Former Miami Heat guard Mario Chalmers put Michael Jordan ahead of LeBron James in the GOAT debate and argued that opponents do not fear facing James in the same way they feared Jordan.
Chalmers pointed to Jordan’s 6-0 record in the NBA Finals and his dominance during the 1990s as the primary reasons he considers Jordan the greatest player in NBA history. James reached eight consecutive Finals from 2011 through 2018 and nine overall, but Chalmers believes Jordan’s dominance over an entire decade carries more weight.
“This man was 6-0 in the finals. He dominated the 90s basically,” Chalmers said on the In Shambles podcast. “Yes Bron went to 9 straight finals but Jordan dominated a decade.”
Chalmers also compared the competitive environment surrounding the two stars, arguing that Jordan played in an NBA where fewer franchises won championships during the 1990s.
“There’s only been 3 teams to win a ring in the 90s. You go to Bron’s era, there’s been 4-5,” Chalmers said.
The former Heat guard then questioned why James is often compared with Jordan rather than Scottie Pippen, Jordan’s longtime Chicago Bulls teammate.
“Why isn’t LeBron being compared to Pippen?” Chalmers said.
Chalmers’ strongest criticism centered on the way opponents perceive James before games. While he acknowledged that players can become intimidated once they are physically matched up against James, he argued that James does not create the same pregame fear Jordan generated.
“Nobody fears Bron,” Chalmers said. “Nobody is like, ‘Damn, I gotta go play against Bron tonight.’ Nobody said that.”
James’ résumé includes four NBA championships, four Finals MVP awards, four regular-season MVP awards and 21 All-NBA selections. He has also scored more regular-season points than any player in NBA history and became the first player to reach 50,000 combined regular-season and playoff points.
Chalmers also revisited his well-known confrontation with James during their time together in Miami. The two played together from 2010 through 2014, winning two championships and reaching four consecutive NBA Finals.
Chalmers previously drew attention for publicly telling James to stop “playing like a b*tch” during a game. He explained that the confrontation came from his willingness to challenge older teammates when he believed the team lacked accountability.
“Everybody was complaining about a whole bunch of different sh*t that was happening on the court and nobody wanted to take ownership or accountability of it,” Chalmers said. “Me being the little brother, the younger brother is always going to stand up and call out the big brothers.”
Chalmers said the incident did not change his approach to his teammates.
“What happened, happened,” he said.
