“Mike couldn’t do that” – Jeff Teague says LeBron is better than Michael Jordan because he made his teammates better originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Former Atlanta Hawks All-Star guard Jeff Teague threw shade at Michael Jordan while praising LeBron James. Teague and his Club 520 crew were discussing Austin Rivers’ recent statement that LeBron doesn’t have half the bag that Kevin Durant has. In doing so, their discussion went to James’ ability to elevate the level of play of his teammates.
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According to Teague, that ability separates LeBron from Durant and Michael Jordan, who many consider the greatest basketball player of all time.
“I think that’s what makes him so great, is that he can elevate teams,” said Teague about LeBron. “That’s what made Chris Paul special; that’s what made LeBron very special. It’s a rare few people who can just do that. Even Mike couldn’t do that.”
‘Bron went to the NBA Finals with Larry Hughes as his next best player
Teague did not elaborate about LeBron, but it’s no secret that he took a rag-tag Cleveland Cavaliers team to the 2007 NBA Finals. And although they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the championship series, many agree that the ’07 Cavs did not deserve to represent the Eastern Conference in that series, considering the next best players on that Cleveland team were Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
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Meanwhile, Paul has never won a chip, but CP3 has improved his team’s record in his first season with them everywhere he’s gone. On the other hand, Jordan had an immaculate 6-0 record in the NBA Finals, but the Bulls almost always won because of how great he was, not because he elevated his teammates’ games and made them better.
“I’ll win the game by myself, but he really didn’t make people better. He challenged some other people to get better — he challenged Scottie, like, ‘You gotta be stronger, you gotta be this.’ He led by example,” Jeff added.
Kerr said Jordan drove away teammates by being too hard on them
In the eyes of the majority, Jordan was the greatest to do it. But because he was so good, he expected his teammates to be at the same level, and so he pushed them so hard that he was driving away some of them. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr mentioned that he was surprised when MJ praised him for his game-winner in the 1997 NBA Finals because Jordan was the hardest to please.
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“I was thinking the same thing when he said that. I’m in my ninth year, and I just now earned stripes? But that was his way,” Kerr said while bursting out laughing. “He was not an easy teammate. He drove us so hard and held everyone to such high standards that he literally drove people off the team.”
But while some picture Jordan as a tyrant to his teammates, the only reason he did what he did was because he wanted to win and did not want to lose at anything. Some, like Teague, see it negatively, but others say that his crazy obsession with winning was what made him the GOAT. And if Jeff says that MJ doesn’t have LeBron’s ability to elevate his teammates, Jordan backers argue that James does not have the same maniacal drive to win.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 16, 2025, where it first appeared.