"He asked to be... Chose to be 23": Skip Bayless detonates Rich Paul's claim that LeBron James was compared to Michael Jordan
Skip Bayless had a meltdown on air following some recent comments about LeBron James and Michael Jordan. He feels the LA Lakers put the spotlight on himself when it comes to stacking up to the NBA icon.
Earlier this week, Rich Paul was a guest on Gilbert Areneas' podcast. During the interview, he gave his thoughts on why LeBron James should be seen as the greatest player ever over MJ. Part of his reasoning is that LeBron had to always be compared to Jordan while the Chicago Bulls star was not stacked up against anyone.
After hearing this remark, Skip Bayless could not hold himself back on "Undisputed." He feels LeBron James chose to be compared to Jordan from day one when he donned his same jersey number.
"This whole idea that LeBron had to be compared to Michael, he didn't, he asked to be," Bayless said. "He chose to be. He was the first to say 'I want 23 and I'm going to steal his powder toss before games.'
"It's on your head, you wanted to do that. He was the chosen one, he had it tattooed across his back."
What Rich Paul comments in Skip Bayless ranting about?
The remark that Skip Bayless is talking about stems from Rich Paul's thoughts on the GOAT debate. While he does discredit Michael Jordan and what he's done for the game, he feels LeBron has had to endure more.
Paul's center of his argument is that media is much different now compared to when Jordan played. In the modern age, LeBron has to deal with social media and a plethora of people having a platform to talk about the game of basketball. Meanwhile, MJ's main people he had to deal with was beat writers.
As mentioned by Bayless, Paul also stated that LeBron has always had to deal with the comparison to MJ.
"I just think LeBron's antlers are in platnium and Michael's may be in gold," Paul said. "Why? When you think about, he had to be compared to Mike. Who did Mike have to be compared to?"
It might not have been to the same degree, but there were players Jordan was compared to during his rise. One of the main names being Magic Johnson. Once Jordan established him, Magic was cementing himself as arguably the greatest guard to ever step foot in the NBA.