Scottie Pippen actually said the words this morning that LeBron James could end up being better than Michael Jordan, commonly acknowledged as the best basketball player ever placed on the planet.
"Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to play the game," Pippen said Friday on "Mike & Mike In The Morning" on ESPN Radio. "But I may go as far as to say LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so potent offensively that not only can he score at will but he keeps everybody involved.
Pippen's former teammate Horace Grant is in disbelief. Pippen himself has not necessarily been backtracking since uttering the words, but he has been qualifying his statement via Twitter.
"Don't get me wrong, MJ was and is the greatest. But LeBron could by all means get to his level someday. "
Thing is, as we sit here today to call LJ better than MJ is ridiculous. The six titles Jordan led his team to and the accomplishments over a career during which he retired -- twice -- are unmatched.
To say that the 6-foot-8, 250-pound James could someday get into the conversation with Jordan as one of the best of all time is not ridiculous at all. Ultimately, James is a player who can do everything there is do offensively on the floor, and might be the league's best defender right now -- he can successfully guard everyone but the league's dominant centers.
This is not a conversation to have today, really. It's one to have 10 years from now. When, in reality, it might be a real debate.