Every Batman needs a Robin, and every Superman needs a Batman. But it seems the NBA community is mostly focused on the guy who could throw in great offense but has forgotten the support he needs. There has always been a debate over the next Michael Jordan of the NBA, but what about the next Scottie Pippen of the league?

A certain section of the basketball community believes LeBron James has Jordan’s potential. But it looks like Xavier McDaniel has found his next Scottie as well in the same player. Appearing on ‘No Nonsense on TV’, Xavier faced the question of Scottie Pippen’s equivalent in today’s league. “The closest player that I did see, LeBron. LeBron is just a bigger version of Scottie Pippen… He’s a 260 pound version of it. I mean, tell me what Scotty did that he don’t do,” he replied. He further emphasized that both players shoot the same and that neither of them has been a good outside shooter.

It is worth mentioning that Michael Jordan was seen as an on-court offensive force not to be reckoned with. Jordan scored 32, 292 points through his NBA career, averaging 30.1 points per game. LeBron, crossing the 40k career point mark, invited further comparison with MJ.

However, Scottie was known for his unmatched defensive prowess during the 1990s, along with his scoring abilities when needed. So in order to compare the 4x NBA champion and the 6x NBA champion, it is important to look into the defensive side of King’s gameplay.

A closer look into the similarities between LeBron James and Scottie Pippen

The defensive abilities of the ex-Chicago Bulls star back in the 90s were such that he made it to the NBA All-Defensive Team for ten consecutive years. LeBron James has made it to the All-Defensive Team six times in his career so far. And though he may not have the Defensive Player of the Year award like Michael Jordan, he ended up being a runner-up twice. Notably, even Scottie did not win any Defensive Player of the Year but was a runner-up a few times.

To further the similarities in terms of defensive ability, LeBron also has a lead in defensive stats this season. “Players are shooting 40.7% FG when guarded by LeBron James this season. The lowest in NBA,” ‘StatMamba’ posted on X.

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In fact, during the 2015 Nike Basketball Academy, Pippen himself claimed LeBron has a closer comparison with him than Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson. “I was LeBron James before LeBron James… I’m no slouch, but when comparing LeBron’s game, I’m usually left out… They want to compare him to the greatest, whether it be Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson, but he’s more closer to myself… if you look at how he plays the game and how I played the game, you’ll see more similarities with us,” Pippen told Northeast Ohio Media Group.

What is your take on the entire issue? Which ex-NBA star do you think LeBron James resembles the most in terms of playing style? Let us know your answers in the comments.

Scottie Pippen on Michael Jordan and LeBron James: “There’s No Greatest in Baseball, There’s No Greatest in Football There’s No Greatest in Basketball”