The ongoing and never-ending debate about who is the greatest player between LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan evokes thoughts and opinions from everyone connected to the game of basketball.
The latest to give their opinion is Kawhi Leonard, who is a free agent target for the Los Angeles Lakers. The Toronto Raptors forward and 2014 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player has had his fair share of wars with James at the highest level and has also faced off with Bryant on a number of occasions.
Despite that, Leonard took Jordan over both Bryant and James in an appearance on Serge Ibaka’s “How Hungry Are You” YouTube channel:
Ibaka asked Leonard separately if he would choose Jordan or Bryant and then Jordan or James. After choosing Jordan both times, his teammate finally asked Leonard if he would choose Bryant or James.
Leonard would also note how difficult it is to compare players in this way as they played in different eras with different head coaches and teammates and said that all of them are great players. Even still, it is interesting to note that he has prefers Bryant to James.
Perhaps this is because of Leonard’s battles with James in back-to-back NBA Finals in 2013 and 2014 or the fact that James is still a peer of his. Many players don’t like giving too much credit to players whom they still meet and battle with regularly.
In the end, all of it is personal preference. Some believe Jordan will always be the gold standard while Dwight Howard believes Bryant elevated what Jordan did. Others still prefer James’ all-around game and consistency, but fans can’t go wrong with any of the three legends.