The names of Michael Jordan and LeBron James come up in the GOAT debates of every basketball fan. Even though the two are from very different eras, they are still compared. Given the achievements of both stars, it is not easy to take one over the other. While Jordan has won six titles and never lost on the ultimate stage, James has four rings and some mind-boggling records to his name. However, someone who has closely watched both stars once revealed his pick.

James has cemented himself in recent years as one of the best players ever. He recently became the NBA’s All-Time leading scorer by breaking fellow Los Angeles Lakers legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record.

The former coach picked Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is revered by everyone for his killer instinct and clutch performances. Even if his team is down in the final minutes of the game, his teammates and fans know that MJ will come through. Notably, Jordan has never required a game-7 in the NBA Finals, winning all six championships within six games. So he is synonymous with the saying, “Cometh the hour, cometh the man.”

On the other hand, LeBron James is criticized for not being clutch enough. Even though he has made many game-winning shots, he is still not considered an “assassin” by many. Two-time NBA champion Brendan Malone also once had a similar belief.

Malone served as an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons from 1988 to 1995. So he witnessed his team eliminating Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and how MJ came back strong. Furthermore, he also coached MJ in a camp before he committed to the Tar Heels.

In the 2014 book There Is No Next?by Sam Smith, the author revealed some comments from Malone about MJ.

He reportedly said, “You could tell he was special. His jump shot wasn’t great at the time, but the way he went to the basket, the way he competed, was excellent.”

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Even though he talked about the star’s weakness he saw something special. Furthermore, he tried to recruit MJ to Syracuse. However, Jordan had already made his mind up about joining UNC.

Brendan Malone once coached LeBron James

In 2014, Brendan Malone was working as an assistant coach for the Pistons and LeBron James was playing for the Miami Heat. Interestingly, Brendan was an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2004 to 05 and also served as a head coach for a period of time, during which he coached the King.

Brendan also gave his opinion about LeBron being compared to MJ. He stated, “He was an assassin. I get a big kick out of people saying LeBron James is better than Michael or as good as Michael. There’s no comparison. LeBron is probably the best player in the league right now because Kobe is on the downward slope.” Of course, this refers to the 2013-14 season when Kobe was 36 years old.

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He added that Kobe was the only player he would ever compare with Jordan because Bryant was an “assassin” too.

Furthermore, Brendan is the father of Michael Malone, head coach of the Denver Nuggets. Notably, James shared a cryptic message after Michael’s alleged “retiring” jibe after winning the title.