Although his accomplishments speak for themselves, LeBron James has become something of a polarizing figure over the last several years.
A look at social media will reveal ardent fans of his who claim he’s by far the greatest basketball player ever and will even attack the legacy of Michael Jordan to be emphatic about their claim. There are also, of course, James haters who claim he’s vastly overrated and that if he had played in the 1980s and 1990s, he’d be just another good player and not a superstar.
Stephon Marbury, a somewhat forgotten star guard from the 2000s, responded to a social media post that highlighted Jordan’s record 10 scoring titles by saying James “shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath” as the Chicago Bulls legend (h/t Lakers Daily).
Shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as MJ. https://t.co/Dxk5wGHADS
— I AM PEACE STAR (@StarburyMarbury) August 13, 2024
James isn’t quite known as a scorer as much as Jordan was, and he has just one scoring title, which he won during the 2007-08 season. But he is the NBA’s all-time leading career scorer with 40,474 points, which is over 8,000 points more than Jordan put up.
Marbury also claimed James didn’t see him after Team USA men’s basketball won the gold medal on Saturday when asked by Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson why James didn’t speak to him then.
Yo @StarburyMarbury how come LeBron didn’t speak to you after the Gold Medal game? pic.twitter.com/kkxVqHaXcV
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) August 12, 2024
He didn’t see me 😂 https://t.co/qSmncWzvGo
— I AM PEACE STAR (@StarburyMarbury) August 13, 2024
Yes he did! https://t.co/3p2V7uj7R1 pic.twitter.com/1nnNdLsLgP
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) August 13, 2024
I turned invisible
— I AM PEACE STAR (@StarburyMarbury) August 13, 2024
🤣
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) August 13, 2024
The guard even turned things up a notch by claiming James isn’t “strong enough to say something.”
He’s not strong enough to say something. So funny, his friend Draymond gave me dap by accident 😂. It was classic. When he realized, he was like, "Damn, I messed up the code." https://t.co/jxN6rGU1s5
— I AM PEACE STAR (@StarburyMarbury) August 13, 2024
Marbury made two NBA All-Star teams during a career that lasted 13 seasons (he later spent several more years playing pro ball overseas). Since his career overlapped a bit with Jordan’s, perhaps it is somewhat understandable why he would think Jordan was a much better player than James.