Shannon Sharpe debates LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan

Leading up to Super Bowl 54, Shannon Sharpe shared his opinion on the great LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan debate, overvaluing winning in sports and Tru Niagen.

Shannon Sharpe is no stranger to hot topics or spirited debates, and leading up to Super Bowl 54, he certainly didn’t mind sharing his opinion on a number of things.

Speaking with FanSided’s Mark Carman, Sharpe was promoting the energy supplement Tru Niagen. The “Skip and Shannon: Undisputed with Skip Bayless” co-host has been taking Tru Niagen for over a year, which helps him keep his energy levels up throughout the day and maintain his intense workout schedule at age 51.

“It’s an energy supplement that helps me get through the day, helps me get up at 3 a.m., do my job at a high level, go train a couple times a day at a high level, do that over and over, look great and feel great while I’m doing it,” he said.

In hearing the three-time Super Bowl champion and eight-time Pro Bowler speak, his energy levels certainly aren’t in doubt. In trademark fashion, Sharpe freely shared his opinion about what Patrick Mahomes is doing, how winning championships is often overvalued in most sports debates and, of course, his opinions on the great LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan debate.

On the Mahomes front, Sharpe isn’t entertaining any “GOAT” talk for the 2018 NFL MVP just yet, but acknowledged that if he does in fact win a Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP in just his third season, it will become a conversation.

“Our job is to project,” he said. “Everybody wants to be right, everybody wants to be ahead of the curve.”

Sharpe also shared his view that winning is largely overvalued in sports debates.

“You say it’s all about winning,” he said. “This is what you said, it’s all about winning. And then when a guy doesn’t win, ‘Well it shouldn’t be all about winning.’ No, you’ve already — too late! You can’t change the criteria now. You said it’s all about winning and then guys get upset about when guys go join other teams to win.”

Sharpe cited the NBA as a prime example of that.

“You bash Charles Barkley over his head because he didn’t win a title,” he said. “You bash Karl Malone over his head. You bash Patrick Ewing. So now these Kevin Durants say, ‘I don’t want you to bash me over my head, try to minimize how great a talent I was, so guess what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna go link up.'”

For Sharpe, this era of player empowerment is a natural evolution of that constant discourse over winning, and it’s a good thing.

“Basketball has always been the sport where the superstars have had the lion’s share of the power,” he said. “So now what we’re starting to see where some of those guys wouldn’t use that power, these guys now — if they get the hammer, they’ll swing it.”

However, Sharpe’s biggest talking point was arguing his case for LeBron James over Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time. From comparing the King’s greatest accomplishment (beating the 73-win Golden State Warriors in the Finals) to MJ’s, to critiquing what Jordan’s Chicago Bulls accomplished before they became a Finals team, Sharpe’s debate on the Holy Grail of NBA debates is worth ingesting fully in the video above.

Shannon Sharpe spoke with FanSided on behalf of Tru Niagen.