ESPN.com once had an analytical piece headlined: Is LeBron breaking the aging curve? It was posted in December 2017. However, no players have been debated more than Michael Jordan and Lebron James. Baylor scored 34.0 at 28 in 1962-63 and Bernard King put up 32.9 per game for the Knicks in 1984-85. They both just want to be the best teammates for their own teams. Source: Getty Images. There were the Jordan Rules, but theres no LeBron Rules because you cant be that physical anymore, said Los Angeles Clippers assistant coach Sam Cassell, a strong-minded point guard who won two titles with the Houston Rockets during a playing career that spanned from 1993 to 2008. We were trying to kill Michael Jordan and he would just get up and make his free throws.. Well, he didnt play in 1967-68, having to sit out the season over contractual rights before jumping leagues and the Bay to join the Oakland Oaks of the American Basketball Association. LeBron James is currently the fourth-leading scorer in NBA history, 19 points ahead of Michael Jordan, who holds the No. Despite James' increased usage and efficiency from beyond the arc over the course of his career, it's worth noting that he shoots about thesame percentage as Jordan from 3-point range. Other younger players look as if they could also cross the 30,000-point threshold. However, LeBron James is still averaging around three times more points than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did in his 20th and final season. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Second to the Dippers bar-setter, Michael Jordan averaged 35.0 points in 1987-88. WebEvery time Lebron wins a championship ring, he is compared to Jordan more. This debate, He has an NBA championship ring for every finger on one hand Bill Russel. Numerous endorsements, an acting career, and widespread humanitarianism are only a few of the features that comprise the man we know as Lebron James. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. One endless debate. I have research and know from a personal view that Kobe Bryant is a better basketball player than Michael Jordan. Its important to keep in mind, however, that Abdul-Jabbar also started playing later, at age 22, because of stricter NBA eligibility rules at the time. For his efforts there, Jordan received the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. LeBron does not have the dominance of Michael Jordan. Kobe plays the shooting guard position but can move anywhere around the perimeter, such as point guard, shooting guard, and small forward, coming in at 66 205 pounds. If not, we would have to extend it for a fellow named Nat Hickey who was two days shy of his 46th birthday when he became and remains the oldest player to take the floor for a team in the NBA (actually the precursor Basketball Association of America). WNBA all-time (since 1997) unless otherwise noted. Over his past five seasons, those numbers are 27.1, 51.8% (35.6%) and 19.7 FGA. Bill Russel, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Julius Dr. LeBron also has 28 career playoff triple-doubles, while Jordan has two. While Jordans brain zoomed in to calculate the precise moment and method to beat his defenders, Jamess zooms out to survey for weaknesses that someone on his team maybe him, maybe not could exploit. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Your login session has expired. LeBron James and Michael Jordan are always the two players that headline "LeBron James does have this going for him. He's a better all-around player than Michael and them. He has more skills than Michael. He's a point guard, he's a better passer Rockets: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Nets vs. Knicks: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, 76ers vs. Heat: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Cavaliers vs. Celtics: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Bulls vs. Pistons: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Here's a closer look at where the GOAT debate stands On a per-game basis, Jordan is superior in the scoring department, but James grabsrebounds and dishesout assists at a higher rate. Carters improbably long career faded not into the sunset but into the COVID-19 shutdown. Outside of James, the most points scored by a player in their 20th season is Lakers legend Kobe Bryant at 17.6PPG. 2 scorer (Paul George, 28.0) was greater than from George to No. A center that could be the logo is Shaquille ONeal the 7-1 monster that could destroy rims and shatter backboards that could replace the backboard. Find out more. Michael with no doubt left the NBA as one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball. However, it looks like LeBron James is set to smash every single scoring record in relation to longevity. No one ever broke it down to that type of science., Guarding James represented a different challenge because, at 6-foot-8 and 270 pounds, he was taller and heavier than Jordan, who was listed at 6-6 and 218 pounds, his target weight toward the end of his career. GS since 1981-82. Malone had 43 double-doubles while leading Utah to 55 victories, with no one else on the roster averaging more than 14.1 points. The argument for why Lebron James is a better (though not necessarily greater) player than Michael Jordan is at its core quite simple. He has dominated a more skilled and talented era of basketball. Jordan has Lebron beaten in overall influence and cultural impact, but as far as simple basketball? Its Lebron. Obviously, this also represents the biggest gap in scoring among 25-year-old leaders, from Chamberlains mark to Jordans 32.5 in 1988-89. Nothing stood in his way once he had gotten to the. Wings had to track his every movement and battle for position before the ball arrived. And hes aged gracefully by becoming a much more effective and prolific outside shooter. Some might say it is Michael Jordan, but currently some people might argue it is actually Lebron James, who is the greatest player of all time. Lakers President Magic Johnson, who faced Jordan in the 1991 NBA Finals and signed James as a free agent last summer, said that the two greats scored in different ways, but shared a willingness to spend hours fine-tuning their games. There are many deciding factors to see who the better of the two are, and we must know who is the best. Two of the names that come up a lot in this conversation are Michael Jordan and Lebron James. Jordan has another amazing record when he scored 63 points against the Boston Celtics in 1986. A current Cleveland-Cavalier, Lebron James has helped shaped the game on and off the court. At age 37, LeBron has scored 25 points in 10 consecutive games. Im a playmaker.. Six rings. Makes it hard to guard someone that big and athletic, while on the other hand Kobe scores so smoothly off the pull up of post up game and so more, Lebron James won 2 rings for winning the championship. Rule changes have led to a different game, three-pointers, two-pointers and free throws. When thinking of greatness in the realm of basketball, these two definitely come to mind. The gap between him and the No. His final seasons thinned that to 24.6, dropping him to 17th. Michael and Kobe were going head to head for the last time. There was a battle of old warriors going on 20-plus spots down the scoring leaderboard, with Malone edging out Jordan (20.0) for the 39-year-old crown. At 30, Iverson averaged a career-best 33.0 in 2005-06 but finished behind Kobe Bryant that season. Through Michael Jordans athletic success on the court, he was able to make himself and his brand into a cultural icon, which had a great impact on the game of basketball, fashion, marketing, and the economy in America. No other non-center ever stonewalled the aging process like Carter. Nearly a third of Hardens points this season (10.2) came from the foul line, his career-high on freebies. In the fall of 1997, Michael Jordan and the Bulls began their quest to win a sixth NBA title in eight years. He did average 34.0 points for the Oaks at 24. However, no players have been debated more than Michael Jordan and Lebron James. Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James, the great(est) debate of our time, is finally put to rest by the Harvard and Yale debate teams. LeBron has much competition with all the new all these new talents with so much potential. Kobe has 5 championships, and out of those 5 he was the MVP of two of them (2007-08). Abdul-Jabbar had averaged 17.5 points at age 39 but that still was a 20-point rate pro-rated to 36 minutes. When thinking of greatness in the realm of basketball, these two definitely come to mind. After NBA legend Isiah Thomas says he'd take LeBron James over Michael Jordan, the SportsNation crew weighs in on the classic debate. James has 28 career 40-point games in the playoffs and one 50-point game in the 2018 NBA Finals. The largely forgotten Baylor, who set new standards for athletic moves and above-the-rim play in his time, had a special challenge in 1961-62. Click on the red text to pre-fill the form with various values, Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Wednesday, March 1, 4:56AM. Stathead: Baseball's Most Powerful Search Tool, Stathead: Basketball's Most Powerful Research Tool, Stathead: Football's Most Powerful Research Tool, Stathead: Hockey's Most Powerful Research Tool, Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Two of the greatest players to ever step on a basketball court, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. By the way, Malone played 81 games and Jordan, in his final season, played 82. LeBron does not have the dominance of Michael Jordan. The top three point scorers Bryant tore his Achilles' tendon at age 34, the same age James is now, and the remainder of his career was plagued by injuries. That was too young for LeBron James, for Dwight Howard, for Amare Stoudemire. The debate is most often between LeBron James and Michael Jordan, though Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has some backers, too. Bucks: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Grizzlies vs. Not surprisingly, two all-world performers in the regular season have also been dominant in the postseason. Jordan Greer is an NBA content producer for The Sporting News. Jordan has 38 career 40-point games in the playoffs and eight 50-point games (including his NBA playoff-record 63). Michael Jordan and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf recount a funny conversation when discussing his recovery from a foot injury. broadcast or podcast, please strongly consider citing this site as the As stated by ESPN.com (2016) Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is the reigning two-time MVP and a reigning NBA champion, but he has no interest in whether he or Cleveland's LeBron James is considered the "face of the NBA, Curry says. 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