Michael Wilbon says Jordan attempted to ‘soften’ media criticism of LeBron James

Michael Jordan is so unconcerned by the NBA GOAT debate that he’s encouraged media members to lessen their criticism of LeBron James.

In a recently released series of interviews with ESPN, James weighed in on the GOAT debate by giving Jordan his due while noting their games are very different. But James did criticize the way the GOAT debate is often had in media, claiming it usually leads to people “sh*tting” on him.

And maybe that’s true when Skip Bayless was on ESPN or FS1 shaming LeBron as compared to Jordan. But James has his share of supporters, with Michael Wilbon claiming Jordan is one of them. Wilbon joined First Take Wednesday morning, where he recalled Jordan telling him to take it easy on LeBron.

“I remember having a conversation with Michael who said, ‘Hey, take it easy. When you talk about this tomorrow, take it easy on this kid. And here’s why.’ And Michael had a list of reasons of things that he really liked about LeBron James,” Wilbon said. “He didn’t have to do that! But he understood what was going to go on publicly because he had been on the other end of that early in his career.”

Wilbon said this conversation occurred after James infamously took his Cleveland Cavaliers jersey off while leaving the court on the heels of getting knocked out of the 2010 NBA playoffs by the Boston Celtics.

“Michael understood despair in the playoffs,” Wilbon said, noting Jordan faced similar criticism about his inability to win before getting his first ring. “So, he wanted to soften that blow for LeBron James, who was coming up later. If people think Jordan has somehow resented LeBron, they’re wrong.”

Jordan could have relished what was seemingly a low point in LeBron’s NBA career as a way of separating himself in the greatest of all time debate. But instead, he quietly came to LeBron’s defense, encouraging the media to not pile on.

Maybe Jordan is more secure about the GOAT debate than LeBron appears to be. Because while LeBron is alleging these comparisons always turn into fans or media “sh*tting” on him, Jordan has sort of tried to give James a boost in the debate. It would be nice if NBC could get their special contributor on TV to talk about it.