Earlier this year in an interview with Sports Illustrated, LeBron James said he’s chasing Michael Jordan’s “ghost.” What James meant was, he’s chasing Jordan’s titles, MVPs, and his legacy of being the greatest. In term’s of comparison, James told reporters that he’s not like Jordan at all.
LeBron turned 32-years-old today. On Thursday, a reporter asked James if he studied how Michael Jordan had adapted at this point in his career.
“No, I haven’t,” James told reporters, “because our games are so different. He was much more of a scorer. And at that point, did a lot of post work at that point in time. But our games are just different. His body is different. My body is different than his. So it’s just, you recognize the dominance that someone had at that age. At that age, you recognize the dominance. But there’s no similarities in our game at all.”
Even the turnaround fadeaway jumper?
“No, it’s different,” James said. “He had much more lift in his fadeaway than mine. That was definitely a go-to move of his, but nah. Our games are completely different.”
When Jordan was 32-33, the Bulls won a then-record 72 games in 1995-96. He won his fourth of five MVPs and fourth of six championships. It was the last year in which Jordan averaged 30 points. Jordan won three straight titles and two Most Valuable Player awards after his 33rd birthday.
Right now at 32, James has three championships and four MVP awards. The Cleveland Cavaliers appear likely to end up in the NBA Finals again, in which James will go after his fourth title. He appears to be right on track.
