Bulls governor Jerry Reinsdorf says LeBron James is ‘not even close’ to being as good as Michael Jordan, guarantees his poor team will get flamed next time they play Lakers

The debate over whether Michael Jordan or Lakers star LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of all time is one of the most tiresome, lazy and polarized arguments in sports, but it’s been brought to the forefront again by a combination of the lack of basketball or creativity on television right now as the NBA is stopped, and the Jordan documentary on ESPN, “The Last Dance.”

But in case you were somehow on the fence in the debate, and were asking “I wonder what the man whose biggest contribution to the game of basketball was signing Michael Jordan’s checks thinks?”, Chicago Bulls governor and perpetual rebuild enthusiast Jerry Reinsdorf told K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago (emphasis mine):

“This is history. It makes for fascinating stuff,” Reinsdorf said. “And ‘The Last Dance’ obviously should establish in the mind of any person with normal eyesight that Michael was beyond a doubt the greatest of all-time. In my mind, anytime anybody wants to talk to me about comparing Michael to LeBron (James), I’m going to tell them to please don’t waste my time.

“I’m really pleased it showed how great Michael was to people who hadn’t seen him play. I’m truly tired of people trying to compare LeBron to Michael when it’s not even close. They should try to compare LeBron with Oscar Robertson or Magic Johnson. Michael was so head and shoulders over everybody, and that really came out in this documentary. He was a phenomenon. We may never see another like him.”

Well, I guess now we know what the exact opposite of tampering is. Maybe the man who voluntarily broke up one of the most successful NBA teams of all time to save money is just trying to see if since the NBA fines teams for tampering, maybe they give them money for enticing players to NOT sign with their team? This would actually explain why Reinsdorf who didn’t get luck with Jordan James Dolan’s New York Knicks are the most valuable franchise in the NBA.

But aside from noting how convenient it is that between Reinsdorf’s verbal diarrhea of an explanation for why the Bulls’ dynasty ended to wrap up “The Last Dance” last night and the Lakers being able to print this quote up and show it to Chicago native and LeBron friend Anthony Davis during his free agency meeting — and the implications of how those things may help make sure he stays in L.A. — we shouldn’t sit here and give this too much time or energy.

Honestly, the basketball genius who willingly let Michael Jordan walk saying LeBron isn’t that good honestly might be the best argument that he actually IS the GOAT, especially based on Reinsdorf’s and the Bulls’ overall record of decision-making since MJ left.

Anyways, good luck to the players on the Bulls roster next time they play against LeBron, though. Their best defense there may just be hoping that he’s forgotten about this quote by the time basketball is back. Or maybe they’ll still be tanking at that point, so this will help Reinsdorf out anyway. Some real #LightYears, galaxy brain stuff for the somehow Hall-of-Famer.

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