Following LeBron James himself sharing more details about the pickup game that happened between him and Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan, former NBA star and Miami Heat legend Tim Hardaway Sr. supported LeBron’s claim, particularly that he was “unguardable” back then.
In his guest appearance in “The Draymond Green Show,” Tim Hardaway Sr. corroborated what Lebron James claimed happened during his training camp game with Michael Jordan.
“I was there,” Hardaway said about the supposed game. It was a game that took place in one of Jordan’s training camps back then, and LeBron was only 16 years old.
Heat Legend @hardawaysr confirms that @kingjames was as “unguardable” as he claimed during the infamous pickup game with Michael Jordan#MichaelJordan #LeBronJames #TimHardawayJr #DraymondGreen #BaronDavis pic.twitter.com/0NMdj9hzAj
— The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis (@DraymondShow) January 29, 2025
When asked about LeBron’s “unguardable” claim, the NBA legend gave proof to the story.
“Yes,” he said about the claim. “We wanted to see what he had and what he could do. He didn’t do it all the time,” Hardaway added. “‘Cause he had broken his wrist, it was like a week after he took the cast off. He came in, he was playing. He came down the fastbreak and we thought he was goin’ to pass, the motherf****r took off from the free throw line. He missed, but the motherf****r just went *doof* just like that… it was like in slow motion the motherf****r just took off.”
Jan 13, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) passes the ball during the first quarter against the San Antonio Spurs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
Hardaway Sr. went on to attest that that encounter showed them that LeBron is off to become one of the greatest in the history of the league.
“He was making shots, playing defense, passing the ball. You could feel his presence. You knew that he was going to be that motherf****r in the NBA.”
Jan 7, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) dribbles during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
LeBron James: “I Was Unguardable”
In a guest appearance on the ‘New Heights’ podcast, LeBron James opened up and shared more details about the infamous game he had against Michael Jordan back when he was still a high school student in training camp.
Jan 21, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) passes in front of Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole (13) at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
“MJ [Michael Jordan], Antoine Walker, and the rest of those guys did not let young guys get on the court at all,” James told podcast hosts Travis and Jason Kelce. “I was 16 years old, a Sophomore in High School, and it takes a while to get on the court. It’s usually when the older guys get tired and they don’t want to play anymore.”
“I was unguardable, LeBron James added. “When I finally got out there, I was like, ‘I’m busting ass.’ I was nervous. I was nervous as hell, being out there with MJ and the rest of those guys. But I was like, ‘Oh, I’m about to go crazy.’ And I did, I did.”
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
