Brendan Haywood saw action in 13 seasons in the NBA, and during that time, he was fortunate enough to play alongside two of the greatest players in the history of the league.
In his first two years in the pros, he was a teammate of none other than Michael Jordan on the Washington Wizards. Jordan was in the twilight of his NBA tenure at that point (past his Chicago Bulls days) but still averaged 20-plus points per contest in both of his seasons in D.C.
Then, Haywood was on the same team as LeBron James during Haywood’s final season in the NBA. He suited up in 22 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2014-15 regular season and appeared in one contest in the 2015 NBA Playoffs before he decided to call it quits on his career.
Haywood recently revealed which of James or Jordan he believes to be the G.O.A.T..
“Come on, stop playin’,” Haywood said when asked to weigh in on the Jordan-James debate. “… Come on now. If anybody in the Carolina family doesn’t say that M.J. is No. 1, they are excommunicado. Come on now. Come on now. M.J.’s the greatest ever.”
Haywood played college basketball at the University of North Carolina, Jordan’s alma mater. Haywood was with the Tar Heels for four seasons and averaged 10.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per contest across 141 games played.
Before Haywood was on the same team as James for a brief period, he faced off against James on the league’s brightest stage: the NBA Finals. Haywood was a member of the Dallas Mavericks when the team took on James and the Big 3 Miami Heat in the 2011 championship series.
Granted, the big man didn’t see the floor all that much in the NBA Finals series, as he appeared in just three of the six contests and averaged 8.5 minutes of playing time per game. But his Mavericks bested James’ Heat in six games.
Perhaps the fact that he witnessed James fall short in the NBA Finals up close is one factor regarding his opinion that Jordan is the superior player of the two.
After all, Jordan is frequently lauded for the fact that he never lost a championship series during his time in the pros. He finished his career with a record of 6-0 in his trips to the NBA Finals and also won six Finals MVP awards. James, on the other hand, has lost in the championship series more times than he’s won.