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Shane Battier Picks LeBron James As His G.O.A.T Ahead Of Michael Jordan

Former Miami Heat player Shane Battier calls LeBron James the best player in NBA history instead of Michael Jordan.

Shandel Richardson

Shane Battier Picks LeBron James As His G.O.A.T Ahead Of Michael Jordan
Shane Battier Picks LeBron James As His G.O.A.T Ahead Of Michael Jordan /
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There are several factors folks use to decide between if Michael Jordan or LeBron James was a better NBA player. 

Well, retired player Shane Battier thinks he has the determining factor. 

On a recent appearance on the Draymond Green podcast, Battier gave his reasoning for choosing James as the G.O.A.T. 

"As good as you think he was, he was that much better," Battier said of James. "I'm biased. I know. People will say LeBron or MJ? I said, you know, LeBron did something twice that I don't think Michael Jordan could ever do once. He won two NBA titles with Shane Battier as the starting power power forward."

Jordan often wins the discussion because he went 6-0 in his Finals appearances. But Battier, who teamed with James from 2011-14 for the Miami Heat, thinks otherwise. 

Battier moved from small forward to power forward during those years in Miami. James won two regular season MVPs while leading the Heat to championships in 2012 and 2013.  

James led the Heat to four Finals appearances while playing for the Heat. After leaving, he won titles with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers. Last year James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time leading scorer, closing the gap between him and Jordan. 

"I love Mike, one of the greatest of all-time but LeBron did it twice with me as his bum ass power forward and dragged me across the finish line," Battier said. "That speaks to how great LeBron is." 

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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day NBA. Shandel Richardson can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com 

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com

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