Podcast: Yes, we did a Michael Jordan-LeBron James debate episode
“The Last Dance” is over, but we’re not done milking content out of ESPN’s documentary about Michael Jordan and his final season with the Chicago Bulls. We waited until the finale, but now it’s time: Let’s debate Jordan against LeBron James.
David Wilson and Anthony Chiang, the Miami Heat beat writer for the Miami Herald, each picks a side and debates who is the greatest NBA player of all time on the newest episode of the Heat Check podcast.
First, however, we bounce around with some unrelated nonsense, including Chiang teaching Wilson how to make Cuban coffee while they are both cooped up in quarantine because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also each offer up some criticism and praise of the Jordan documentary, which captivated us and the rest of the sports world for the last five weeks.
We have spent enough time stalling, though: It was finally time to discuss the topic we have been dancing around for the last month. Chiang, a lifelong Miami resident, takes up the mantle of stumping for James, largely on the basis of the Los Angeles Lakers point forward’s four seasons with the Heat. Wilson, a Washington native, makes the case for Jordan, best known, of course, for his two seasons spent with the Washington Wizards. We debate whose single-season peak was best, who had the best individual NBA Finals performance, how much Jordan’s 6-0 record in Finals matters, and how the league’s stylistic and pace-based shifts might have affected each superstar in the other’s era.
We close things out by discussing Miami’s all-time starting five, as picked out by ESPN, and Wilson pitches another quick Kevin Durant-produced documentary for NBA fans to check out with “The Last Dance” now over and our basketball void once again gaping as the league continues to — hopefully — make progress on figuring out a return plan.
