JR Smith weighs in on LeBron James vs Michael Jordan debate, says they cannot be compared

NBA free agent JR Smith recently gave his opinion on the never-ending LeBron James vs Michael Jordan debate. Smith recently talked about his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate and Michael Jordan during a recent interview, stating why he thinks James is different from the NBA legend and late LA Lakers great Kobe Bryant. Smith played with James and the Cleveland Cavaliers but was waived last season. 

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JR Smith on LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan

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JR Smith was on The Pat McAfee Show this Monday (Tuesday IST), where he detailed how LeBron James stands out from Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. He stated that James is someone who holds you accountable and leads 'by example with his work ethic'. Smith added that James' biggest attribute 'is being able to pull people along with his work ethic'. Smith said that while it is 'easier for the better players to do it', he thinks Jordan and Bryant did not do it. As per JR Smith, most players who possess the 'killer mentality' do not do so.

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Smith elaborated on his opinion, talking about James' gameplay compared to Bryant and Jordan. He stated that the Lakers star is 'not a scorer', as a scorer is 'is a person who has a one-track mind to do an individual thing', and is similar to a sniper. He explained that Jordan and Bryant did play defence, but were scorers who posted '50, 60, 70 points a night'.

He then spoke about James, who is 'well-rounded, rebounding, scoring, passing, dribbling, a good teammate'. According to Smith, it creates a 'totally different atmosphere', and he is completely different from 'those guys'. Smith said that no one can compare them, as a lion and a tiger cannot be compared. Smith even said that they both are cats, but not the same. 

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Smith started playing in the NBA in 2004 and was with the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks before ending up with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015. He was waived by the team after the NBA 2018-19 season. Smith was recently in the news for beating up a man who allegedly vandalised his car. He apologised for his actions on The Pat McAfee show, saying it was a 'random act of stupidness'.