Trump says Jordan is best ever, calls LeBron James ‘maybe’ a racist

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player over LeBron James during a White House press conference, while also taking a swipe at the Los Angeles Lakers star.

Asked by Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy to weigh in after Friday’s news that James plans to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, Trump pointed to his personal ties with Jordan and questioned James’s views. Trump said:

Michael Jordan is a guy that's a friend of mine. I play golf with him. He's a really good guy. I think LeBron is - maybe he's a racist, but maybe he doesn't like Trump. I don't know. I only like people that like me, so I would say Michael Jordan all the way.

The remarks came against the backdrop of James’s past opposition to Trump. James backed Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024 in the three presidential elections in which Trump ran. He also criticised Trump in 2017 after the president withdrew the Golden State Warriors’ White House invitation following Stephen Curry’s indication that he would have turned down the visit.

Both players have notable achievements in the long-running debate over basketball’s greatest. Jordan, 63, won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s and was named the league’s most valuable player five times. James, 41, has won four NBA titles and four MVP awards across spells with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. He also holds the NBA records for most career points and most games played.