Scottie Pippen is mixing up the popular debate over which player -- LeBron James or Michael Jordan -- is the greatest the game has seen. Pippen thinks he should be in the discussion.
At a Nike event in California, Pippen (Hamburg, Central Arkansas) told a reporter from the Northeast Ohio Media Group that he thought he had a career worth considering.
"I was LeBron James before LeBron James," Pippen told Cleveland.com. "It's not even close."
Pippen, who is often considered as mostly a very important teammate of Jordan during some of his best years, added that he was "no slouch" compared to James.
"They want to compare him to the greatest whether it be Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson, but he's more closer to myself," Pippen said. "It's natural for folks to say that, but if you look at how he plays the game and how I played the game, you'll see more similarities with us."
Add LeBron
Stephen Curry has surpassed LeBron James for the most popular jersey in the NBA.
The Golden State Warriors star and league MVP topped the list of jersey sales in the NBA for the first time Tuesday. With teammates Klay Thompson ranking fifth and Draymond Green at No. 15, the Warriors also led the team-merchandise sales list during the playoffs.
James, who held the top spot at the end of the regular season, dropped to second. Chicago's Derrick Rose is third and Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving is fourth.
Following the NBA champion Warriors on the team-merchandise sales list are the Cavaliers, Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs.
The league based the rankings on overall sales on NBAStore.com from April through June.
The latest figures cap Curry's incredible year. He led the Warriors to a franchise-record 67 victories -- plus 16 more in the playoffs -- and their first championship in 40 years.
Curry was the leading vote-getter for the All-Star teams, won the three-point contest and took home NBA MVP honors. The Warriors beat James and the injury-depleted Cavaliers in six games in the finals.
Twitter baby
No doubt someone will suggest they call him Ice. Or maybe Stick. Or Zamboni.
Olympic hockey gold medalist Meaghan Mikkelson and her husband are prepared for all sorts of possibilities as they turn to Twitter to help name their baby boy.
Mikkelson, a two-time gold medalist with Canada's women's hockey team, and husband Scott Reid are expecting in September.
They're asking people to send baby names to Mikkelson's Twitter address, Mikkelson12, with the hashtag namemybaby.
The couple will pick their eight favorite suggestions July 6 and then ask social media to vote on those names. They'll choose their son's name from the two that receive the most votes.
Says Mikkelson: "People probably think we're crazy, but it's fun. It will be a fun story to tell our child."
Sports quiz
During the 1994-1995 season, Scottie Pippen led the NBA in this category.
Answer
Steals with 232, or 2.9 a game.
Sports on 07/01/2015