The world of basketball has seen an immense and heated argument about who is the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) player in history. The debate leans on two players LeBron James who is currently playing for Los Angeles Lakers and Michael Jordan who featured for Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. The comparison is hectic since Jordan retired and LeBron is actively playing in the NBA therefore making them players of different generations. In the present generation, LeBron is arguably the greatest since his statistics are high above all other current players. The essay will discuss why LeBron James is the greatest of all players ahead of Jordan and the rest in history. Because of the impact one player may have on the game, determining who is considered the GOAT of basketball is crucial. One man can dramatically transform a basketball squad.
Michael Jordan is considered to be the GOAT since he holds the lead in a significant number of accolades. He holds a better finals record that LeBron and also has a player of the year award which LeBron has not managed to secure. The two hold the same record on the Future Hall of Famer record. Jordan is a six times NBA champion ahead of James who is a four times NBA champion. Additionally, Jordan has been six times NBA Finals MVP and five times MVP in the league. On the other hand LeBron has been an NBA Final MVP four times and also become an MVP four times which arguably puts him behind Jordan in their comparison. Moreover, Jordan has been an All Defensive Player nine times while LeBron has been named six times. They both have featured once as Rookie of the year with Jordan doing so in 84-85 season while LeBron accomplished it in the 03-04 season. James has an edge over Jordan on All Star appearances as he has appeared seventeen times as compared to Jordan’s fourteen times. He also has an advantage in All NBA Team appearances as he has appeared seventeen times while Jordan has featured eleven times (Sanin). Statistically Jordan holds the lead as the GOAT as he edge James in many accolades. LeBron has only edged him twice in the eight accolades.
Game play statistics show that LeBron is a significantly better overall basketball player. Despite the fact that Jordan scored more points overall, LeBron is a more efficient player who shoots better from two and three points range. LeBron also outperforms Jordan in terms of passing and rebounding. Jordan has a substantially higher free-throw percentage than LeBron. In terms of efficiency, the two are nearly even, with Michael ranking first overall in NBA history and LeBron coming in second. Michael has a higher average of steals per game, although both players have the same number of blocks per game. LeBron has a higher turnover rate per game (Greer). The statistics demonstrate that LeBron James can succeed in many parts of the game, and not in just scoring. He is a better player when compared to Jordan but Jordan has arguably edged him when it comes to trophies, rings and other accolades. It brings the GOAT debate to a dilemma on whether to choose a player with better statistics or one with more accolades in defining the best in history. In both their regular-season and Finals seasons, LeBron excels in more categories than Jordan in terms of individual performance .Arguably one ought to look at statistics since there are individual players who excel but lack a good team or supporting teammates in aiding them to win trophies.
The GOAT debate also encompasses looking at the player who is more Clutch in that he steps up when his team needs him the most. LeBron has been criticized for not stepping up and fighting for the team as compared to Jordan and Kobe. However, LeBron is arguably a more clutch player than Jordan statistically. When confronted with the prospect of elimination, Jordan went above and beyond in a few areas. He is 5-7 in elimination games throughout his career, with a 41.6 percent winning percentage. Jordan’s field goal percentage, free throw percentage, thefts, and turnovers all dropped as he faced elimination. Jordan won 75% of the time when given the chance to remove an opponent. When faced with the opportunity of eliminating his opponent, LeBron has a 76.6 percent winning percentage. He simply becomes more involved in games where he has the opportunity to finish his opponents (Basketball Statistics and History). When on the verge of being eliminated, he undergoes a full transformation. He improves in almost all the major statistical categories. He shoots 3.5 percent better and averages 5.6 more rebounds, 1.8 more assists,.8 more steals, 1 more block per game, 1.3 less turnovers, and 9.2 more points a game. LeBron is far more dependable than Jordan. LeBron wins 1.6 percent more often when they have a chance to eliminate opponents. LeBron is 16.7% more likely to win when as compared to Jordan when they are put in tough situations (Unk). When Jordan was on the verge of being eliminated, he only made minor improvements in a few categories. LeBron improved in practically every category, and he improved even more when he was on the verge of being eliminated. It is farcical to claim that LeBron does not play better and more clutch in tight circumstances.
Jordan played in a weaker league as he faced a number of new and upcoming teams during his career. Throughout his career, he played in a watered-down league. New clubs continued to flood the league as the new expansion teams made it to the playoffs. At every given time during his career, there were at least three teams with five years of experience or less. They arguably aided him to improve his stats. LeBron played in a weaker conference since the East has been ranked lower than the West in almost all of LeBron’s seasons in NBA. In all of James’s seasons, the East has one more games once thus showcasing it to be way weaker than the West. LeBron James has only lost to the Western Conference twice in his career, in his rookie year and the 2017-2018 season. He has a winning record versus the West every other season, and he has a career record of 344-197 against the Western Conference. So, despite playing in the weaker overall conference for the majority of his career, LeBron has never had trouble defeating the West (Unk).
When it comes to playing in the Playoffs and Finals, LeBron has faced tougher opponents. It is due to the reason that Jordan faced nine Hall of Famers in his championship games while LeBron has faced 30. During the playoffs, Michael Jordan faced 16 Hall of Famers on 39 occasions. He had a winning record against six of the sixteen, a tie with one, and a losing record against nine of the sixteen. Throughout the playoffs, LeBron faced 14 Hall of Famers. On 34 instances, he had to deal with these 14. He had a winning record against 11 of the 14, was tied with two, and only lost against Dwight Howard in a single meeting. In the playoffs, he had a 25-9 record against Hall of Fame opponents (Basketball Statistics and History). Only nine out of forty eight of the Hall of Famers Jordan faced managed to face were in the Finals which adds up to 18 percent. 33 out of the 66 Hall of Fame opponents LeBron played were in the Finals which account to 50 percent (Greer). Therefore, LeBron has faced much tougher opponents and world class players as compared to Jordan. It shows that LeBron is a stronger player based on the competition he has faced and still managed to record impressive stats. However, LeBron has had better teammates as compared to Jordan since he has teamed up with many All-Stars and Hall of Fame players.
The big thing that separates LeBron and Jordan is the number of rings. Jordan boasts having got six rings in six attempts while LeBron has four rings in ten attempts. It means that Jordan has been better in the finals and thus managed to record impressive stats. However, the rings are won in the finals and a player can be bad at postseason but still manage to win. Hence, the number of rings won does not necessarily showcase who the better player is between the two. In ten of his 17 seasons, James has finished first or second. This means he could make it to the Finals 58.82 percent of the time and finish the season in first or second place. In his career, James has missed the playoffs three times. Jordan finished first or second six times in his 15-year career. He was the league’s best player 40% of the time. Jordan has been eliminated from the playoffs twice in his career. Even if he did not win the championship, LeBron has had a much more continuous winning streak throughout his career (Sanin).
Conclusion
LeBron James is better player when statistically compared to Jordan. It means that he is a better all -around player. Jordan is better in scoring and has more awards and trophies. In point9ing out the best basketball player ever, we ought to look at the statistics without considering the number of times one has won the championship. Since LeBron is statistically better and is still playing today, he is the better player as his individual contribution have made a name for him in the books of history. The GOAT is arguably LeBron as he is good in basketball and manages to uplift his team more as compared to Jordan. He is the greatest of all time because he is in a better position to help his team win and also eliminate opponents. He is the best and arguably the most complete player in basketball history.
