Stephen A. Smith says Michael Jordan is the reason people can sit in their living rooms and appreciate the greatness of players like LeBron James: “Jordan as an individual had pressure on him to uplift the sport”

The NBA media will argue over who is better between Michael Jordan and LeBron James whenever given the opportunity. The arguments tend to revolve around the same points. However, on ESPN’s "First Take," Stephen A. Smith brought up that Jordan had to uplift the sport to the mainstream.

Smith said that without Jordan, there could have been no NBA in which James could eventually conquer. Without Jordan being the greatest basketball player ever, inspiring millions and putting NBA games in front of millions to watch, James would have never had the impact he had. Smith said:

“How about the standpoint that Magic (Johnson) and (Larry) Bird are fading, and Jordan as an individual had the pressure on him to uplift the sport, to keep people, to make sure that you generated a level of popularity, to elevate the NBA so you could be in their living rooms every day.

"So, you could embrace people like LeBron James and others who deserve to be embraced.”

This takes a different approach to the Jordan-James debate, taking the angle of historical impact. This argument is unfair to James, mainly because Jordan entered the league many years before James. However, it is something worth talking about. It's possible that if Jordan wasn't the cultural icon he was, maybe the NBA is not what it is now, not allowing James to be who he is today.

The historical value of Michael Jordan versus LeBron James

NBA legand Michael Jordan, now the Charlotte Hornets owner

Both Michael Jordan and LeBron James are in the top tier of NBA history as players. Many might have them as the two greatest ever, interchanging them. However, Jordan became a cultural icon and brought the NBA to the mainstream, which James has been able to use to his benefit.

Before Jordan was Jordan and the NBA exploded, the league was often overlooked. Smith brings up the fact that when Larry Bird and Earvin “Magic” Johnson entered the league, it was the first real awakening for the NBA.

Before the Boston Celtics and LA Lakers rivalry in the 1980s, headlined by Bird and Johnson, the NBA was close to going bankrupt. ESPN has an incredible "30 for 30" documentary titled “Celtics/Lakers: Best of Enemies.” The rivalry made the NBA mainstream before Jordan exploded onto the scene.

In Jordan’s own documentary, “The Last Dance,” they talk about how the Chicago Bulls would sell fewer tickets than indoor field hockey teams that played in the same stadium. After Jordan entered the scene, that was no more. Jordan created a whole new generation of fans who fell in love with the league, allowing Kobe Bryant and others to have their successes.

When James finally entered the league, the groundwork to becoming a cultural icon with shows and movies was already set. It is not clear if Jordan personally felt the pressure to launch the league to new heights, but it is a fact that what he did on the court led to it.

James does have a historical impact on the NBA through the player empowerment movement. His free agency move to the Miami Heat to team up with his friends was not the first super team, but it was the first created by players' friendship.

Both Jordan and James have had incredible careers, but what Jordan was able to do for the NBA off the court might never be matched.