If you’ve been on social media in the past week, you’ve probably seen at least one person talking about the decade-old debate of who’s better: Michael Jordan or LeBron James. With LeBron stamping his seventh-straight NBA Finals appearance (the eight overall of his career), the war rages on.
MJ only made it to six Finals in his Hall of Fame career, but unlike LeBron, he never lost, winning all six. There’s arguments on both sides. But LeBron, who passed up Jordan as the all-time leading scorer in NBA playoff history in the Eastern Conference Finals, already has plans that will no doubt continue the debate long after he retires.
“I will own a team someday,” said LeBron. “That’s my next thing. Why do I want to own a team? I think it’ll be cool. I’ll stay a part of the game and still be able to put people in positions of power. I’ve always loved that, putting people in a position of power to feel like they can make a change and make things happen.”
Michael Jordan is the majority owner of the Charlette Hornets (formerly the Charlette Bobcats), and you can already see how, should LeBron actually end up with his own franchise, the debate will shell on into “Who can run a team the best?”
This goal is nothing new for LeBron, however, who said the same thing back in August 2016.
“I feel like my brain as far as the game of basketball is unique, and I would love to continue to give my knowledge to the game. And I would love to be a part of a franchise, if not at the top. My dream is to actually own a team, and I don’t need to have full hands on. If I’m fortunate enough to own a team, then I’m going to hire the best GM and president that I can. But I have a feel like I have a good eye for not only talent, because we all see a lot of talent, but the things that make the talent, the chemistry, what type of guy he is, his work ethic, his passion, the basketball IQ side of things, because talent only goes so far.”
The Bobcats were a laughingstock of the league for a number of years while LeBron was dominating with the Miami Heat. The Hornets aren’t absolute garbage. I’d just love to see a team owned by LeBron and a team owned by MJ play in the Finals. Settle the debate once and for all.
Kinda.