Mario Chalmers names what LeBron James lacks compared to Michael Jordan / News - Basketnews.com

Mario Chalmers, who played with LeBron James at the Miami Heat winning two NBA titles, thinks the legendary forward doesn't intimidate his opponents the way Michael Jordan used to.

Credit: AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack Credit AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

From 2011 to 2018, LeBron James appeared in the NBA Finals eight straight times despite relocating from the Miami Heat to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014.

LeBron James

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He also won three NBA championships in the process, which included the most legendary 3-1 comeback in NBA history in 2016 (with Cleveland) vs. the Golden State Warriors.

Nonetheless, all that hasn't been enough to convince Mario Chalmers. LeBron's former Miami Heat teammate on the team that won back-to-back rings in 2012 and 2013 visited the 'In Shambles' podcast, where he pointed out that no one headed into a clash with a LeBron James-led team cowering in anxiety.

Mario Chalmers believes that one of the advantages Michael Jordan has over LeBron James in the never-ending GOAT debate is the fear factor. According to LeBron's former teammate, players around the league didn't consider James a serious threat.

"Nobody fears Bron [James]," Chalmers said. "Nobody’s like, 'Damn, I gotta go play against Bron tonight.' Nobody said that.”

The 2019 BCL winner with Virtus Bologna believes that opponents respected Jordan more because they dreaded going up against him. Meanwhile, nobody was scared to guard LeBron. Also, very few aspired to be like him.

"I've seen people being scared when they actually line up to him. But they're not scared thinking about that matchup. You hear anybody from that era talk about going against Jordan; there's a fear.

So when you have people that fear a player, then that's telling you something different already. Jordan is just that guy. Everything was, 'I wanna be like Mike,'" Chalmers added.

For Chalmers, the way Jordan and James' opponents feared them matters when comparing the two. And he's not the only one. Shaquille O'Neal had a similar take.

"LeBron James is my guy, but nobody was ever scared of LeBron," Shaq said.

"So, if you're not scared of a guy, you just have much more confidence. That's a dangerous guy to play with. They respect him, but they don't fear him because I can tell, I watched him playing against them, they are not scared."

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