The GOAT NBA commentator Mike Breen recently weighed in on the LeBron James-Michael Jordan GOAT question and he believes there can be various answers to who is better.
The legendary ESPN commentator says that he likes to keep the phrase “comparison is the thief of joy” in mind when discussing and thinking about the GOAT debate.
“I love that phrase,” Breen said on Questions For Cancer Research. “And when you start saying, ‘Okay, who’s better?’ … You wind up having to criticize the one that you don’t pick. And we’re criticizing one of the greatest to ever play the game? I never understood that.
“And the other thing is, every era is different. LeBron James is the greatest player of his era. Kobe Bryant, you could say in his era, was there. Michael Jordan, certainly. Go back to Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar]. Go back to Wilt [Chamberlain]. Go back to Bill Russell.
“The game is so different. It was played differently 20 years ago, 40 years ago. It was coached differently. It was officiated differently. To compare eras and say, ‘He’s better than that player,’ or, ‘That player is the best of all time,’ I can’t do it. I can’t definitively.
“If you want to tell me that you think Michael Jordan’s the greatest of all time, I’m gonna say, ‘Can’t disagree with you.’ If you tell me LeBron is, can’t disagree with you. If you say Wilt Chamberlain, I can’t disagree with any of them. They are all legendary, generational-type players that it’s, to me, it’s impossible to pick one over another.
“The way I always phrase it is, if somebody asks me, ‘Do you think LeBron James’ — because I’ve called so many of his games, and it’s been an honor to call his games — ‘Do you think he’s the greatest of all time?’ I say, ‘I can’t say that. What I can say is he takes a backseat to no one.’”
The debate rages on.
READ MORE: LeBron James on How He Wants to be Remembered in 100 Years
