Michael Jordan and LeBron James are locked in an eternal battle at this point, the two are constantly compared thanks to the GOAT debate. While LeBron is still playing at a high level, his achievements and accolades are always compared with Jordan’s.
Both players have dominated the game in different ways. Michael Jordan was a scorer and a ruthless defender, excelling in the biggest moments. LeBron James is more of an all-rounder, doing a bit of everything and making his team better. When it comes to who’s better though, one NBA fan shared a graphic showing his pick.
A direct comparison in the photo with certain stats and individual achievements is meant to show how much farther ahead Michael Jordan was compared to LeBron James. The photo mentions that MJ won more championships, more Finals MVPs, and MVPs, all of which are true. He also won two three-peats to LeBron’s none and never lost in the NBA Finals, which has happened to the King on six occasions.
All of these facts are regularly used by those that maintain that Michael Jordan is the GOAT over LeBron James. But that is hardly all there is to it. The debate is more nuanced than that, and it’s obvious that these statistics have been cherry-picked, although the post did go viral on social media.
Other Statistics Could Show That LeBron James Is Greater Than Michael Jordan
The main issue with the graphic is the choice of stats. The biggest one is ‘Finals Meltdowns.’ While LeBron James could have done better against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals, that’s the only blemish on his record. On other occasions, he lost to dynasties like the San Antonio Spurs or the Golden State Warriors.
Michael Jordan also had a more dominant scoring peak than LeBron James, but the King is untouched when it comes to longevity. He became the league’s all-time leading scorer last season, and he leads Michael Jordan in overall playoff points as well. The margin isn’t small either, MJ is at 5,987 while LeBron is at 8,023 and counting.
When it comes to rebounds and assists and other stats too, they show LeBron James in a more favorable light. This graphic was made by someone that already made their mind up about who the GOAT is. Having said that, Michael Jordan achieving more high accolades than LeBron James having played five fewer seasons is a fair point to make when giving an opinion on the debate.
