It has been an endless debate since LeBron James won his first championship in 2012 about who is the greatest player in the history of the NBA. To many, it’s an open and shut case for Michael Jordan. As time passed, Lebron James started to build an impressive resume that showed his ability to win championships and break all-time records. While LeBron James certainly has impressed himself and is the self-declared greatest player ever to play the game of basketball, his resume still does not hold up to Michael Jordan, nor will it ever.
The most total points in NBA history didn’t make Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the greatest despite having two more rings and more MVPs than LeBron James. The chances of LeBron James changing anyone’s opinion by breaking a record highlighting his longevity over his greatness is slim to none.
“If you ask me, I would never say that I am the greatest player. That’s because I never played against all the people that represented the league prior to Michael Jordan.” – mICHAEL jORDan
Evidence Michael Jordan Is The Greatest
- Undefeated in the Finals: Michael Jordan has two separate three-peats on his resume. He was also the driving force behind each of those championships, which is why he was awarded the Finals MVP six times. It’s hard to look at the “what if” factors when putting together a G.O.A.T. argument, but it is possible Jordan could’ve finished his career off with several more championships if he didn’t retire in his prime or if Jerry Krause didn’t break the team up in the summer of 1998.
- Dominated on both ends of the floor: Michael Jordan owns the record for most scoring titles in NBA history with a total of 10. The more impressive part is how dominant he was on defense while putting up the most points per game in the history of the NBA. Jordan has a Defensive Player of the Year award on his resume and also was All-Defense nine times in his career.
- Never changed teams: Despite losing in the first round several times until he ultimately beat the Bad Boys Pistons, Jordan never hinted he would leave Chicago through free agency or a trade. He took on the challenge to get better and make his teammates better. Jumping from team to team chasing a championship is something Jordan never entertained.
- Hall of Fame resume separating Michael Jordan and LeBron James: Michael Jordan has two more championships, two Finals MVPs, one regular season MVP, one DPOY, and nine scoring titles over LeBron James.
- Carried himself as a champion: Well before LeBron James entered the league, Michael Jordan was the undisputed greatest basketball player, and still is. However, Jordan never uttered those words out of his mouth. He said he cringes at calling himself the greatest because it’d be disrespectful to Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, the legends who came before him. LeBron James has gone on record multiple times to lower Jordan’s rankings by placing himself above the player he once looked up to as a child.
It isn’t about legacy, whether or not someone else did what these players can do, or even about the number of rings. Jordan is clearly a greater player than LeBron on so many levels, I am shocked we are still having this conversation. He is far more accomplished even when you account for LeBron’s longevity, his greater number of all star selections, and more all NBA selections. Jordan is clearly superior across the board on the metrics. He is ahead of LeBron on ALL of them, including Value over replacement player. 6 of the 9 highest VORP rankings go to… Read more »
It isn’t about legacy, whether or not someone else did what these players can do, or even about the number of rings. Jordan is clearly a greater player than LeBron on so many levels, I am shocked we are still having this conversation. He is far more accomplished even when you account for LeBron’s longevity, his greater number of all star selections, and more all NBA selections. Jordan is clearly superior across the board on the metrics. He is ahead of LeBron on ALL of them, including Value over replacement player. 6 of the 9 highest VORP rankings go to… Read more »
I totally agree with this statement.
There is seriously no debate as to who the GOAT was unless someone either has never seen both play, or has no access to old videos. When Jordan came up, everybody was like “I’ve never seen anybody do THAT.” Even Bird and Magic could see that. Lebron is quite ordinary by comparison, if you want to use the word comparison. There is no comparison. With the Bulls I’m not sure how many rings they would have gotten with Lebron instead of Jordan, but it ain’t 6. Maybe 3. Pippen never would have been the player he was if not for… Read more »
Jordan played for the wizards you fucking moron