LeBron James will never be as good as Michael Jordan, says ESPN's Stephen A. Smith

• LeBron James will never be as good as Michael Jordan, according to the outspoken ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith.
• "LeBron James is no Michael Jordan. Period," Smith said.
• Asked whether there was anything the Los Angeles Lakers star could do to overtake Jordan, Smith added: "Erase the six NBA finals losses."

LeBron James will never be as good as Michael Jordan.

That's according to the outspoken ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith, who says nothing James does from this point on will allow him to surpass Jordan as the greatest NBA player of all time in Smith's eyes.

"I've got bad news for LeBron James," Smith said on Tuesday. "Consider yourself disrespected, because you will never be my number one."

After winning his fourth NBA title and claiming the Finals MVP award with the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, James asked people to give him his "damn respect."

Smith added: "As long as I'm living and breathing, I've got breath in my body and I've got a voice, you will hear me say: LeBron James is no Michael Jordan. Period."

Asked whether there was anything James could do to overtake Jordan, Smith said: "Erase the six NBA Finals losses."

Jordan won six NBA titles, all with the Chicago Bulls, during his NBA career from 1984 to 2003 (including a three-season hiatus from 1998 to 2001), also winning six Finals MVP awards and five regular-season MVP awards.

James has now won four NBA titles, four Finals MVP awards, and four regular-season MVP awards.

LeBron has appeared in 10 NBA Finals, compared with the six Jordan featured in, but has a much lower win percentage. Jordan's Bulls won every Finals they reached, while LeBron has won only four of his 10 appearances.

As well as the difference in the number of the accolades, Smith also argued that Jordan's era was much more difficult than James'.

"The eras are so important," he said. "It was so physical. What they were allowed to get away with and do against you defensively, Michael Jordan endured that all."

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