The LeBron James and Michael Jordan comparison will be a never-ending debate. But ‘Revolt’ host N.O.R.E. has brought an interesting angle of the debate to the table. Would LeBron have survived in the Kobe-Jordan era? And the guest on the show, Stephen A. Smith, had some really strong opinions on this scenario of the Bron vs MJ debate.

“Survive, yes. Prosper, I’m not so sure,” Smith stated on the ‘Revolt’ podcast. His answer was based on Michael Jordan possibly exploiting LeBron’s weakness of not letting him develop that killer instinct. Smith stated LeBron could have been deprived of the opportunity to learn and develop his killer instinct. Something which he got during his phase against teams like the young Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers in the early 2010s.

“What I’m saying to you is that while you were learning how to win, would Jordan have ever let you learn? See, here’s what you have to understand. Michael Jordan is six and zero in NBA Finals series, MVP of every single NBA Final series that he won,” Smith said.

He further spotlighted the fact that even if it is considered that LeBron would have posed a threat to MJ, one will also have to think about how MJ would have responded to a perceived threat. Stephen reemphasized Mike’s 6-0 NBA Finals record vs LeBron losing 6 of the 10 NBA Finals he appeared in.

Stepehen A. Smith points out further differences in the Michael Jordan and LeBron era

The ESPN analyst also spotlighted on the podcast the fact that Michael Jordan had to over come teams like Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics when he was young. And a physically dominant team like Detroit Pistons during the later stage of his career. The Lakers star has himself faced some decent opponents in his time. But they were no Larry Bird or ex-Lakers legend Magic Johnson, as per Stephen A. Smith’s claims.

Notably, since Jordan’s debut NBA in 1984, it was just the three teams—Celtics, Lakers and Pistons—who won Championship. This was until Mike claimed his first NBA championship in 1991 with Chicago Bulls. And since then there was no looking back for the Bulls legend. He led the Bulls to register two three-peat victories in the NBA. Mike won all 6 championships in which he reached the NBA finals and never had to play game 7 to be declared the championship winner.

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And based on these circumstances in which MJ stayed at the top of the game, Stephen states in the podcast that Michael Jordan will always be his GOAT. He highlighted that he has immense respect for LeBron James and his achievements. But for Smith, LeBron will never be what MJ was.