Since Jordan retired every newcomer to the NBA who appears to be head and shoulders above other players has at least once been considered as the one to throw Jordan from the top of mountain as the Greatest of All Time. A decade later and there still has been no clearly definable character. Kobe Bryant didn't do it. Shaq didn't do it. Dwayne Wade isn't it.... and I'm about to prove that Lebron James isn't there either. (imo, never will be)
Google "Jordan vs Lebron" (or James) and you'll find tons of people making the comparison for this reason or that. However, almost never do they actually list the achievements of each player side by side for a real comparison. They'll either just say "well Lebron was first to XX,000pts" without considering the fact that he had a three year head start on Jordan due to bypassing college. While others will say "talk to me when Lebron has six rings... or even one, lol" without considering that it did take Jordan seven seasons to get his first and Lebron is barely in his 8th and he is three years younger than when Jordan got his first.
Take a minute to view the tables below of each player’s stats per season. Make a special note for Jordan's 2nd season where he only played 18 games due to a broken foot. Clearly this is not representative of Jordan's abilities and for the nature of this article, it will be largely ignored in any comparisons. Additionally, we are only comparing Jordan's first eight seasons as that is how many Lebron has played. (I could have skipped Jordan's 2nd and used his 9th, but that would be unfair as it was the end of a three-peat with even more Jordan accolades that Lebron doesn't match)
First off, I don't see how anyone could even begin to make a case for Lebron being even close to Jordan's greatness based off these stats. There is only ONE category Lebron has beaten Jordan; three pointers. Sad part is that even with a far better three point ability; he has NEVER beaten Jordan's yearly PPG stat. Jordan averaged over 31PPG where Lebron has only reached that level once, generally closer to 27PPG.
Now, Lebron does have a slight edge on rebounding and assists, while Jordan has a slight edge on steals and blocks. So, these areas mostly cancel each other out; with the exception of annual awards, but we'll go more into that later.
Jordan is simply a FAR better overall player and team leader.
1. Jordan only has two seasons where he failed to play the full 82 games (81 and 80); Lebron has never played full 82 games; most are actually less than 80.
2. Jordan had TWO NBA titles by season 8. He did that by making his team better and excelling at any challenge; especially when it came to clutch winning shots. Lebron may have one title soon, however he rarely takes the clutch shots, had to trade himself to good team as he was unable to create one by improving others. In fact, Jordan himself recently berated Lebron for his move to Miami and said he would never have wanted to play with Bird and Magic. Basically calling Lebron a pansy followed by stating that Kobe is a much better player. (I agree and he has three titles) Additionally, Jordan pushed the Bulls to at least a playoff appearance every year he played. Lebron missed this on a few occasions.
3. Jordan was in the All Stars as a starter EVERY year he played in the NBA. Lebron didn't play until his 2nd season (however, he was able to get all star MVP then, a few years before Jordan)
4. Jordan was All NBA FIRST team 6 out of 8 (one miss due to broken foot) seasons with the 1 being second team. Lebron was ALL NBA first team 5 out of 8, second team 2, and one season with nothing.
5. Jordan was defensive player of the year twice. Lebron zero. (Though both made defensive team nearly every year.)
6. Jordan was scoring leader of the NBA 6 out of 8 years (one miss due to broken foot). Lebron Zero.
7. All Star MVP 1 to 2 for Lebron. However, Jordan made All Star starter in rookie year and the Eastern team was a bunch of douche bags and refused to pass him the ball out of spite and jealousy that year.
8. NBA MVP, 3 to 2 for Jordan. (pretty impressive when you consider Jordan had technically one less season due to broken foot)
9. Finals MVP 2 to 0 for Jordan. However, this one might end up 2 to 1 if Heat can win it this year. (Go BULLS! Go ROSE... you just need your Pippen)
10. Jordan beats Lebron in avg games played, ppg, mins, fg%, ft%, steals, blocks, clinch shots, awards, trophies, leadership, etc, etc.
11. Another important factor is likeability and marketability. Jordan was well liked by the world over. Chicago away games many times felt like home games as there were simply more Bulls fans in the stadium. This has never happened for Cleveland or Miami. Bulls (Jordan) games are heralded as the having the highest viewing scores according to Neilson ratings for the entire NBA.
Jordan routinely allowed the Bulls to pay him far less annual salary than he was worth for two reasons. A) Bulls had more free money to pay other players. B) Jordan was making over 40 million a year (FAR higher than any other athlete except maybe Tiger) in endorsements. More than a decade after Jordan left the Bulls (and Wizards) and various apparel, images, and self is still more marketable than Lebron. I'd bet there are more "Jordan" shoes sold this year than "Lebron" shoes just as a simple example.
Maybe when Lebron retires, we can revisit this topic with a solid argument for Lebron as the new Greatest of All Time, however, eight seasons in and Jordan is still head and shoulders above.
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*Jordan had broken foot. |
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