LeBron James talks about his relationship with Michael Jordan

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For the last several years, many have been debating whether LeBron James' basketball resume has equalled or surpassed that of Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan. Many feel it hasn't, but the debate rages on.

Some 20 years after playing his final NBA game, Jordan remains something akin to the all-wise, all-knowing mystic who lives on top of a very tall mountain whom people turn to for advice. On Tuesday, the day before his Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers on his last-second tip-in, James recorded an interview that aired during Wednesday's episode of "The Pat McAfee Show," and among other subjects, he talked about his relationship with Jordan.

He explained why there isn't much of a relationship between him and the six-time NBA champion.

Via ESPN:

"We don't talk," James said during the 75-minute interview that was taped at McAfee's studio outside Indianapolis. "Because I'm still playing. I'm still playing, I'm still focused on my craft right now."

James said he hopes to develop a relationship with Jordan after he retires, just as he developed a friendship with late Lakers legend Kobe Bryant following Bryant's retirement in 2016.

"The funny thing is, me and Kobe -- the late, great Kob, obviously -- me and Kobe never had a real relationship either," James said. "We were on the [USA] Olympic team, we had a great relationship there. The Olympic team in '08, the Olympic team in '12, but it was always competitive between us. We were always like, I was on the East Coast, he was on the West Coast, and it was like, even though … in '09 and we didn't beat Orlando and didn't get an opportunity to play him in the Finals [there was a competitive friction]."

When James came to the Purple and Gold, his friendship with Bryant truly blossomed, as Bryant endorsed him as the franchise's new superstar.

"That's when our relationship became really, really good," James said. "He welcomed me. He called me, like, 'Bro, anything you need in L.A., I got you. You're a Laker now. You're family.' And we would have multiple conversations. Obviously, you guys saw him coming to a lot of games. … And when I passed him for the scoring record in Philly, he had a tweet out there like, 'Keep on going.' Like, 'Keep transcending the game. Keep going.' And that [expletive] meant so much to me."

James added that he doesn't expect the nature of his lukewarm relationship with Jordan to change until his career is over.

The 40-year-old has one year remaining on his current Lakers contract, and he can opt out of that contract to become a free agent this summer. However, with 26-year-old Luka Doncic on his side now, there is always a chance he will stick around longer than most currently anticipate he will.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James talks about his relationship with Michael Jordan

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