Stackhouse once said that Jordan was ahead of the pack in the discussion of the best players of all time.

Jerry Stackhouse is just one of four players to have the privilege of having been teammates with both Michael Jordan and LeBron James. So, he had the opportunity to see the legends up close and personal, even if he played with a retiring MJ on the 2002-03 Washington Wizards and spent just one month with the 2010-11 Miami Heat.

When asked his thoughts about the GOAT debate, which Jordan and James have dominated, Stackhouse has mostly avoided choosing between the two. However, in 2013, he explained that “His Airness” was ahead of the pack and that Bron needed to catch up on the championship race to be on MJ’s level.

“LeBron James, he’s won a championship, and he’s gonna be right there, you’d think, as far as the numbers go,” Stack said. “So you can say maybe he’s one of the greatest, if not the greatest of all-time players, but the only way that he can really back that up is to be able to be at the same level Michael Jordan’s at in terms of winning championships.”

A closing championship window for Bron

When Stackhouse made his statement, James was on his way to securing his second title as a member of the Heat. Ring No. 2 almost didn’t happen, though, as Miami was on the verge of losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 Finals until LeBron went hot late in Game 6 and Ray Allen hit his most famous shot to force a seventh contest.

Fast forward to today, the Ohio native is still two championships short of Jordan’s tally, and chances are, he can’t catch up. While James is still playing at an extremely high level, he is, after all, turning 40 in December. Furthermore, the Los Angeles Lakers do not look like real contenders.

Barring a miraculous offseason or LBJ joining a different team, it is looking more likely that he will end up with one or two fewer titles than the ghost he is chasing.

Appreciating Bron’s greatness

Despite failing to catch up to the Chicago Bulls legend in the championship count, James deserves recognition for how his career turned out. Like Stackhouse, he was among those who were thought to be the “next Jordan.” But only James and Kobe Bryant were able to live up to the hype or remain healthy enough to do so.

Moreover, the former Cleveland Cavaliers superstar did reach 10 Finals, including eight consecutive appearances from 2011 to 2018. That’s certainly an insane feat, and no one else has done it except for Bill Russell and some of his Boston Celtics teammates.

Of course, losing six of those trips to the championship round has had people discrediting James. In many people’s eyes, he may not be able to be in the same air as Jordan, but as Stack said, Bron is still one of the greatest ever to grace the basketball court.