By Jacob Bugarin
Well, we have heard this debate for so long: either you believe Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player to ever play the game or you think Lebron James is the greatest basketball player to ever play.
Both played in different eras. Jordan dominated the 90s whereas Lebron came in the 2000s but started winning championships in the 2010s.
We will just do a rundown of the stats and the impact they had, then the questions that hold people back from placing either player as being the undisputed G.O.A.T.
Michael Jordan: Stats and Accomplishments
As we all know, Jordan had six championships and that the Bulls team that he led was the greatest team to ever play basketball. His career stats were 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 49.7% field goal percentage. He played only 15 seasons in the NBA and was selected for All Stars 14 times. The awards that he has are “Rookie of the Year” in the 1984-85 season, 1 “Defensive Player of the Year,” five MVPs, and he is a six-time NBA champion. Then, he was put into the Hall of Fame in 2009.
Lebron James: Stats and Accomplishments
As for Lebron, he hasn’t had the best luck in the NBA finals. He has been to the finals 10 times and has only won 4 times. He is still playing, so his career stats haven’t been finalized, but he has a ton of awards, like “Rookie of the Year” in 2004, 20x All Star, 4 time MVP, 4x NBA Championship, made the 13x All NBA 1st Team, and surpassed Kareem Abudl-Jabar’s all time score. He has been in the NBA for 21 seasons, which is six more than Michael Jordan’s career.
Pros and Cons of both players:
Starting with Michael Jordan, his pros are that he is known to never lose a final. Then, he inspired both Kobe Bryant and Lebron James, which says a lot. Michael did play in a more physical era in the 90s and dominated the whole 90s. The awards and accolades have been said, but there is more to unpack for his cons. Even though Michael Jordan did DPOY(defensive player of the year) which is awarded for the best player who played at a good level at defense, he wasn’t the best defender. The best one on that team was Scottie Pippen. Michael Jordan couldn’t do it with Scottie Pippen, but Scottie can do it without Jordan.
For Lebron James, it’s his finals record that kind of ends the conversation, but you can also argue that he played against one of the best teams in the league at the time who had all-time greats. The Spurs had Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginbolli. The Mavericks had Jason Kidd and Dirk. Then, the best time to ever assemble is the 2016 Warriors, who had Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and later Kevin Durant. Then, he has all the accolades to back him up, an all-time scoring record, 4x time MVP, 4x Champion, and he has been dominating the league at the age of 40. He is also averaging 25 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 8.3 assists. The cons that he has are really that he is soft for a person who is 250 pounds and 6 ‘9. Then, he couldn’t win in the finals, only having a good record due to his longevity. Lebron was known for trying to play GM in teams, making teams bad because of his decisions. After looking at the stats and more, who is the G.O.A.T.?
Don’t get me wrong, these two are the top 2 best players to ever step on the earth to play basketball, but Lebron James is considered the greatest of all time. He broke the scoring record at such an old age, which tells a lot about Lebron and how dominant he still is—even though he isn’t in his prime. Lebron has also had one of the best comebacks in the NBA finals against the greatest team of all time. Though many can argue that Jordan never lost and the conversation ends, Lebron has done more and dominated more throughout his career.
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