LeBron James-Michael Jordan Debate

I understand that LeBron James is down 2-0 in the Finals, so now is not the ideal time to claim that he is the greatest to ever lace them up, but that's exactly what I am going to do. As a full-disclaimer I was not yet born when Jordan's reigned, but I have watched his career on loop. Thanks YouTube!

I want to preface everything that I am about to say with this: the social media age has killed LeBron. Twitter, Instagram, all of that has done more harm than good in terms of his overall perception. There is this sentiment about LeBron that he has less "heart" than other all-time great basketball players; that he lacks that "killer instinct". How does one even quantify that? Is it because he is 3-4 in the Finals (starring down the barrel of being 3-5), whereas MJ was 6-0, that LeBron catches so much flack? If we take the bullshit narrative regarding LeBron's "killer instinct" and Jordan's 6-0 Finals record out of the equation, THIS IS NOT EVEN A DEBATE. Based on raw data, LeBron is the better player. Period. I will delve into that in a minute, but first let me finish. Should we punish LeBron for making 8 NBA Finals (and counting) while Jordan "only" made 6? Is it better to make it to the Finals and lose or to not make the Finals at all? I would argue the former, but for some asinine reason very few tend to agree. This is mind-blowing because if you don't lose in the Finals, one would have to either lose in an earlier round or fail to make the playoffs all together. The objective is to advance as far as you can. LeBron has made the Finals more frequently than Jordan, and with far inferior teammates.

Now, let me get back to what I said at the onset. Social media has hamstrung LeBron's case as the GOAT. Each time he trips up, there is a media firestorm. He is critiqued and criticized with no mercy. Let me provide an example. In the final 10 seconds of playoff games with his team tied or trailing by one possession, LeBron is 6-14 (43%). Michael Jordan, in the same instances was 7-15 (47%). Now if I were to ask you to guess the discrepancy between these two in "clutch" situations, I am guessing 99 out of 100 would have assumed that Jordan was head and shoulders above LeBron. Well, I am here to tell you that he isn't. Yet, there is this perception that Jordan never failed and that LeBron is a choke artist. First off, Michael Jordan is romanticized more than my grandfather's high-school sweetheart. But social media is also to blame for this falsification. When LeBron missed those 8 shots (the same number as Jordan), he was picked apart as not being clutch across all social media platforms. But, from looking at these numbers, LeBron is on par with Jordan in crunch-time. Or rather, I should say that Jordan was on par with LeBron.

Now, let's look at their careers in totality. And just to be clear: LeBron is still playing. He will still add to his numbers. The cement has yet to dry.

Jordan played 15 NBA seasons, although three of them shouldn't even count (1 in Chicago in which he returned in April appearing in only 17 games after he stupidly decided to try baseball, and the two years he spent with the Wizards after coming out of retirement). LeBron is already in his 14th season and has shown no signs of slowing down. Longevity edge: LeBron.

Both players suffered from MVP-fatigue. Voters got sick and tired of Jordan and LeBron's complete domination so they decided to vote for another (undeserving) player just to keep the award from growing stale. Jordan claimed 5 MVP's to LeBron's 4. But once again, LeBron is still playing. LeBron has been named to the first team All-NBA 11 CONSECUTIVE YEARS. Jordan made it 10 times in his entire career.

Despite being a small forward, LeBron already has nearly 2,000 more assists than Jordan did in his entire career. He also has over 1,000 more rebounds than Michael. MJ currently has the edge in scoring, but LeBron should eclipse him sometime early in 2019. Assuming great health (and with him, why not?) LeBron should become the NBA's all-time leading scorer as well, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Being extremely conservative, if LeBron averages 22 points per game (which would be his lowest output since his rookie season) and plays in just 74 games per season (which he has failed to do just once in a full season), LeBron will supplant Kareem when he is 37 years of age. LeBron also has an opportunity to jump into the top five all-time in assists as well. Of those who currently reside in the top five all-time in assists (John Stockton, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Mark Jackson, Magic Johnson) LeBron would have more than double the amount of points of any of them, assuming he does become the NBA's all-time scoring leader. Let that sink in.

The top scorer and a top five passer of all time? You're telling me there's someone better than that? Stop it!