Rich Paul on the difference in media coverage of LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan.
LeBron James has become a somewhat polarizing figure in sports nowadays and seemingly splintered sports fans.
His iron-clad fans feel he is the greatest to ever play basketball by far. His haters claim he is vastly overrated and overhyped. The objective truth lies somewhere in between.
One difference in the sports landscape between now and the days of Michael Jordan is the advent of social media later in the decade of the 2000s after Jordan had retired.
Rich Paul, James’ close friend and agent, said on the "Gil’s Arena" podcast that James is the first player to deal with the constant cycle of media coverage and opinions from pundits (h/t Lakers Daily).
One of the best recent examples is the mocking he took when the eighth graders from his “I Promise School" in Akron, Ohio, failed to pass the state"s math test. Many saw it as LeBron"s failure and blamed him for what happened, though he has supported the school.
“Mike (Michael Jordan) transcended the game," said Paul. “When Kobe [Bryant] came, Kobe was a silhouette of Mike. That"s everything, which is great."
“LeBron is the first player having to deal with a 24-7-365 news cycle of sports and opinions from those not having the expertise to give a valid opinion."
"In addition to, ‘No, I’m not gonna really do it how y’all want me to do it, and I"m probably gonna do it how I decide to do it.’
We all know that doesn’t go over well, and then you have this environment and this sports society, and now you have to root against it.
That"s another thing Mike never had to deal with because his hardest critic was probably Peter Vecsey."
There were cracks in Jordan’s armor, such as the quality of competition he faced in the playoffs or his reportedly harsh treatment of teammates.
Since James came into the league in 2003, the Cleveland icon was regularly compared with Michael Jordan in terms of having what it takes to become the greatest player of all time.
Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant came the closest to being a carbon copy of Jordan on the basketball court, and one title shy of matching his six rings won, James recently became the league’s all-time leading scorer, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The GOAT debate seems to have come down to two players, Lebron James and Michael Jordan.
In most people’s opinions, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports believes that James gets the edge because of what he had to deal with in his era of sports.
