LeBron James has credited Michael Jordan as the most influential figure in his basketball journey, highlighting the Chicago Bulls legend as his primary source of inspiration.
During a recent episode of Mind The Game podcast, the Los Angeles Lakers forward was asked about his basketball idol. “When you’re talking about inspiration, there was nobody more inspiring to me than Michael Jordan,” James said, as reported by Ashish Mathur of Athlon Sports.
The 40-year-old, who just completed his 22nd NBA season, acknowledged that his playing style would have meshed well with Jordan’s. “MJ was a flat-out scorer. He had a scorer’s mentality,” James added.
James also addressed the anticipated reaction to his answer, stating, “I know I can’t pick him because I know how social media works. You (expletive) are gonna be like, ‘Oh, you wanna play with Michael Jordan too? You played with everybody else, (expletive).’ I didn’t ask the question. I’m only answering it guys.”
Throughout the 2024–25 season, James continued to add to his legacy. He surpassed Jordan for the most 30-point games ever and passed multiple legends including Dirk Nowitzki and Scottie Pippen on various all-time lists.
He also became the oldest player in league history to record a 40-point game, doing so at 40 years and 38 days in a win over Golden State.
James ended the season having surpassed 50,000 career points across the regular season and playoffs, and ranked second in all-time games played behind only Robert Parish.
