The Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night. But that didn’t stop Nuggets head coach Michael Malone from heaping some serious praise atop Cavs star LeBron James.
According to Gina Mizell of the Denver Post, Malone pretty much put James in the same conversation as Michael Jordan after the game.
Malone, having coached James, gives him a special kind of authority in this conversation. Just like two people never truly knowing each other until they have lived together, someone never really knows an athlete until he or she gets the chance to coach him or her.
Malone saying that James is probably one of the two best players to ever play the game of basketball is not a new opinion. That conversation has been going on in some way, shape, or form practically for James’ entire career.
But over recent seasons, that discussion has gotten louder and the takes have gotten hotter. The durability with which James has played, the fact that he continues to break records or make his own, and so many other factors have him ahead of Jordan in the eyes of many NBA minds.
NBA pundits are one thing. But when coaches start making statements like that, then people have to start taking the arguments seriously. Coaches see the game through a different light and have more historical knowledge than many fans.
So the next time a conversation breaks out that James is nowhere near Jordan — or possibly has already surpassed Jordan — fans can be armed with one of James’ former coaches saying he’s in the top two ever. What transpires after the utterance of that fact will be fascinating.
