LEBRON COURTS JORDAN, RIPS STEPHEN A., ADORES BRONNY — AND WINS THE GAME
He did more than eat a Steak ’n Shake burger in Indianapolis, visiting Pat McAfee and winning a game with a buzzer-beating tip — but he is not the Greatest Player Ever, as Jordan soon might tell him
He’s the one who mentioned Michael Jordan. The rest of us did not, hallelujah trail. In a rivalry that no longer exists on the basketball court — but does in real life, which should matter more — LeBron James said he wants a post-career relationship with His Airness.
“We don’t talk,” he said.
Consider the potential dialogue. Jordan can explain how he created his worldwide marketing machine, the one romped through by James. And Jordan can reiterate he won six NBA championships in the 1990s with the Chicago Bulls, before James won only four in three places in 22 years. And Jordan can smoke a cigar and show James yet another pair of sneakers, the babies that helped him become the first athlete among America’s 400 wealthiest people.
Or, in a sharp retort, James can shout he has pushed his ravishing peak into his 40s while breaking unimagined records for longevity, including his place above the all-time scorers. Or, James can point to his son, Bronny, who has broiled Stephen A. Smith by scoring 17 points for the Lakers and 39 in a G League game. And if he wants, though he wouldn’t, James might ask Jordan about his son, Marcus, after his arrest for DUI and cocaine possession and his breakup with Scottie Pippen’s ex-wife.
One more time, for those calling talk shows and sitting in tavern seats: Jordan is the Greatest Player Ever. One more time: James continues an arena-wall fight in Los Angeles with Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Wilt Chamberlain to decide other spots, along with a charge from Stephen Curry and a hello to Bill Russell. When his uniform is washed and dried, LeBron never has been in trouble legally amid the bedlam of social media and earns fatherly acclaim for helping Bronny — who experienced cardiac arrest 20 months ago — become a legitimate prospect. A young man’s rise continues to be astonishing, an unsurpassed credit to what James sees in the bathroom mirror.
Does he talk and post too much? Yes.
Does he ask who’s No. 1 when he’s no better than No. 2? Yes.
Does he pay too much attention to Stephen A.? Yes, yes, yes.
But certainly, LeBron James belongs on the four fingers and thumb that dribble a ball. He will have fewer championships despite playing more seasons, keeping him below MJ. That said, James found time in Indianapolis to do more than eat a Steak ’n Shake burger. He stopped and made news with host Pat McAfee — hours before he tipped in a Luka Doncic miss and won a game at the buzzer.
Saying his bond with Jordan is in “a good spot,” James wants to share valuable time. Will it happen? “I think it's because I'm still playing, And MJ, we all know MJ,” he said. “He’s one of the most ruthless competitors there is, and until I'm done and he doesn't have to look at me running up and down wearing the No. 23 and every time my name is mentioned, it's mentioned with his.” They met warmly at the 2022 All-Star Game, when they were honored with the league’s 75th Anniversary team.
“That was dope," James said. “That's straight respect, admiration and me, for sure, I wear 23 because of MJ. And the inspiration that he gave me as a kid in Akron, Ohio, (where) you don't have much inspiration in your hometown.”
Once, when James was a rookie, I asked Jordan for comparisons. “What do you think?” he said. I think Jordan is the best.
Then came LeBron’s shots at Smith, who continues to fight back after James’ recent courtside shoutdown. Stephen A. never has been a bigger ratings whore, especially when McAfee follows him on ESPN. “He’s like on a Taylor Swift tour run right now,” James said. “It started off with, ‘I didn’t want to address it. I didn’t want to address it, I wasn’t going to address it. But since the video came out, I feel the need to address it.’ Mother—er. Are you kidding me? If there’s one person that couldn’t wait ’till the video dropped, so you could address it, it’s your ass. He completely missed the whole point. The whole point. Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport. Criticize players about what they do on the court. That is your job. … But when you take it, and you get personal with it, it’s my job to not only protect my damn household, but protect the players.”
This led Smith to call out James on his Wednesday podcast. “A liar,” he said. “You want this to be a reincarnation of Chris Rock and Will Smith? And let me state for the record while we bring that up, let me assure you it wouldn’t have gone down like that. I would have gotten my ass kicked because if that man put his hands on me, I would have immediately swing on him. Immediately. That I’m not going to tolerate.”
Stephen A. was sitting at the game with Ari Emanuel, CEO of the Endeavor agency, which owns WWE and the UFC … and Smith. Thinking what I’m thinking? Smith’s partner, Shannon Sharpe, told him to lay low. “Because as my grandma used to say, stirring up this old ish, it still smells. So every time Stephen A. talks about it, he stirs it up again,” Sharpe said. Of course, Smith sees a cheap ratings swirl for his new $100 million deal, which is devouring the network the same way ESPN Bet — ESPN Debt — is losing megamillions and forcing “SportsCenter” to shut down its Los Angeles studio. One man who keeps his job is senior NBA writer Brian Windhorst, who also was knocked down by James despite their roots in northeast Ohio. “I saw Brian Windhorst on one of these shows not too long ago. This guy says he’s like my f—ing best friend,” he said. “These guys are just weird.”
In the end, LeBron is proudest of Bronny. Hasn’t Dad said all along that the kid can play? He’s right, of late. “SMILE THROUGH IT ALL YOUNG (prince)!!!” James tweeted after his 39-point outburst. Even Stephen A. had to acknowledge, “I might have been wrong,” a retreat on the topic that fueled his flareup with LeBron. Could it be they will play together this postseason?
“For me as a dad, it doesn't matter if he never scores, ever. For me as a dad, I'm just super proud of him, period, as a young man,” LeBron said. “For me as a mentor and as a teammate of his that wants to see him thrive because I have seen the work he's put into the game, I am super proud of his development to where he is now. From the moment that he was drafted to now, his development has skyrocketed. He started off the G League season with just trying to figure it out and now, 39 — even when I talked to him, he was more pissed off at the technical free throw that he missed more than anything. He was like, ‘I could have had a 40 ball, and I missed that damn technical free throw.’ So, the kid, he's awesome.
“I wasn't even there. I was so (overjoyed), I might have been in the rafters. I might have been at home — my body might have been at home watching the game and watching the moment. I completely was not there. But, damn, that was an unbelievable moment, man, for me to be able to have that dream, be able to speak it into existence, for it to come to fruition. For my mom and my wife and my daughter and my youngest son to be there, I thought about everything from what the hell he went through less than a year before with his cardiac arrest.”
Years ago, before Bryant’s death in 2020, James wanted more time with Kobe. “The funny thing is, me and Kobe — the late, great Kob, obviously — we never had a real relationship either,” he said. “We were on the (USA) Olympic team, we had a great relationship there. The Olympic team in '08, the Olympic team in '12, but it was always competitive between us. We were always like, I was on the East Coast, he was on the West Coast, and it was like even though ... in '09, we didn't beat Orlando and didn't get an opportunity to play him in the Finals.”
Once James signed with owner Jeanie Buss in 2018, they were beautiful. “That's when our relationship became really, really good," James said. “He welcomed me. He called me, like, ‘Bro, anything you need in L.A., I got you. You're a Laker now. You're family.’ And we would have multiple conversations. When I passed him for the scoring record in Philly, he had a tweet out there like, ‘Keep on going.’ Like, ‘Keep transcending the game. Keep going.’ And that s— meant so much to me.”
Finally, after so much articulation, LeBron James was under the basket in Indiana. His finger hit the ball with 0.2 left. The Lakers won, 120-119. He helped Doncic off the floor, then celebrated. “I really couldn't really have too much emotion because I was trying to see if I got the ball off in time, to be honest,” he said. “But after they showed the replay on it, it was definitely gratifying.
“The game is never over until it says zeroes on the clock, literally.”
The same could be said about his basketball life. Time remains.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.