WASHINGTON -- LeBron James is the best

player in the NBA, surpassing veteran Los Angeles Lakers guard

Kobe Bryant, 14-time All-Star guard Jerry West said Monday.

West, a shrewd judge of talent who brought Bryant to the

Lakers when he was their general manager, said the Cleveland Cavaliers

forward could become the league's next Michael Jordan.

Jerry West says he'd still want Kobe Bryant to take the last shot. But he'd take LeBron James if he were starting a franchise. Noah Graham/Getty Images

"I look at Cleveland [and] say to myself, 'How many games could

they win without LeBron James?'" West told Reuters in an

interview. "That's how great he is.

"He has a chance to be arguably the greatest player ever to

play the game."

West, the NBA's executive of the year with the Lakers in

1995 and the Memphis Grizzlies in 2004, said playing both ends

of the floor was what made Jordan so great.

"Michael Jordan was the best defensive player in the league

but he was also the best offensive player," said West. "It

wasn't a one-year fluke, he proved it over time.

"LeBron James will do the same type of things because he's

getting better. He's a much more effective shooter. When's he's

making his shots from the outside, you can't play him.

"He's just too big, too strong, too quick. And he has

incredible body control. But more than that, he's a great teammate. You can see his teammates love him."

West told Bloomberg Television in an interview that starting a team with James is a "no-brainer."

"If you look at basketball today, it's not always the big guys that win for you, it's the intermediate-size guys," West said, according to Bloomberg. "[He] can play four positions if you ask him to do so, and his ability to get everyone involved in the game is just remarkable for someone his age. I don't know if there's a better athlete I've ever seen play professional basketball."