[2015] Stephen A. and Skip argue whether Michael Jordan could still beat LeBron 1-on-1 | First Take

we want to a recent survey don't follow Tim Tebow it says more than 1400 registered voters 77% of them believe that Michael Jordan is the greatest NBA player of all time and 34% sets MJ would beat LeBron James one-on-one right now at the age of 52 you hear that 52 years old they still think he can beat LeBron James right now that's 34 percent 54% say know LeBron win the matchup if it was one-on-one here's the kicker though and we're talking about a specific age group look at this age group they feel that if you're between the ages of 30 and 45 years old 48% believe Jordans would take LeBron Oh going on one so skip but the American people get it right the 34 percent the 34 percent I mean and what we're saying is can he right now at 52 years old right here right now beat LeBron one-on-one I mean and Beyond come on you know Steven oh gosh don't don't don't do this no he just might don't he just might be able to now I'm going to explain why he might be able to in just a moment but allow me to either qualify or disqualify myself because you know Stephen a Smith there is no bigger Jordan fan than this guy right here I did cover him when I was the columnist for the Chicago Tribune and he was at the end of his Bulls run and I must admit I got along with him better than most in the media did Michael could be a little raw for media well tough the distant little a little finicky sure but I did get along with him so maybe I'm not objective there but I also feel like I have insight into what made him the greatest competitor in the history of sports so if right here right now hmm Michael would stop smoking his cigar okay changes diet up if you gave him I'm gonna I'm gonna say two months okay two months okay into the offseason okay no cigars diet change to get himself back into some semblance of basketball shade not that he ever falls completely out of shape but I'm talking about getting in to one on one going up against LeBron kind of shake okay two months is all I would need I would train him actually uh-huh and I believe that on intangibles alone we're talking about the mentally toughest superstar in the history of sport going up against head to head with a man in LeBron James whose mental toughness has sometimes been a little in question in the biggest moments this would be the biggest moment of LeBrons life he would be up against his idol and trust me he'd start to shake a little bit his palms would start getting a little wet as the game got a little closer and tighter in the end and we both know that in LeBrons advancing NBA years he's not the explosive athlete he once was he now has to labor to be spectacular when in the past he did it effortlessly so I'm not sure if we want to talk about LeBron eight years ago versus 52 year old Jordan that might be tough but this guy who's a little more ground bound he's not quite as quick as he used to be obviously very strong but so is Michael Jordan I say that on this alone and this alone Michael Jordan could figure a way to beat a LeBron James who just might crumble under the pressure to beat his idol the greatest basketball player in the history of life okay so I just want to make sure we got this right two months and just give him two months no cigars no change and trained by you specifically and just with hardened head he'd be able to do it those are intangible yeah so that makes those 34 percent that's a high number thing that makes them correct okay let me tell y'all something Michael Jordan is my man our brother I loved here you're the greatest player here we go he's did great to me he's the greatest player who ever lived I don't care about bill Russell's 11 championships Michael Jordan is the greatest I've ever seen in my life having said that not only are you wrong but I feel like I owe the viewing public an apology or behalf of First Take for us even broaching this subject it's disgraceful for the time is undefeated it's not about training it's not about all of this stuff it's ridiculous we're talking you you know this is why you can you can praise LeBron for the next five years this is why you you you you you if I'm him I could never talk to you how could he's the best player in the world we're not talking about Matthew Dellavedova oh you know somebody some no name on it on it MBAs what we are talking about an individual universally recognized as the greatest basketball player on the planet Earth right now and you're telling me that a fifty-two regardless of his greatness that regardless of his greatness of 52 year old Michael Jordan whose boots whose remarried beautiful gorgeous wait a minute just gotta listen listen skip let me ask you a question can you erase the cigars and you know the age and attrition center and all of that stuff in two months you can erase that is you can you can erase that yeah so another word skip so in other words I can go ahead skip and eat all the crunch buries that I want for the next year but give me a month or two months and you know what we can eradicate what I did to my body for the previous year it doesn't work that way depends how much you ain't this is ridiculous man it's ridiculous I'm just saying you can laugh about it all you want to go and giggle all you want Carrie the world you're saying that a 52 year old man who hasn't played in the NBA in a decade give you just this disrespectful disrespectful it really is right number one LeBron James for these six games he played against the Bulls shot three for 28 from the three-point line that is a total of 11 percent LeBron James is a pretty awful outside shooter and if you're going to play one-on-one occasionally against a very strong man and a very savvy basketball player Michael Jordan you're gonna feel like you got to go up and go ahead and pull up and shoot those three shoot those longer shots I don't know if we would count three-pointers as three pointers but if we did LeBron would be tempted to fall back on the Jay way too often I'm sorry under pressure we have seen and this would be the most pressure LeBron James would ever feel especially if we televise this this would be bigger than Pacquiao and Mayweather we would be there talking about 52 years know for the time stop it I'm not gonna stop it cuz I am talking about a LeBron James who in some of his biggest moments in his past had two of the biggest superstar meltdowns in the history of sports against the Celtics and then against the Dallas Mavericks in the finals you know it and I know it LeBron is very susceptible to psychological warfare nobody can play dirty quote-unquote verbally more than Michael Jordan if LeBron James was whining about the trash talk of Noah crossing the line the other day really of Joakim Noah he crossed the line is he can't do that to me yes you have any idea how Michael Jordan would annihilate LeBron James with trash talk that would go over the line LeBron would be a puddle by the end of this competition he's not listening anymore well it's correct he doesn't want to hear it because he dug in prematurely once again I'm embarrassed that we're discussing this no let's move suggestion you should follow LeBron on Twitter what do you think now that I would anything about that yeah okay he's got a little you know if he wins the chip maybe yeah to win this would be all why stop there skip bayless why don't you sit there and say Bill Russell is ready to outplay the white out with wonder why white stop it Jordan little brother is it clearly doesn't matter to you did I see to the Tricia clearly of the medal to you and Berg is clearly all matter to you you realize Michael Jordan once talked about watch me play at 50 I think he had serious thoughts about playing in the indoor at age 50 so he can outplay Chris Paul he's the NBA silhouette thanks for watching ESPN on YouTube for more sports highlights and analysis be sure to download the ESPN app and for live streaming sports and premium content subscribe to ESPN Plus

Channel: ESPN Throwback

Views: 1,060,272

Keywords: classic first take, old first take episodes, old first take, stephen a smith skip bayless, stephen a smith vs skip bayless, stephen a smith rant, stephen a rant, stephen a smith skip bayless debate, stephen a smith debate, stephen a smith lebron james, lebron james vs michael jordan, lebron vs mj, lebron james, michael jordan, lebron, mj, skip bayless, skip bayless first take, first take, first take classic, nba, basketball, espn, espn live, lebron james vs michael jordan 1 on 1

Id: _Mjykt1qHBk

Length: 9min 53sec (593 seconds)

Published: Thu May 21 2020