Source: Charlotte Observer / Getty
If there’s one thing you don’t miss about sitting in the barbershop, it’s the endless debates about who’s better; Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or LeBron James.
While the late great Kobe Bryant was known for having fantastic relationships with both– Jordan spoke on the brotherly relationship with Bryant at his Staples Center memorial, and James’ relationship with Kobe began to grow once the former took over the Los Angeles Lakers. But the relationship between Jordan and James has seldom been talked about– until now. In a rare instance, James bigged up MJ on UNINTERRUPTED’s WRTS: After Party, by talking about what it was like when he first met the living legend and even compared it to meeting his wife Savannah or Jay-Z for the first time.
“I literally couldn’t believe it was him. I couldn’t believe it. … The dude looked like Jesus Christ to me. He looked like…he was Black Jesus to me,” James explains. “We walk upstairs. … We walk up there, and the first person I see is Charles Oakley. … Oak move, and when he moves, Mike is sitting on the bench press, and I was like oh my f-cking God. I didn’t think he was real, man. You don’t understand. I didn’t think Michael Jordan was real. I only thought he lived in the TV.”
Peep the story around the 17:35 mark in the video below. But you should really take 48 minutes and listen to the whole thing to hear about James almost playing football, his thoughts on The Last Dance, hypothetical Dream Team vs. Redeem Team matchup, and much more.
While we know the two are obviously aren’t that close, it’s been cool to see Bron even tweet as a spectator while watching The Last Dance like the rest of us.
As recent as 2016, James reveals that after winning several championships, his only motivation on the court is Jordan. “My motivation,” James says, “is this ghost I’m chasing. The ghost played in Chicago.”
