For years, practically since LeBron James added the titles he won for the Miami Heat to his own trophy case, in the “basketball lounges” a debate has begun that is destined never to have a definitive answer. Who is the GOAT, the Greatest Of All Time, among Michael Jordan e LeBron James? Opinions are diverse and very disparate, between those who look at trophies won or those who look at the pure technical and athletic characteristics of the two performers. Guest of Basement Cafe, Federico Buffa gave his interesting take.
Buffa, now something of a legend in the world of sports storytelling and particularly connected to the NBA from his years working at Sky alongside Flavio Tranquillo, responded in this way to interviewer Antonio Dikele Distefano’s question:
Michael Jordan or LeBron James? It’s like Maradona or Pele… Does the overall value of your talents matter more or if you invented a way of playing? Michael Jordan invented a game that wasn’t there before. And for that alone he has such value that the two epigones either like Kobe just moves like him, or the other one wears his jersey number. It means you took history, you carved it, and everyone who comes after you looks the way you did. It may happen that an epigone comes maybe in other places, but for me it is a philosophical thing: if I look at him so much, there must be a reason! Because to invent something that doesn’t exist, to show a road that hadn’t been traveled before, to become for the first time in the history of sports a company, which then becomes even more important than the NBA, is something that you can’t overcome because he did it first. Then you can get into the technical aspects, and there any opinion is valid, but that is in my opinion the key why Jordan is so different from everybody.
Milan. A graduate in Labor Management and Communication for Organizations from Catholic University, I founded BasketUniverse in 2011. Yes, I root for Orlando Magic and do my best not to hide it.
