LeBron James may be chasing Michael Jordan’s “ghost”, but thinks it’s pointless to compare his game to MJ’s.
LBJ, who has stated that catching Mike is a personal goal, says their styles of play are “completely different.”
James was asked to ponder Jordan on the eve of his 32nd birthday—at the same age, during the 1995-96 campaign, MJ led the Chicago Bulls to a 72-10 regular season and their fourth NBA championship.
New story: MJ led CHI to 72-10 at age 32. LeBron, who turns 32 tomorrow, says "no similarities in our game at all" https://t.co/IjJGF0lxOh
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 29, 2016
Per ESPN:
“No, I haven’t [compared myself to him at this age], because our games are so different,” James said Thursday after the Cleveland Cavaliers held a shootaround in preparation for their game against the Boston Celtics. “As much as he was, he was much more of a scorer, and that point did a lot of, a lot of post work at that time. But our games are just different. His body is different. My body is different than his. So, just, you recognize the dominance that someone had at that age … but there’s no similarities in our game at all.”
Jordan averaged 30.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.2 steals at age 32 while shooting 49.5 percent from the field and a career-best 42.7 percent from 3. James is averaging 25.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 8.6 assists and 1.4 steals this season while shooting 51.3 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from 3.
“He’s a mixture between a few players,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said before Thursday night’s game against the Boston Celtics. “He’s got the explosiveness and power of Dominique Wilkins, the scoring ability of Jordan at times. The court vision and the way he pushes the pace like Magic Johnson and having the height, so he’s a mixture between three guys. […] And as far as a comparison between him and Jordan, the comparisons I have is when you’re on top, the best player in the league for so long and having to carry that each and every year and never get knocked down off that pedestal, that’s a big accomplishment because guys are coming for you and you’re a target — and to always stay on top no matter what, always being that best player in the league, that’s how I compare him and Jordan.”
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