Michael Jordan made his feelings clear on LeBron James when naming the four NBA players who could play in his era

NBA legend Michael Jordan believes that their are only four current players that could have played in his era of basketball.

After a highly successful career, Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time, winning six NBA Championships across 15 seasons.

'His Airness' decided to call a quits on his career for the third and final time in 2003, but before then he shared the court with some of the very best to play basketball, including the likes of Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Dennis Rodman.

Since his retirement, Jordan has admitted that he isn't as impressed with the current game when compared to his era, but he has picked four modern players that he thinks were good enough.

According to Jordan, players in the modern era are soft, coddled and therefore are ill-prepared for the highest level of the game, particularly when compared with the players of the 90s.

Therefore, there are only four players who came after him that he believes could have made it during the time that Jordan was active on the court - though only one of them is still playing today.

As revealed by ESPN writer Wright Thompson in 2013 that Jordan named Bryant, LeBron James, Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki as the four players, with all four arguably enjoying their best years in the 2000s or 2010s.

Both Duncan, who played from 1997-2016, and Nowitzki (1998 debut) faced Jordan at some point during their accomplished careers, with Nowitzki's 21 years in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks making him the longest-serving player for a single franchise in NBA history.

Michael Jordan crossed paths with Kobe Bryant in the early days of the Lakers star's career. (Image: Getty)

Meanwhile, Bryant who alongside Jordan is considered to be one of the greatest ever basketball players, spent the entirety of his 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Of the four men, James is the only player still active in the NBA today, as the 40-year-old - who has been named as an NBA All-Star each year since 2005 - continues to add more accolades to his already hall-of-fame worthy career.

Since making his debut in 2003, James has won four NBA titles, whilst also winning the finals and NBA season MVP title four times.