The debate over the greatest of all time, Michael Jordan or LeBron James, probably won’t have a clear answer. It’s one of those arguments that just keeps going.
Jordan’s former agent, David Falk, has picked a side.
“I really like LeBron,” Falk said. “But I think if Jordan had cherry-picked what teams he wanted to be on and two other superstars, he would’ve won 15 championships.”
That comment struck a chord with James’ agent and friend, Rich Paul.
Rich Paul Fires Back at David Falk for His LeBron James Comments
In an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, Paul fired back at Falk’s use of the term cherry-picking.
Michael Jordan’s longtime agent, David Falk, weighed in on the #NBA GOAT debate today and @RichPaul4 offered some pointed pushback on the take: pic.twitter.com/ELA0RyAG7d
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow)
“David Falk said something the other day about LeBron cherry-picking…that’s interesting to use the term cherry-picking,” Paul told Rich Eisen. “The careers of LeBron and Michael Jordan, it’s not apples and apples for a number of reasons but the cherry-picking terminology of it all from someone who had John Thompson, Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski supporting his business, putting superstar athletes in his lap, I think he was part of the cherry clan.”
Paul said Falk’s comments were unfair and out of line.
“I just thought that was very unfair and a little beneath David Falk for a number of reasons.” Paul continued. “We can’t have revisionist history, and we all want to determine who is the GOAT and who is the best, and so forth, and I just thought that was a little beneath David, and I’ll table it there.”
Paul took issue with the critique of James teaming up with two other superstars.
“The two other superstars, Michael never had to leave, Michael’s never been the underdog in any finals at any time,” Paul explained. “Not one time. Michael never had a 24-hour, 365 news cycle. He never had shows built strictly to criticize him. People made millions of dollars criticizing LeBron James; that was their entire job.”
Although Jordan never left the Bulls until he came out of retirement to play with the Washington Wizards, he was surrounded by other excellent players, such as Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, and Dennis Rodman.
Before leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat, James never played with another superstar player. He had to carry those Cavs teams deep into the playoffs with poorly put-together rosters, so making comparisons to Jordan’s Bulls isn’t necessarily fair.
Rich Paul Believes Debates Like LeBron James vs Michael Jordan Hurt Their Community
Paul also pointed out that Falk has ties with some of the most prestigious basketball organizations on the planet and made a lot of money for that reason.
“And when you talk about the difficulty of it all, Michael played for Dean Smith, Michael played for Phil Jackson, and Michael had Jerry Krause,” Paul added. “I’m the biggest Michael Jordan fan ever. Love Michael Jordan. And I don’t think Michael Jordan would have used the term cherry-pick, so I’m not up here to discredit Michael Jordan. I think Michael Jordan transcended our game to a level that we all benefited from.”
Paul also noted that he believed pitting players like Jordan and James against each other damages their community.
“I’m more so focused less about who’s the GOAT and why I can’t be at a dinner with those two guys having a great conversation,” Paul explained. “I think that those types of comments is also the reason why people who look like me in my community always think there can only be one king. It’s forever embedded us as the minority in a lot of places, and why it’s so uncommon to see a community of successful black men.”
“With all the success he’s had and all the cherry-picking he’s been able to do amongst the three highest-level universities there could ever be, as it pertains to the game of basketball. It doesn’t get any bigger than Georgetown, North Carolina, and Duke, so he actually has a bag of cherries.”
While Jordan and James’s GOAT debate will rage on forever, fans must ensure their arguments can’t be used against them. While Falk thought he had a solid point, Paul clearly showed us how his comments applied to both NBA legends.