LeBron Has Been Comparing Himself To Jordan All Along

We call out the contradiction in LeBron saying he has never compared himself to Michael Jordan while also making GOAT level claims that only exist through comparison. We also push back on the idea that a Bronny title should count as another ring for LeBron and lay out what it would realistically take to change the GOAT conversation. 
• LeBron’s “never compared myself to MJ” quote versus past GOAT comments 
• Why Finals record still matters in the Michael Jordan vs LeBron James debate 
• Championship rate versus longevity as a standard for greatness 
• The Bronny James ring argument and why it moves the goalposts 
• Super teams, accountability, and what “being the alpha” really means 
• Accolades on both sides of the court and why defense counts 
• Where LeBron fits when comparing Jordan, Kobe, Tim Duncan, Magic, Shaq 
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Transcript

Welcome And The Big Question

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What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show, it's favorite show, get a bucket. I'm your host, Train as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. And if you wonder where you heard this from, well, it's because you've listened to me Monday through Friday at 11 o'clock AM Eastern Standard Time. So definitely keep tuning in. Share it to anybody. And let's try to get these ratings up a little bit, right? But what are we going to talk about today? Because it's different topics. Same talk about getting a bucket, but you know what, different topics, right? So today, we're going to talk about why I believe the MJ vs Braun conversation is over. Now, recently I read that LeBron James said that he well, I'm going to give you the direct quote. I've never compared myself to MJ because our games are totally different. The back half of that quote is true. Their games are different, in fact. Okay. And he's saying this in 2026. He also said he hopes he's made MJ proud. Cool. My problem with this statement is this. In 2018, I distinctly remember him saying that him winning the 2016 finals made him the GOAT. Let's just stop right there. Calling yourself the GOAT, the greatest of all time, is that not comparing yourself to Jordan? No, you're not comparing y'all games, but you're comparing who's better. So when we say I've never compared myself, buddy, let's stop the cap, let's stop lying, because you have. And to be clear, basketball players have egos. I'm expecting people to feel like that they are better than somebody else. But does the evidence really support that? I don't know. I don't know about that. Another quote he says I am pissed off that I didn't have a better winning percentage individually in the finals. Again, let's just stop right there. So you're again kind of comparing yourself, not directly, but you're saying you're mad at your winning percentage. Jordan's is unblemished. I feel like that's a little bit of a comparison. Not the same as when you said winning the 2016 finals made you the GOAT, but it's still a comparison nonetheless. But then you say, but for people to try and turn it into a negative, it doesn't bother me like it did when I was younger. I personally don't like this answer. Because I think as a great, right, you should want your record to be indicative of your greatness. And if it's not, then that's a little problematic. Case in point, Jerry West, right? He gets slandered for his one and eight record in the NBA Finals. But he's won a MVP, a finals MVP, the only finals MVP on a losing team. And he took that as a slap in the face. I feel like if Braun got it, he'd beat Cheshire Cat Smiler. But again, it doesn't bother you like it did when you were younger. I thought that should have fueled you to try to win more. Now, to be fair, you did try to form all these super teams and help win and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But again, I don't like some of the answers that I'm hearing, but when you say you never compared yourself to MJ, that's a lie. Now, I've also heard, because this actually came up, I think, on first take, right? Where Cameron he says that, you know, if LeBron James gets another championship, right? Bronny's on the team. That's six championships in the James household. So like, so like we we're we're we're adding rings because Bronny might win a champ. Let's just say LeBron James and Bronny and my my Lakers. Let's say we win a ring, right? The bubble year is a little bit, I put an asterisk around it, but like I give him this, he he they we were the last team standing. I don't count it, but we were the last team standing. But are we really saying that Bronny winning gets you another ring? Keep in mind, ladies and gentlemen, let's just think about it like this, right? MJ's 6-0 in the finals. Braun was let's factor in this win, right? Braun is 5-11 in the finals at this point in time. But, okay, you know what, I hear y'all. Y'all don't like those, y'all, y'all don't like that notion. That's fine. How about six and 15 seasons? Six championships in 15 seasons. That's a 40% chip rate right there for MJ. Braun would have five out of 24 seasons, and that's a 21% chip rate right there. Ladies and gentlemen, that's not the same. That's not the same. I hear you on the longevity piece. I genuinely do. It's still not the same. We got an unblemished finals record. Braun will never be, Braun can never say he can have the happen. Like, it's just baffling to hear that you're upset that people are holding you accountable for the finals record. Especially when you've been forming super teams left and right besides the cav days. I don't even count your calves sweep, the first one. I really don't. I really don't. Not negatively against you, because I give you a kudos, tip of the cap, because hey, you were a young pup. You got out in the mud and you brought you helped bring your team in 07 to the finals. You had a good team around you. Not that star-studded team that everyone might want, but you had a good team roster around you. So tip of the cap to you, buddy. But again, I can't say that you are better than Michael Jeffrey Jordan. How about on the accolades tip, right? MJ wins on the offense and defensive awards, okay? MJ also wins from a career scoring perspective. We're talking about regular season and playoffs. Now keep in mind he's three, he's about three inches shorter than Braun. But at the same time, he has almost averaged the same amount of rebounds. Granted, it's six to nine, so that's a little bit different. It's favoring Braun, of course. Again, three inches in height, right? We got the assists, six to seven. That's what we're talking about. Like, come on now, bro. That's kind of crazy. And then the blocks, we got 0.9 to 1. If we're doing math, they would round up to be the same. But you know what? We're gonna keep it at the actual stat. So it's 0.9 to 1 favoring LeBron James. MJ, though, has more steals, to be clear. But we're saying that because Bronny is on the team, that he wins a ring, and that ties MJ. Why? Like, once again, we need to team up and try to beat Michael Jeffrey Jordan. That's absurd. Like, and we also have been not we, because I'm not the one who've been saying that, I've been saying Bronny could have gone top 10 in his draft. But people, a plethora of people, even to this day, try to act like Bronny doesn't deserve to be in the NBA. And that is absurd. But we're saying because Bronny wins the championship with Braun, I'm sorry, Braun wins the championship with Bronny, that now he's at least tied with MJ. That is ridiculous. I heard Cameron say it. I had a person who I got a friend who's who's trying to argue that notion as well, too. It is stupid to think that. And I don't even think it is ridiculous. Now, did we ever say anything, since we're talking about these family ties, did we ever say anything about Steph Curry getting like even so much as a kudos for helping two cousins, Nick Young and Kavon Looney, win a championship on the same team? Never, not never did that ever happen. Won't even close to saying nothing like that, man. Now, I'll give you this. They're not Steph Curry's sons. They're not related to Steph Curry. So does it really count, right? Also, I'm trying to figure out Dag, how many cousins have actually won on the same team? Like that is still something spectacular to note, too, now, if we're gonna bring up Brawny's relationship to Braun, right? Okay, fine. How about Giannis? Because when we're talking about where Giannis ranks, I don't think we ever bring up the fact that he got Thanias a championship. We've never mentioned that before, but now because it's LeBron James and the stands want to come out and try to make a point, we're gonna come up with something stupid like this. Ladies and gentlemen, we gotta stop moving the goalposts the way we're doing. We gotta speak facts, we gotta stop being unbiased, we gotta be objective, and we gotta call the spade a spade. Now, how does LeBron James eclipse Michael Jeffrey Jordan? Is there a world where he could possibly for starters? Can we get to a 50% win rate in the finals? First and foremost. Can we? Could we do it? Because you know what, you're on a lot of super teams, champ. Like you, so I'm sorry. We we gotta we gotta hold you accountable, especially when you're the one that's starting to form these super teams. But most importantly, when you're winning these championships, you have to win as the alpha, because guess what? The alpha means the one option, the best player. Because guess what? Jordan was the best player on his team. Hell, we saw Scottie Pippen sit up there on a on TV, point to his shoe, the bottom of his shoe. He was wearing some Jordans. And he was like, hey bro, we need you back. Did the little come here with the finger. You know what I'm saying? Like, we need to see MJ as the GOAT as the alpha. Bronny as the alpha. I mean, dang, Bronn as the alpha, because we saw MJ as the alpha during all his championship reign. So again, ladies and gentlemen, is there a world where LeBron James can eclipse Michael Jordan? Possibly. Like, I still not out of the realm of possibility that he could do it for me. But he's got to win multiple championships to get that finals asterisk or to get that finals percentage at the 50% mark at minimum. And that requires you winning multiple championships, and you still got to do it as the alpha. And as a 41-year-old man as of right now, we're talking about 42, 43, 44, 45. Like you got to be playing for a minute. And to be the number one player on the team at that age is quite hard to do. So it's is it likely? Is it possible? Is it probable? Probable, possibly. But I don't think it's possible. But we got to wait and see. But ladies and gentlemen, bringing up Bronny as him winning a championship, one, I'd be happy if Bronny wins. I like Bronny. I genuinely do. And I wouldn't be mad if Bronny stayed on the squad, even if LeBron James leaves. I can also see him leaving with his dad to go elsewhere because Bron might want to say, hey, I want him and Bryce to be on the team when Bryce gets dedrafted, potentially, right? So let's see what happens with that. But I cannot say that Braun is better than MJ. Hell, I can't even say Braun is better than Kobe or Timmy, and depending on the day, is he better than MJ? Is he better than Magic Johnson and Shaq? Like that's and we're we're getting real right now. So again, ladies and gentlemen, we gotta stop this notion. We gotta stop moving the goalposts. If you think that your fan winning for your family matters that daggone much, I should have heard you talking about Giannis being vaulted up higher in the basketball ranks because he won Tanias a basketball championship. To be clear, Giannis is in my top 20 all time, and at no point in time did I think about Paul Louis Tanias. And this is no disrespect to Tanias at all. Good basketball player, I'm sure he would dog me under ones, right? Hell, even in five on five, he might even score a hundred points on me. Like, actually, maybe not on me, because I'm fouled out before I get a hundred points on me personally. But ladies and gentlemen, I do not, I do not add the nice in Giannis's basketball resume. I don't. I don't at all, whatsoever. Whatsoever. And imagine if Bronny don't play. Imagine if Bronny don't play. That means he's just a bench player. Not even a bench player. He just on the bench. And we're saying that factors, get out of here, bro. That's stupid. But I'm curious what y'all all think, ladies and gentlemen. Do y'all think, one, if Braun wins a championship with Bronny, does that have him tie Michael Jordan? Because when when I heard Cameron say it first, right, I laughed. I thought he was being facetious, right? I thought he was just joking around. But they do say all good jokes contain true shit. Shout out J. Cole. But then I also heard someone else agree with that statement. And this is a similar person who's also told me that Kobe Bryant is better than Jordan. Kobe Bryant's my favorite player of all time, to be clear. But I don't even have him ahead of Jordan. Facts are facts. And you gotta call Spade a spade. But I'm curious what you all think. Is there a world where LeBron James can actually eclipse Jordan as the GOAT? And because if we're talking about archetype, if we're talking about like potential, Braun had more potential. He's the better archetype than MJ. But as the man on the court, Jordan is in fact better than Braun. Career-wise, it speaks for itself, whether you look at it. Because again, when we bring up Kobe, people try to say, oh, well, Braun has more accolades, more MVPs, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, well, isn't the basketball game played on both sides of the court? And both Kobe and Jordan have more offensive and defensive accolades than Braun. Like, ain't that something? And then they say, well, well, Braun got more MVPs. Okay, cool. Well, Jordan got more MVPs than Braun. And he got a de-point. Braun ain't got, oh, well, Braun got robbed. Well, I mean, damn. Didn't can't we say that Michael Jordan might have got robbed too then? Like anybody can like it's just ridiculous. Let's just let's just pay attention to the facts. So I'm curious what y'all all think, ladies and gentlemen. Do you think that MJ is below or can be below Braun? Especially if Braun wins multiple championships. Do you think there's a world where Braun can, in fact, do that? Because again, at 41, hell, I just witnessed him get swept yet again. Now keep in mind, again, his brother is 41. I'm not saying that he's the reason why we lost. I'm a Lakers fan. He's not the reason why we lost. But we still got swept, and I still believe that stars get you one. And again, a sweep means zero, zero, goose egg, nada, zippo. And we that's what we had when we had Braun on the team. Yes, we were without Luca, again, for context. But again, stars get you one. So that means we should have gone at least game six. And the fact that I felt confident to say that we're probably gonna get swept at most gentlemen swept, it's kind of absurd, kind of reckless. But it happened, though. So again, do you think that Braun will eventually usurp Michael Jordan? And and if Bronny were to win a championship because of LeBron, would that make him ahead of MJ? I want to know your thoughts. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that does conclude the end of the episode. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey, I'm the host of Get a Bucket. I hope you're all having a good one. Take care.