“In MJ’s era, and I played against MJ and LeBron, you weren’t getting no rings in that six-year window” – Jalen Rose talks about the dominance of Michael Jordan and the Bulls, compares to LeBron James

Former Indiana Pacers small forward Jalen Rose shared his opinion on Michael Jordan’s NBA dominance in comparison to that of LA Lakers superstar LeBron James.

The 2000 NBA Most Improved Player, an ESPN analyst, was featured on the “Posted Up” podcast hosted by Chris Haynes. In the latest episode of the podcast, Rose was brought in to discuss the challenges of being an analyst and the possible damage of LeBron James’ legacy for having left the Miami Heat.

Jalen Rose shared his thoughts on James’ move away from the Heat while comparing his league dominance to that of the arguable all-time best player, Michael Jordan. He suggested that the Lakers small forward missed his opportunity to surpass the mighty MJ when he exited from the Heat.

However, Rose commended James for going to the Cleveland Cavaliers to secure a championship for his hometown and re-invent himself.

“Here was LeBron’s chance to pass MJ for like true non-bias basketball historians. If he would have stayed in Miami and they would have actually did “not 5, not 6, not 7.” That was his chance to do it. If that would have went down like that. If they would have won like four [rings] insix6 years or something like that. They won two in four years … they didn’t really do what they set out to do, and so he needed to go to Cleveland to raise one for his city, his hometown, his home state but also reinvent himself. You know the hardest thing to do, when people go, like, is to build a new situation. No. The hardest thing to do is to stay.”

An overview of Jalen Rose’s NBA career

Jalen Rose made his way into the NBA in 1994, drafted by the Denver Nuggets as the 13th overall pick. His rookie season saw him register 8.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, which was enough to get him on the 1994-95 All-Rookie Second Team.

The best performance of his debut season came in the Nuggets’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Rose registered 21 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals, posting a 63.6% accuracy from the field (7 of 11) and 87.5% from the charity stripe.

Jalen Rose spent two seasons with the Nuggets before joining the Indiana Pacers in the 1996-97 NBA season.

Jalen Rose spent most of his career with the Pacers (six seasons), winning the Most Improved Player award in 2000, having averaged 18.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. After his six-season run with the Pacers, he moved around a bit before retiring in 2007 after having represented the Phoenix Suns in 29 games.

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Jalen Rose spent 13 seasons in the NBA and had a career average of 14.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in 923 appearances.