KEY POINTS

  • Michael Jordan's "The Last Dance" docuseries premiered on Sunday
  • Tim Hardaway blasted Bill Laimbeer for disrespecting Jordan 
  • Laimbeer said LeBron James is the GOAT, not Jordan

With all the fanfare surrounding “The Last Dance” docuseries, former nemeses of the old Chicago Bulls dynasty have resurfaced. That included Tim Hardaway, who ripped Detroit Pistons legend Bill Laimbeer following the latter's apparent disrespect of the great Michael Jordan.

Hardaway narrated his own account of the 80's-90's Bulls in an exclusive interview with TMZ Sports and told Laimbeer to stop being jealous of Jordan.

"Stop being jealous," said the five-time All-Star. "He took it to you, Bill. I know you all didn't like it. You probably got dunked on 5, 6, 7, 8 times."

Laimbeer, who now coaches the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA, unsurprisingly played down Jordan’s supremacy in the past as he regarded LeBron James as the best basketball player to ever play instead.

“I’m very vocal on this. I think LeBron is the best player who has ever played the game,” said the former Pistons Bad Boy Tuesday on ESPN’s First Take. “He’s 6-foot-8, 285 pounds, runs like the wind, jumps out of the gym. At the end of the day, I firmly believe he’s the best basketball player in the history of the game.”

“More importantly, when (LeBron) came in the league from Day 1, he knew how to involve his teammates to win,” Laimbeer said. “That’s something Jordan had to learn for a long time,” he added.

“Now if you go by championships, obviously Michael Jordan has more championships. But I think LeBron in any generation would be doing what he’s doing right now all these years.”

But Hardaway was having none of it as he firmly believes Jordan is the greatest to have ever laced them up. The 53-year-old even cited the infamous “Jordan Rules” in Detroit, which he said played a part in poking the beast in the Bulls icon.

"That's y'all fault. Don't be mad, don't be upset and don't be jealous,” he said.

Hardaway played for the Golden State Warriors and the Miami Heat during Jordan’s heyday in Chicago. During those years, five times was he named an All-Star and selected to an All-NBA Team, including a first-team citation in 1997.

9. Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan is so good at so many things that some of his strengths have been overshadowed.One of them is his raw power.Early in his career, he used it to dunk on all kinds of players. For such a skinny guy, the power he dished out was incredible.In mid career, Jordan’s power as a dunker peaked and he physically dominated and dunked on guards who were simply too weak and small.It was only later in his career that he developed and came to rely on his patented turnaround jumper. Reuters
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