Domineering, James s agent refutes the former Jordan agent s ridicule of James

Ritchie Paul defended Michael Jordan's former agent criticized Lakers star LeBron James' career choices and team history.

Klutch Sports CEO Ritchie Paul responded to the recent criticism of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, a longtime NBA agent. Paul refuted Fok’s claim that James “selects the team” throughout his career on the Ritchie Eisen Show, saying the remarks were “unfair” and “destroyed” Fok’s reputation.

Paul said in the podcast: "David Folk said something about LeBron's team picking the other day. I think it's interesting to use the word 'choose'... LeBron and Michael Jordan's careers are not exactly the same for a number of reasons."

Paul continued to highlight the connections early in his career and pointed out the influential college coaching figures who supported Falk's client base.

"This is simply 'provoking discord', from a man who has the support of superstars such as John Thompson, Dean Smith and Mike Shashevsky to bring superstar athletes to heaven. I think he is part of the 'provoking discord' family," Paul said. "I just think it's very unfair, and for a variety of reasons, it's a bit out of David Falker's style."

Ritchie Paul responded to David Falker's remarks, which once again sparked debate between Jordan and LeBron on the career path.

Falke made his initial comment in an interview with Sports Business Magazine earlier this week, saying:

"I like LeBron very much, but I think if Jordan could have carefully selected the team he wanted to join and had two other superstars, he would have won 15 championships."

Jordan was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 1984 NBA Draft with a Nanhua draw, and played for 15 seasons in the NBA - 13 of which were with the Bulls and 2 seasons with the Washington Wizards. All six championships were won in Chicago. The Bulls selected Scottie Pippen with the fifth overall pick in 1987 and introduced Dennis Rodman through a trade before the 1995-96 season, forming the core of Chicago's second three-game title.

In contrast, James has played for three different teams since entering the league as the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. He played for the Cleveland Cavaliers twice, joined the Miami Heat in 2010, and signed with the Lakers in 2018. James has played alongside several All-Star and Hall of Fame players over his 22-year career, including Dwayne Wade, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis and now Luca Doncic.

James has won the NBA championship four times, two of which won the Miami Heat (2012 and 2013), one with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2016), and the other with the Lakers (2020). He remains the only player in league history to win the Finals MVP title with three different teams, and has made eight consecutive NBA Finals between 2011 and 2018. The exchange between Paul and Falk highlights the ongoing debate in the NBA circle about the legend of James and Jordan – the two most prestigious idol players in the league, whose careers are in very different eras of team building.