Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen is a big fan of LeBron James, and sees a lot of himself in LBJ’s game.
Pippen, speaking from a Nike youth hoops camp in California this week, claims that he was “LeBron before LeBron”.
Pip says despite constant comparisons to Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, James’ all-around brilliance more closely resembles his own.
Per the NEOMG:
The elated parents on the sideline viewing James playfully schooling the young kids prompted a debate as to whom James’ game compares to. The only two Hall-of-Famers mentioned and disputed were Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. […] The debate went on for about 10 minutes. It’s an ongoing, years-old argument, but one Hall-of-Famer not mentioned above says people need to look beyond Jordan and Magic when breaking down James’ skill-set.
“I was LeBron James before LeBron James,” Bulls great Scottie Pippen said. “It’s not even close.”
“I’m no slouch, but when comparing LeBron’s game, I’m usually left out,” he said. […] “They want to compare him to the greatest, whether it be Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson, but he’s more closer to myself,” Pippen said. “It’s natural for folks to say that, but if you look at how he plays the game and how I played the game, you’ll see more similarities with us.”
