Following the Bulls loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, Scottie Pippen, Hall of Fame player, rubbed salt in the wound by indicated that LeBron James might be a better player than Michael Jordan.

In an interview with ESPN radio, Pippen sparked the controversy by saying Jordan “is probably the greatest scorer to play the game” however James “may be the greatest player to ever play the game.”

These statements triggered a Twitter explosion.

Pippen was the first to defend his statements by saying, “For all of you that don’t know, I played the game you keep watching and cheering.”

He backpedaled a bit later on by saying, “Don’t get me wrong, MJ was and is the greatest. But LeBron could by all means get to his level someday.”

Pippen and Jordan were six-time champions with the Bulls throughout the 1990s.

When James’ team, the Miami Heat, defeated the Bulls on Thursday, James took a step toward winning his first NBA championship. The Heat will play the Dallas Mavericks for the title.

The one other time James went to the finals was in 2007 when he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs were swept by San Antonio in four games.

James said, “I think about it all the time. I even go back and watch some of those games and see how I wasn’t that good of a player, especially on both ends of the floor. You just try to use those moments. I use that as motivation.”

Over the past year, James has been labeled a quitter by the Cleveland fans and he has received criticism because he sometimes shows he can’t finish a game. These jabs have only served to motivate James. He has silenced a lot of those critics by being a major factor in the Heat getting to the finals.

He can silence them all if he helps his team win the whole thing.

James said, “That’s what we came together for. That’s the goal. The only goal.”