There may be no more lasting modern sports debate than that between Michael Jordan and LeBron James for the title of basketball GOAT. TNT's Charles Barkley, a legendary player in his own right, got a firsthand look at Jordan's greatness as a player, but has incredible respect for James.
During Wednesday's episode of The Steam Room podcast with Inside The NBA co-host Ernie Johnson, a caller asked Chuck to weigh in on the debate. Barkley started by saying that he doesn't like to wade into it, before bringing up a telling Jordan/LeBron stat that Johnson had recently shared.
"I don't get into the debate between Michael and LeBron because I think its weak journalism," Barkley said, before getting into the debate between Michael and LeBron.
"I was kinda caught off-guard last week when Ernie said, '[James] was only like three behind [Jordan] in 30-point games, or something like that.' And I was like... he's played like, seven more years? That's an astonishing stat. ... Even if you think LeBron's the GOAT, you wouldn't have known that."
Chuck's got a new stat to clear up the LeBron vs MJ debate 👀
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 5, 2024
Full #TheSteamRoom Episode: https://t.co/V6QSwf5jiH pic.twitter.com/mphjqkXtL2
To Barkley's credit, it is an astonishing number. James is in his 22nd season (Jordan played 15 seasons) and has played in 442 more games than the Chicago Bulls legend. However, Jordan is actually four career 30+ point regular-season games ahead of James, with 562 to James's 558 according to StatMuse. Even accounting for playoff games, James just passed Jordan last March.
Of course, there is more to the debate than pure scoring, and both players have brought plenty to the table outside of their individual offensive games. There is nothing that James can't do on the court, while Jordan was the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year in 1988 and a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection.
The fact that Jordan is still right with James in 30+ point games, whether or not you include playoff games, despite the gap between the two in career games is pretty remarkable. Plenty of Jordan fans will probably use this as a feather in their cap moving forward, all thanks to Johnson, who Barkley says "knows more useless stuff than anybody in the world."
Even in podcast form, Barkley remains Barkley.
More of the Latest Around the NBA
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Charles Barkley Has a New Favorite Stat in the MJ-LeBron GOAT Debate.
