LeBron James, Michael Jordan photo grabs NBA fans’ attention

As sports fans search for content while leagues everywhere are suspended, it’s no wonder this photo caught NBA lovers’ attention.

Greg Joyce

2 min read

March 19, 2020 - 8:07AM

How good would it have been to see LeBron and MJ go at it?

NBA

Don't miss out on the headlines from NBA. Followed categories will be added to My News.

This might feed the appetite of hungry sports fans in a time of no sports — if a video actually exists.

An old picture of Michael Jordan and a young LeBron James standing on the court together in what appears to be a scrimmage went viral this week, leaving fans going crazy wondering if there’s a video to match it.

Basketballer Metta World Peace (formerly Ron Artest) said James used to play in the scrimmages against NBA stars as a high school student.

“He was cooking. Nobody could guard him,” World Peace, who played in the scrimmages, said in an old interview. “They couldn’t guard him. I’m like, ‘He’s embarrassing us’.

“He was coming down, full speed, LeBron James. I laid him on the floor, he’d get up and start cooking more. He’s just tough. He was about 225 pounds (100kg) at that point, but I remember him just being tough.”

A tweet from Throwback Hoops featuring the snap was liked nearly 20,000 times.

The world never got to see the best player of one generation take the court against the best player of the next generation. Jordan retired (for the second time) in 2003, months before James got drafted first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

With the NBA season currently suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus outbreak, the idea of MJ-LeBron game footage hiding somewhere has fans going nuts. A scrimmage between an old Jordan and a young James might never end the debate of which was the greatest player of all time, but it would certainly be appointment viewing.

How good would it have been to see LeBron (left) and MJ (right) go at it?

Thinking about who would dominate is one way for fans to entertain themselves as coronavirus causes a halt to most sports leagues around the world.

Former NBA star Jason Terry is well aware fans are searching for content after he started trending on Twitter this week despite retiring from the league in 2018. But unfortunately for him, the reason he regained traction on the internet isn’t something he’ll be particularly keen to re-live.

Basketball lovers were suddenly flocking once again to see footage of Terry being dunked on by LeBron all the way back in 2013 when he was playing for the Miami Heat.

Terry was with the Boston Celtics back then when LeBron straight up bulldozed him and knocked him to the ground while jumping over his rival for two points.

If it’s any consolation for Terry, he certainly wasn’t the first, or the last, player to have felt LeBron’s wrath like that.