Who’s The GOAT? Settling The Great Debate: LeBron VS Jordan

When you argue about who the Greatest Basketball Player Of All-Time is, two names consistently come up. Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Today, we breakdown the numbers and the cases for each of them and settle the great debate.

Tale of the Tape

The Case For LeBron:

Don’t get me wrong Michael Jordan’s blend of unreal athleticism and skill was unlike anything anyone had ever seen at the time. But when you look at LeBron he’s bigger, faster and stronger than Jordan was and when you look at the way he’s able to see the court and set up his teammates on top of being able to score at will, not only is he more athletic and skilled than Jordan was but does more to make his teammates around him better. Now when you bring up the argument about NBA Finals record, LeBron’s competition has been so much tougher than Jordan’s as players today are a lot more skilled and athletic than they were back then. You’re telling me Jordan would’ve beat the Warriors with Kevin Durant and Steph Curry? And if you try to counter that with the argument that LeBron needed to play with other all-stars to win a championship and MJ didn’t, Jordan didn’t even make the finals, let alone win a championship until Scottie Pippen developed into an All-Star and arguably the 2nd best player in the league in his prime. That’s like putting Kawhi Leonard on the same team as LeBron. That wouldn’t be “fair” now would it? When you take all the external factors like rings and supporting casts out, LeBron clearly does more to impact a basketball game than MJ did, which makes him the Greatest of All-Time.

The Case For Jordan:

There is one defining attribute that Jordan had that LeBron doesn’t that is the reason why LeBron will never be as good as MJ. Killer Instinct. The only person who’s ever come close to Michael in that regard is Kobe Bryant. Every time he stepped onto the court, MJ had that “dawg mentality” that you were gonna have to kill him to beat him and if you didn’t bring your best, he’d put up 50 on you. Not only was he the greatest scorer of all-time but he was on the All-Defensive First Team 9 times compared to LeBron’s 5. Jordan never willingly sat out a game due to “load management” and you see LeBron do this all the time. Let’s face it, on top of being the most athletic and the most skilled player on the court, Jordan brought a consistent level of competitiveness and intensity every night that you rarely see in today’s game which is why not just LeBron, but nobody will ever come close to touching MJ’s greatness. And I’m not even bringing up the fact that LeBron is 3-6 in The Finals despite forming 2 superteams! Jordan never would’ve even thought about teaming up other stars because he wanted to beat them instead. Jordan had 6 rings and never lost in The Finals no matter who he played with or who he went up against. He’s simply more of a winner than LeBron is and the only reason these young kids today say LeBron is the GOAT is because they never saw Jordan play.

Let’s Break It Down:

Scoring: Though their approaches are different, they both score in similar ways as they primarily use their athleticism to get to the basket and finish on defenders at will. Jordan however, is the more aggressive scorer as he averaged over 30 points per game 8 seasons in a row while LeBron has only averaged 30 points per game or more twice in his longer career. Jordan is also a much better free throw shooter than LeBron which factors in here because they both attack the basket so often that they get to the free-throw line frequently. The efficiency numbers slightly favor LeBron, but Jordan’s ability to impact a game with his scoring ability alone is greater as evidenced by the fact that Jordan has almost triple the amount of 40 point games than LeBron has as well as 11 more 40 point games in the playoffs despite the fact that LeBron has played more regular season and playoff games than MJ.

Verdict: Jordan

Playmaking: LeBron’s playmaking ability is so special because like Magic Johnson who’s widely regarded as the best point guard of all-time, he has the ability to pass and see the court as well as anybody who’s ever played the game while being as big and athletic as he is. Jordan was a good playmaker, but he was always looking to score himself more than he was looking to find open teammates, which is OK because he would make those contested shots that other players couldn’t. LeBron’s assist numbers are significantly higher and when you watch him play, he’s a big point guard out there who simply has the ability to make plays that not many players in the history of the league could make, including Jordan.

Verdict: LeBron

Athleticism: This one is definitely the closest out of the attributes we’re basing this comparison off of. Jordan’s nickname is Air Jordan for a reason, he was able to almost levitate in the air while making all these highlight reel dunks and circus layups that make up a lot of his signature moments. Jordan had a 48 inch vertical while LeBron has a 44 inch vertical, however LeBron is able to run and jump like he does despite being 3 inches taller and weighing close to 35 pounds more than Jordan. This allows him to be so explosive to a level that I have not seen many players come close to. I think that along with his ability to use his size to muscle through opponents as well gives him the slight edge here.

Verdict: LeBron

Rebounding: Jordan was a great rebounder for his size as his career average of 6 rebounds per game shows, and LeBron isn’t that far ahead based on the chart at the beginning of this article, despite being 3 inches taller and weighing a lot more. LeBron’s career high for rebounds in a game is 19 and Jordan’s is 18. Although the numbers are closer than expected, I think we can all agree that LeBron is a more effective rebounder given the fact that he’s even had to play center at times in small-ball lineups and he’s been successful doing it against much bigger guys. This is where LeBron’s size advantage over Jordan comes into play in this comparison.

Verdict: Lebron

Defense: Both Jordan and Lebron have made multiple All-NBA defensive first teams so that shows both of them are elite defensively as well. You could argue here for LeBron’s defensive versatility being able to effectively guard positions 1-5 and when he’s locked in you see him make plays on defense you’ve never seen before such as that incredible chasedown block on Andre Iguodala in Game 7 of the Finals. Jordan however was able to completely hound opposing guards throughout every single game and it ‘s led him to leading the league in Steals and Defensive Box Plus/Minus multiple times and even a Defensive Player of the Year Award which are all things LeBron has never accomplished. From his second full season until his second retirement, Jordan was All-NBA Defensive 1st Team which shows his consistency on the defensive end which LeBron lacks at times. If LeBron were always locked in defensively like he is in the playoffs then I think this would go his way, but as he’s getting older I don’t think we’ll be seeing that anytime soon so MJ gets the edge here.

Verdict: Jordan

Intangibles: When I look at intangibles, I think the only other person who could touch Michael Jordan is Kobe. Jordan’s sheer competitiveness is something that you just can’t help but appreciate. I mean, the guy dropped 38 points while having the flu. Jordan never sat out of a game due to load management because he wanted to compete every night. Watching the Last Dance, you truly see the alpha-dog mentality out of Jordan that not only shows on the court but rubs off on the rest of his teammates as well. Both of these guys are great leaders. on and off the court. But Jordan just had a special killer-instinct when it came to the biggest games and the brightest moments and that’s just something I need to see more out of LeBron before you can put him in the same breath as Jordan when it comes to that category.

Verdict: Jordan

Clutch Performance: This one is not even close. I’m not just talking about game-winning shots or buzzer-beaters here. This is about showing up late in games in the biggest moments. Jordan has so many memorable signature moments in big moments such as his game-winner against the Jazz in Game 6 of the NBA Finals of his 6th championship. When I look at LeBron in moments like that, I just don’t see the same killer-instinct. Kyrie Irving took the game winning shot to beat the Warriors in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, not LeBron. Before Ray Allen hit his famous game-tying shot to save the Heat’s last championship, LeBron turned the ball over on the previous 2 possessions that nearly cost them that game and the championship. You never would have seen Jordan only score 8 points in a pivotal Game 4 of the NBA Finals which is what LeBron did against the Mavs in 2011. Don’t get me wrong, LeBron has hit many buzzer-beaters and big plays in big games. He is definitely a clutch player. He’s just not as clutch as Jordan.

Verdict: Jordan

Who’s The GOAT?

According to these categories I broke down above, Jordan is the winner as he won in 4 out of the 7 categories. However some of those categories are truly opinion-based and could go either way since there’s no real stat that definitely compares both of them. To me, Jordan is the greatest and here’s why. If you look at the NBA as a global brand before Michael Jordan came into the league, it was virtually non-existent. Not long before he came into the league, ratings were going down in the U.S. before the great Celtics-Lakers rivalry with Magic and Bird helped ignite national interest in the NBA again. But if the NBA wanted to have a sustained fan-base around the world and become a global-brand like then-commissioner David Stern wanted at the time, the league needed a star to lead that movement that would inspire and make the rest of the world want to tune-in and be a part of that movement. Jordan was that guy as his play captivated so many young kids around the world who started to play basketball because they wanted to “Be Like Mike.” When watching “The Last Dance” the biggest takeaway I had was how much of a global celebrity MJ was when they showed the ‘98 Bulls arriving in Paris. To this day I have still yet to witness anything like that, I mean Jordan coming to town was treated like it was the Second Coming. He truly paved the way for stars like LeBron to be the global icons that they are and without him I don’t think the NBA would be the global brand that it is today. His impact on the growth of the game of basketball in my opinion, is the reason why it’s going to take something really special for anyone whether it’s LeBron or another superstar down the line to take the throne from Jordan as the Greatest Basketball Player Of All-Time.

Final Verdict: Michael Jordan