In a video promoting the new "NBA 2K14" video game, basketball great Michael Jordan said he could take reigning most valuable player LeBron James in a game of one-on-one, but didn't know about Kobe Bryant because he "steals all my moves."
Jordan, 50, the majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, said in the video released Tuesday that James was in the list of a number of NBA greats he felt he could beat one-on-one in his prime, including Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Julius Erving, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwyane Wade.
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"I don't think I would lose, other than to Kobe Bryant, because he steals all of my moves," Jordan said in the video.
Jordan, at 6-foot-6, is arguably one of if not the best NBA player of all time, averaging 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game during his
15 seasons in the NBA, wrote ESPN.com. He won six NBA championships and was named league's MVP five times.
Jordan said one of the things that would have given him an advantage is that the NBA was a lot more physical when he played.
"You couldn't walk across the lane without getting checked," Jordan sai. "You go in with the understanding of, 'I'm going to get hit. I'm going to pay the price.' But that's part of the game. I'm not going to be afraid to go inside. Those are the types of things that these kids don't even have a clue of how we had to grow up and how we had to play."
James shrugged off the comment when asked about it Tuesday after a Miami Heat training camp workout in Nassau, Bahamas.
"MJ said that? I've thought about the matchup, but no one will ever see it and it's not going to happen," James, a four-time NBA MVP, said, per ESPN. "It's good for people to talk about."
James enters this season after leading the Miami Heat to three straight NBA finals since joining the team, winning the league crown the past two years. He is also the league's reigning most valuable player.
James is the cover of this year's "NBA 2K14" game for the first time.
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