The debate about the best NBA player of all-time usually is between Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
The answers vary but Hall of Famer Ray Allen gave his thoughts in 2018 during an interview with Dan Patrick. Allen said he would clearly choose Jordan, who led the Bulls to six championships during the 1990s.
“No, I think he’s certainly a top five all-time,” Allen said. “MJ, all day long only because how I played against him. MJ just had everything, from midrange to 3-point to post-up game and he could score and dominate in each position.”
James, who is now playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, has surpassed Jordan in nearly statistical category because he’s played 21 seasons. Last year he topped Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the league’s career scoring leader.
The biggest advantage Jordan holds is titles. He won championships in all six of his appearances. James has four rings but also has six losses. Allen also said James benefited from the NBA rule changes.
“The rules are totally different,” Allen said. “You can’t touch a guy now. To compare what we do now, what’s going on now, to what happened in the 80s and 90s? You got knocked down. You went to go make a layup, they’ll knock you down.”
