played has also changed,” Jackson said. “So take nothing away from either player, it’s still a fact that Michael went to the Finals six times and won six championships.”
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