National Basketball Association

Former LeBron James teammate: 'Nobody fears Bron'

Published Mar. 21, 2023 8:51 p.m. ET

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is still out as he recovers from a foot injury sustained on Feb. 26 — but even that hasn't stopped the debate on his legacy or the comparisons to Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan.

During an interview on the "Playmaker HQ" podcast, former Miami Heat guard and LeBron teammate Mario Chalmers made a striking claim saying, "Nobody fears Bron."

"Nobody's like, ‘Damn, I gotta go play against Bron tonight,'" Chalmers said. "Nobody said that. I don’t know why. Because I've seen people actually be scared when they actually line up to him, but they're not scared thinking about that matchup."

Chalmers played four seasons with LeBron from 2010-2014, and they won two NBA championships in 2012 and 2013 with the Heat. LeBron won the Finals MVP in both of those championship series.

Chalmers goes on to say that unlike James, Michael Jordan was feared by opposing players during his career.

"You hear anybody from that era talking about going up against Jordan, there's a fear."

Shannon Sharpe refuted Chalmers' comments Tuesday on "Undisputed."

Sharpe cited the eight-year run when LeBron seemingly held control over the Eastern Conference, saying, "So you're telling me a man that ran the Eastern Conference for eight straight years, nobody was afraid?!"

He also disagreed with Chalmers' point that players feared Jordan.

"Ask Magic Johnson was he afraid of Mike. Ask Larry Bird was he afraid of Mike … Ask the Detroit Pistons, were they ever afraid of Michael Jordan? I guarantee you the answer would be no."

Skip Bayless took a slightly different perspective than Sharpe, and instead interpreted Chalmers' comments as saying that LeBron wasn't feared during their time as teammates on the Heat.

"He's saying in that period when he was there playing alongside, he did not see fear in the eyes of opponents … the way he was told that players feared Michael Jordan."

Still, Bayless added that he believes James has become as feared as ever since leaving the Heat, thanks to his increased strength and size, among other things.

"He got bigger and stronger … LeBron right now is as feared as he's ever been in career. … When he gets going to the rim, who can stop ambidextrous LeBron James?"

Prior to his injury, James was averaging 29.5 points per game. He also broke the NBA all-time scoring record this season, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's previous mark of 38,387 points.

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