LEBRON JAMES is the GOAT - Jordan & Kareem 2a & 2b

[Jameis1of1]

Michael Jordan played 15 seasons in the NBA and LeBron just finished his 15th season, so it's a great time to compare them ...

Regular Season & Post-Season Career Combined Stats, Awards & Advanced Analytics Breakdown:

POINTS: Jordan (38,279 to 37,949) * LBJ scored approx. 7.5% more efficiently than MJ

REBOUNDS: LeBron (10,537 to 7,824)
ASSISTS: LeBron ( 9,895 to 6,655)

STEALS: Jordan (2,890 to 2,284)

BLOCKS: LeBron (1,120 to 1,051)

MVPs: Jordan (5 to 4 and counting ... should be tied this year if voters aren't insane)

Top 10 MVP selections: LeBron (15 to 11) ... yes, LeBron did it every single year ... even as a 19 year old.
1st Team All-NBA Selections: LeBron (12 to 10)
2nd Team All-NBA Selections: LeBron (2 to 1)
Total All-NBA Selections: LeBron (14 to 11)

NBA DPOY: Jordan (1 to 0)
1st Team All-NBA DEFENSE Selections: Jordan (9 to 5)
2nd Team All-NBA DEFENSE Selections: Jordan (1 to 0)
Total All-NBA DEFENSE Selections: Jordan (9 to 6)

Player of the Week Awards: LeBron (61 to 25)

Player of the Month Awards: LeBron (44 to 19)
Top 10 in Player Efficiency Rating Seasons: LeBron (14 to 11)
Top 10 Offensive Win Share Seasons: LeBron (14 to 11)

Top 10 Defensive Win Share Seasons: Jordan (8 to 6)

Top 10 Overall Win Share Seasons: LeBron (13 to 11)
Top 10 Offensive Box Plus/Minus Seasons: LeBron (14 to 11)
Top 10 Defensive Box Plus/Minus: LeBron (1 to 0) Scottie Pippen did it 3x but Jordan never did it even once
Top 10 Overall Box Plus/Minus: LeBron (14 to 10)
Top 10 Value Over Replacement Player Seasons: LeBron (14 to 11)

#1 in the NBA Value Over Replacement Player Seasons: LeBron (9 to 7)

To me, there isn't even a doubt that LeBron has topped Jordan as the GOAT already ... I actually don't understand how Jordan ever topped Kareem on the GOAT list to be honest ... and to think LeBron could play another 6 years (until his son enters the NBA so they can play a game together or against each other) and just utterly obliterate every single statistical mark Jordan ever set, in both the regular season, playoffs and NBA Finals, is just mind-boggling.

[Jameis1of1]

LeBron is basically a lab creation ... it's like some mad scientist took the DNA of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Karl Malone and created a super-human named LeBron.

I honestly have no idea how anyone who watched Jordan play (and I watched basically Jordan's entire career, including in-person rather than only on TV) can possibly think he was better than Lebron ... I mean, it's not even close. Jordan was a scorer, plain and simple ... LeBron does everything every game ... comparing Jordan to LeBron is like comparing Reggie Miller to Clyde Drexler, or Carmelo Anthony to Scottie Pippen, or Allen Iverson to Russell Westbrook, or Dirk Nowitzki to Kevin Garnett, etc ... it's absurd.

[Jameis1of1]

I find it hilarious how Jordan fans know they crowned MJ as the GOAT after his first 3-peat, when he had 8 less rings than Russell and 3 less rings than Kareem, but they go crazy if someone says LeBron's the GOAT simply because he has 3 less rings than Jordan ... especially when they know LeBron's aso been to more Finals IN A ROW than Jordan was ever able to even get to in his entire 15 year career!

Anyways, I love MJ, loved watching him play in-person and seeing his career unfold, but I know what I'm seeing with LeBron ... and it's the true GOAT play the game of basketball.

I'm also not big on revisionist history and the narrative surrounding Jordan now is quite ridiculous. I remember when he was considered a jerky, ball-hogging shot-chucker who could never lead or win like Magic ... and while Jordan may have won 1 more ring in his 15 years than Magic did in his 12 years, Jordan only led his team to 6 Finals appearances in 15 years (40%), while Magic led his team, in a tougher conference, to 9 Finals appearances in 12 years (75%)! I still consider Magic the far better "leader" and "winner" when compared to MJ.

Again, Jordan was Kobe before Kobe ... LeBron is a whole different beast, a perfect mixture of Magic, Bird, Jordan and Karl Malone ... and he's the true GOAT ... and it's not even close imho.

By the way ... the "rings" argument is shown to be irrelevant across the board in all sports. In basketball, Jordan has 5 less rings than Russell yet it's Jordan who is considered to rank higher on the GOAT list ... in football Aaron Rodgers has just 1 ring yet he ranks higher on most everyone's list than Terry Bradshaw, the 2nd winningest QB of all time ... in baseball Mike Trout is already being called the GOAT and he's hasn't won a single ring, in hockey Gretzy is the obvious GOAT and yet he hasn't won the most rings, etc., etc., etc.

[Jameis1of1]

BY THE WAY Michael Jordan was 5-15 in the playoffs without Pippen

and

NEVER even made it out of the first round without Pippen on his team!

[Jameis1of1]

Jordan was an amazing scorer ... no one would argue with that ... he was Kobe before Kobe ... though he never scored near 81 in a game as Kobe did to the Raptors or outscored a team by himself as Kobe did to the Mavericks.

As for Jordan's "scrubby teams" ... LeBron led a team where the second leading scorer in the Finals was Drew Gooden at just 12.8 points per game and the third leading scorer was Boobie Gibson at just 10.8 points per game ... Boobie Gibson! And Lebron led THAT scrubby team to the NBA Finals at the age of 22, an age when Jordan was busy losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Terry Cummings led Milwaukee Bucks, despite Jordan having a teammate score 20.5 points per game (Orlando Woolridge) and another teammate score 15.3 points per game (Quintin Dailey) in that series!

The fact is that Jordan NEVER won a single conference title without Phil Jackson coaching him and Scottie Pippen as his running mate ... NEVER.

LeBron has won conference titles being coached by Mike Brown, Eric Spoelstra, David Blatt and Ty Lue and played in NBA Finals where his best teammate in the series was Drew Gooden and Matthew Dellavedova!

[Jameis1of1]

I know Jordanairre's don't like any facts that make Jordan look bad, but the facts are still the facts.

Fact #1: Michael Jordan won just one out of 10 playoff games without Scottie Pippen and never made it past the 1st round ... he was basically Tracy McGrady before T-Mac.

Fact #2: Jordan NEVER even had a winning record, as in a mere 42-40 record over the course of a season without Pippen on his team ... not one time.

Fact #3: The Bulls went 57-25 with Jordan the year before he retired the first time ... he then retired and the Bulls did not add any significant players to the roster and Pippen led them to a 55-27 record ... they literally only won 2 less games without Jordan ... compare that to what happened every time Shaq and LeBron left their teams ... their teams completely collapsed ... and that will likely happen to the Cavs again if LeBron leaves them and they don't bring in any new significant players.

The above are hard facts that Jordanairre's hate to talk about, but they are facts nonetheless and part of the reason why I believe Jordan may be the most over-rated player in history and that Pippen absolutely is the most under-rated player in history.

By the way, here's a neat little article written by the renowned Sam Smith ... it's not in-depth but still a fun read:
www.espn.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=smith_sam&id=1895719

[Jameis1of1]

LeBron is now #1 all-time in 30 point playoff games

[Jameis1of1]

The full resume that matters and LeBron's full resume is already more impressive than Jordan's was ... and LeBron could play another 5-6 years, and by that time, I would say that literally 70%+ of all NBA fans will rank LeBron ahead of Jordan ... and most talking heads seem to see this change coming as they know most future fans will never have actually watched Jordan play and will simply compare the full resume of MJ against the full resume of LeBron and see that LeBron OBLITERATES Jordan in both career regular season AND career playoff: points, rebounds, assists and wins, and that he also dominates the career advanced analytics ... it won't even be a debate in 20+ years ... Jordan will be like Bobby Orr for hockey fans while LeBron will be the NBA's Gretzky and will be considered the GOAT by the vast majority of fans.

[Jameis1of1]

I watched Jordan's career unfold, many times in person, and he was also ripped while he was playing ... for a long-time he was consider a ball hog and shot-chucker and a guy who cared more about stats than winning and a guy who could never "lead" a team, and a jerk of a teammate, and a jerk of a human being, etc., etc., etc.,. It wasn't until after he won his 6th ring that the narrative on him completely changed and he turned into a mythological figure and that irks me. Jordanairre's want to pretend he didn't go 5-15 in the playoffs without Pippen, that he didn't have a losing record in all 5 seasons he played without Pippen, that he didn't fail to win a single ring without Pippen and Phil Jackson, that the Bulls didn't only lose 2 more games without him when he retired than they did with him the previous year, etc., etc., etc ... it's irksome.

[Jameis1of1]

I had season tickets in Jordan's hey day and the defenses SUCKED league wide ... I mean, all one has to do is look at the league-wide team scoring averages in Jordan's career and compare them to the same in Kobe's career to see just how porous the defenses were in Jordan's era ... they were horrible. They were more physical and dirty but nowhere near as disciplined or schematically advanced as they were in Kobe's era and the stats bare that out perfectly. Things are starting to get back to where they were in Jordan's era right now as league-wide scoring is increasing over the past few years, but it's still not where it was in Jordan's era as the defenses are far more advanced.

As for overall "quality of play" ... again, we must have been watching two different sports. In Jordan's era nearly all teams were led by one single superstar and a bunch of role players ... today is the era of super teams. The teams Jordan beat in the Finals, every single one of them, would have been blown off the court by the current Warriors team. Likewise the players Jordan matched up head to head against in his Finals such as Jeff Hornacek (twice), Hersey Hawkins, Dan Majerle and Byron Scott may not even start on quality teams in today's NBA. Clyde Drexler was the only true superstar SG Jordan ever matched up against in his Finals ... compare that to LeBron who has gone against Kawhi (twice) and Durant (twice) or Kobe who went head to head with Reggie Miller, Allen Iverson and Ray Allen (twice).

Likewise physical freaks at the wing positions like Giannis, Durant, Kawhi, Porzingis, Simmons, etc., which are prevalent today were basically non-existent in Jordan's era ... Jordan was the physical freak. Heck, I even remember the announcers raving about a guy Jordan played in the Finals and how he was so much more athletic than most players ... you know who that was? The immortal Richard Dumas of the Suns ... HAHAHAHAHAHA ... what a joke.