LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan
Over the last few years there has been a huge argument in the basketball community about who is the greatest basketball player of all time: LeBron James or Michael Jordan. Although there are some who say neither of the two, the majority of fans will agree that the winner is either Michael Jordan or LeBron James. However, despite many compelling arguments in favor of LeBron James, most people will still say Michael Jordan is the greatest ever. I would like to argue why I think LeBron James is, in fact, the greatest basketball player of all time.
First, let’s start by comparing their career stats. LeBron James, throughout his career, averaged 27.2 points, 7.1 assists, 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals, .8 blocks, .502 field goal%, .342 3-point%, .740 free throw%, and 19.6 shots a game. By contrast, Jordan averaged 30.1 points, 5.3 assists, 6.2 rebounds, 2.3 steals, .8 blocks, .497 field goal%, .327 three point%, .835 free throw%, 22.9 shots per game.
If you consider all the stats, you can see that LeBron is statistically the better all-around player. He averaged more rebounds, assists, and blocks, while shooting more efficiently from the field and three point shot. Also, if you take into consideration that Jordan averaged over 3 more shots per game than LeBron does, and the fact that LeBron shoots over 50% from the field, we can say that if LeBron took as many shots as Jordan did, he would average about the same amount of points as well. Now, does this necessarily mean that LeBron is better? No, but it certainly helps my case.
People also like to say that Jordan was the better defender because he was a 9x all-defensive team and LeBron only 6x (even though LeBron is still playing). This may be true, but LeBron James excels at guarding basically every position, while Michael Jordan excels at guarding just two. So, if you’re the person that values stats highly, then LeBron James is the better all-around player; maybe you could argue that Jordan was the better scorer, but that’s about it.
Some argue that Jordan was ultimately the better player, based on Jordan’s number of career awards and championships; James is three for eight in championships while Jordan was six for six. Their career awards are as follows. LeBron James (still playing): 13x all star, 3x NBA champion, 6x all-defensive, 2x all-star game MVP, 4x MVP, 1x scoring champ, 13x all NBA team, rookie of the year, all rookie team, and 3x finals MVP. Michael Jordan: hall of fame, 6x NBA champ, 9x all-defensive, 3x All-star game MVP, 6x finals MVP, Rookie of the year, 10x NBA scoring champ, 11x all NBA team, 1x defensive player of the year, 5x MVP, and all rookie team. Based on these stats, Jordan has more championships, all-defense teams, MVPs, and scoring titles, a fact that fans use to strengthen their claim that Jordan was the greatest.
While this is a valid argument, it doesn’t prove that Jordan was the better player. Earlier, I said that LeBron James was actually just as good a defender as Jordan, even though Jordan won more defensive awards. However, this doesn’t mean that Jordan was the better defender, because by that logic, Russell Westbrook is better than LeBron James, as Westbrook won the MVP this past season; and nobody in their right mind would actually say Russell Westbrook is better than LeBron James.
The same thing can be argued when comparing all of Jordan’s MVPs to LeBron’s. If they gave out the MVP to the best player, LeBron would win it every year. For the scoring titles, if LeBron took the number of shots that Jordan took, I believe that, based on the fact LeBron shot over 50% from the field, he would have also averaged the same number of points as Jordan. And that’s not to mention that LeBron has also been playing in an era with Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, and Kevin Durant, three of the greatest scorers of all time.
Now, regarding the championships. For all of his championships, Jordan had a great team around him, including Scottie Pippen, who many people consider to be one of the 25 greatest players ever. The year after Jordan left the bulls to play baseball, the team went from winning 57 games with Jordan to winning 55 games and losing in the quarter finals without him. Obviously, if you add the best player in the league, you are going to win the finals.
Now let’s look at LeBron’s finals. The first time he made the championships he was on a team that was only him. The Cavs weren’t even supposed to be in the finals that year but LeBron played out of his mind and led them to the Finals. He was the only all-star on the team, as opposed to Jordan who had two others. When LeBron ran into the Spurs in the finals they stood no chance. A young LeBron James with no help against the big three — Tim Duncan, who’s widely considered one of the top ten players ever, and Manu Ginobili and Tony parker, all of whom were all-stars.
Lastly, I would argue LeBron is also the world’s greatest, because LeBron ultimately means much more to a team and needs less help to win, than Jordan ever did. When Jordan left the Bulls they went from 57 wins to 55 wins, only a minor drop off, proving that Jordan had a lot of help along the way. In fact, Jordan is 1-9 in playoff series without Scottie Pippen. By comparison, when LeBron left the Cavs, they went from 62 wins to 19 wins, proving LeBron had had a huge impact with less help than Jordan. Then, when LeBron left the Heat, they went from 54 wins to 37 wins, another big drop off. LeBron clearly made a bigger impact than Jordan ever did.
LeBron also has much more competition than Jordan did. Jordan played in an era when there weren’t many good guards that Jordan had to go up against. In today’s game, LeBron is a forward, and the league is a guard and forward heavy league. LeBron James has to go up against Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Paul George, Joe Johnson, and Amar’e Stoudemire. The the list can go on. Most of these players are future Hall of Famers and the others are also great players.
Finally, I think that overall, the level of basketball play today is higher than it was in the 80’s and 90’s. The players are much bigger, stronger, faster, and more athletic. LeBron James is 6’8’’ and 250 pounds, while Jordan was 6’6’’ and 205 pounds throughout the prime of his career. If LeBron played in Jordan’s era they wouldn’t be able to stop him; he’s just too big, fast, and athletic for his size. If Jordan played in today's era, there are many people who could match his athleticism which is what made him so special because it was outmatched in his time.
If you look at the facts and my arguments you can see that LeBron James, hands down, is the better player.
