LeBron James vs Michael Jordan: Different versions of infamous GOAT matchup has internet in flames
LeBron James 'busting a**' during a pickup game against Michael Jordan has sparked social media debate among fans.
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LeBron James and Michael Jordan
NBA superstar LeBron James has gained numerous titles over the years for his generational talent and achievements. But as all the great things have their downsides, fans are also far too aware of James’ personality. After following the star for years, fans have learned about James’ unreliable stories.
The Lakers forward has obtained a reputation as a liar for some time. That is why, fans were skeptical about James’ story of playing pick-up with Michael Jordan.
LeBron James recently claimed that he ‘busted a**‘ during a pickup game with Michael Jordan on the Kelce Brothers’ podcast. The clip garnered a lot of attention because of impressed fans, but the story took a turn quickly.
Fans found an excerpt from the 2023 biography titled ‘LeBron’ by Jeff Benedict. In the book, while talking about the same game, James admitted he never actually played with MJ despite being on the same court. “I didn’t get to play with Mike,” LeBron James wrote in his journal.
It took no time for Twitter users to call out James but his fans were ready to defend him. As in the clip of the podcast, James mentioned Ron Artest‘s presence on that day, the Bulls star has also confirmed the story. Fans brought up Artest talking about the incident and making the admission of James’ dominance. “A young LeBron was in there…Nobody could guard him, LeBron James,” Ron Artest said on the Knuckleheads.
LeBron cannot get his story straight. In his book titled “LeBron,” he states he didn’t play w/MJ & only hit a couple of shots.
— 80’s/90’s Plumbers Rep (@MoryMagisSprts) January 16, 2025
Today he says he played w/MJ & was unguardable. 🤣😂🧢🧢 https://t.co/VBvQsl2rZL pic.twitter.com/eepn2HoEJX
Fans were showering James with praise for dominating as a 16-year-old after the podcast. However, the excerpt of the book changed the trajectory of the story. Fans were divided and started taking sides as new evidence came up.
Fans started digging for evidence to confirm LeBron James’ story
The GOAT debate between LeBron James and Michael Jordan always leads to fans going to extreme lengths to support their favorites. Hence, naturally considering Jordan’s influence at the time, fans were not sure of James’ ‘busting a**’ as a sophomore. While doing some digging, fans found the piece of ‘LeBron’, which started a debate.
But after the Ron Artest clip, it seems that James was in fact telling the truth. Not only that, a few years ago, James told the same story on ‘Uninterrupted’ where he gushed about seeing the ‘Black Jesus‘ for the first time. But fans did not stop looking as they found multiple sides of the story.
People saying “LeBron is lying” is hilarious when you consider that Ron Artest was there for this pickup game and has told the story multiple times 😂. I’m convinced that most of ya’ll have real mental problems that need to be treated. https://t.co/tJfv2ZdWqG pic.twitter.com/Qwy2XRP9Hr
— HiNote. 🛸 (@HiNoteee) January 15, 2025
Artest and everyone else that was there says the same thing… you know MJ burned those tapes😂😂 pic.twitter.com/XABwJjQHVB
— LeGOAT James (@LBJgoat_talk) January 16, 2025
the lebron is lying claims are based on HIS OWN WORD.
— J (@jordankobewade7) January 16, 2025
since when is anything anyone else says more accurate than the ORIGINAL SOURCE???
make it make sense. https://t.co/V7UQHmzS8m
Michael Jordan after the game winner: "That's why they pay me $33 million to do this."
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 15, 2025
pic.twitter.com/5IdJAIKBGY
Didn’t happen right from lebrons own mouth 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/64onMcELWN
— MythNixFixed (@mythNixfixed) January 17, 2025
The story was. They were teammates. Dumbasses.
— WIZTAKES (@WizardsMafia) January 16, 2025
No video evidence has yet come out of this game, but Ron Artest gave the same account about Lebron at 15/16 years old proving NBA against Jordan and other nba greats https://t.co/1cpTQWp2IA
— sports talk (@rsandns) January 16, 2025
And what a lot of ya’ll fail to realize is that they scrimmaged together multiple times; when LeBron was 15/16, and then another time when he was a little older. None of you guys do your due diligence to find out the facts. pic.twitter.com/k2tOj01z6H
— HiNote. 🛸 (@HiNoteee) January 16, 2025
Multiple fans came to the conclusion that James and Jordan were on the same team. But it seems that the real story might never be confirmed as the actual footage has not been released. MJ might himself has yet to reveal his side of the incident.
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Satvika Deshpande
(389 Articles Published)