Why Michael Jordan is the greatest player in NBA history..

MJ vs LeBron...LeBron vs Jordan..which one theses players should rank higher all time when it comes to rankings? This is a debate that has has erupted ever since LeBron came back down from 3-1 against a 73 win Golden State team. But in this article i will show why LeBron James as if today has not reached the bar that Michael Jordan set in the 80s and 90s. I know this article wont end the GOAT debate once and for all as that is a debate that will continue for the rest of eternity but what i am hoping to do is give you an insight on this debate that you've never seen before. Now enough of my rambling lets get started!

When ranking players all time most fans all have a similar criteria that consist of

Wining
Playoff Performing
Accolades
Impact
Two-way play
Peak
Competition
longevity

So this is how i will try to convince you that Michael Jordan does indeed rank higher all time than LeBron. So why not start off with the winning argument? Michael Jordan is an all time great winner and is considered the 2nd best winner ever behind Mr. Bill Russell! Lets compare these players winning stats:

Number of Championships:

MJ: 6 (in 15 years)

LeBron: 4 (in 17 years)

Playoff Win Percentage:

MJ: 66.5%

LeBron: 66.2%

Finals appearances

LeBron: 10

MJ: 6

Finals Record:

MJ: 6-0

LeBron: 4-6

three-peats:

MJ: 2

LeBron: 0

So by these stats it's clear that when it comes to winning Michael Jordan trumps LeBron...i have been around basketball a long time so i've seen all the rebuttals and arguments against the winning argument such as: "winning dose not matter" or "Michael Jordan had more help" and so i'll take some time to debunk these arguments before we move on. Michael Jordan and LeBron had about the same amount of help through the entirety of their NBA careers. MJ throughout his career had 1 all star teammate and 1 all NBA teammate in Scottie Pippen. LeBron had 7 all star teammates and 3 all NBA teammates.

And if you want to look at individual seasons playing with an all star....

LeBron: 10 of 17 years

MJ: 6 of 15 years

Individual season playing with an All NBA member:

LeBron: 5

MJ: 6 (but pippen in 95' was an ALL NBA member but MJ barely played that year)

And when it comes to All NBA teammates that dose not include Kyrie Irving in 2016 and 2017. But in those 2 playoff years he averaged he averaged 25.5 PPG | 4.9 AST | 47.2% FG | 40.6% 3PT | which is definitely all NBA worthy. It also dose not include Chris Bosh who from the 2011-2014 playoffs averaged 14.9 PPG | 48.1% FG | 7.3 REB and 40.6% 3PT.

And for MJ this dose not include the fact that he played with Phil Jackson who in my opinion and in a lot lot of people opinions is the Greatest Coach in NBA history. So with that extra push of context i just gave you we can now fairly evaluate. If you want to say MJ had more help then LeBron that's fine but they had nearly the same amount of help to the point were that rebuttal is irrelevant. Also let's not forget what MJ did in his last 2 title runs. In 1997 Jordan became the only player in NBA history to ever lead a team to a championship with only 1 teammate averaging over 10 PPG..his 3rd leading scorer averaged less than 8 PPG. And in 1998 playoffs Rodman was not starting most games and Pippen had back issues. Look at this stat and i assure you that you will see Michael Jordan's championships rings in a new light..

Lowest scoring supporting cast for the overall playoffs since 1954:

1. 98' Bulls

2. 97' Bulls

3. 99' Spurs

4. 04' Pistions

5. 92' Bulls

6. 96' Bulls

7. 12' Heat

8. 93' Bulls

So Michael Jordan owns 5 of the top 8 lowest scoring supporting cast ever...5 OF THE TOP 8! So Michael Jordan didn't win because he had so much more help. (and yes i know scoring is not everything but it is pretty important) and usually after this the next rebuttal is"LeBron faced better teams" but that is a false statement that we will cover later.

Now lets look at which one of these players had better two-way play. This one once again goes to Jordan. And the stats will show that as fact!

Season being on the All Defensive 1st team and All NBA 1st team:

Michael Jordan: 9
LeBron: 5

Season being top 5 in MVP voting and DPOY voting

Michael Jordan: 7
LeBron James: 4

When looking at these stats i want you to remember 2 things...the first being that in the 1987-88 NBA seasons MJ became the 1st player to ever win DPOY and MVP in the same year...and he did that leading the NBA in scoring averaging 35 PPG! And number 2 that MJ leads LeBron in both of these stats despite playing less seasons than LeBron did. And i have already heard all the rebuttals: "Media Voting awards are a bad way of measuring things". Well fine then let's just use straight up statistics.

Seasons being top 5 in OWS (offensive win shares) and DWS (defensive win shares)

Michael Jordan: 8
LeBron James: 6

And typically the next rebuttal would be that LeBron can defend more positions than Michael Jordan was able to. And that is a factual statement..but unfortunately there seems to be some ridiculous misconception among fans that more versatile = better. And that is couldn't be more false. Michael Jordan was able to guard positions 1-3. And on the other hand LeBron was able to guard positions 1-4. So why do people make such a big fuss about LeBron being able to defend 1 more position than Jordan...ONE!

Now which one of these 2 players faced better competition through their NBA careers? Different people have different opinions about this topic. On 1 hand MJ faced teams like Bird's Celtics and the bad boy pistons. And on the other LeBron played Curry and Durant's Warriors and Duncan's Spurs. LeBron spent a lot of his time playing in the 2010s Eastern Conference. And it's no secret that the 2010s Eastern Conference is one of the weakest conferences in the entirety of NBA history. And the 1990s Eastern conference is considered one of the best ever. But to get the full picture on which 1 of these players faced better competition we need to look at the OVERALL teams instead of just 2 or 3. So heres a stat to give an insight on these 2 players competition in each round of the playoffs:

Average win percentage of 1st round playoff opponents:

MJ: 58.8%
LeBron: 53.5%

Average win percentage of 2nd round playoff opponents:

MJ: 63.2%
LeBron: 62%

Average win percentage of 3rd round playoff opponents:

MJ: 71.3%
LeBron: 67.2%

Average win percentage of finals opponents:

MJ: 74.6%
LeBron: 74.3%

A weird thing that people do when looking at competition is that they only look at the team that player A and player B played in the FINALS instead of looking at every round to fairly inspect these players competition. This is also a good time to mention that Michael Jordan beat the most 60 win teams in NBA history. Michael Jordan has also beat more 50 win teams than LeBron has. And i know people will say that is not a fair point because in the 2012 and 2020 NBA season the season was shortened. But that's not a problem because if we adjusted win percentage of teams for all the shortened seasons then Michael Jordan would come out with 20 50 win teams beaten and LeBron would come out to 17 50 win teams beaten. And remember when i'm telling you stats like this always keep in mind that Michael Jordan played about 10 less playoff series than LeBron.

Next up we have accolades! This one I wont spend to much time on because it's pretty clear this on should be handed to MJ. Let's take a look at each of these players accolades.

Michael Jordan:

LeBron James

Let's go over what LeBron has over MJ. Through his career LeBron has racked up 5 more all NBA teams, has been to 2 more all star games, and has 1 more AST title. Now why not go over what MJ has over LeBron. In Michael Jordan's shorter career he racked up 2 more championships, 2 more FMVPS, 1 more DPOTY, 3 more all defensive teams, 9 more scoring titles, 3 more steals titles. So any unbiased NBA fan will be able to see that when it comes to accolades it's not hard to make a decision as this one clearly gives the edge to Michael Jordan.

A players impact on his team is a great thing to take into account when debating about which player ranks higher on an all time list. PER (player efficiency rating) PIPM (player impact plus minus) BPM (box plus minus) WS/48 (win shares per 48 minutes) and VORP (value over replacement player) are the most common NBA stats to measure a players impact on his team. So allow me to use these stats to show why Michael Jordan is more impactful than LeBron. Now is a good time to mention that when is say ''MJ's Prime'' i'm referring to 1985-1998 and when i say "LeBron's prime i'm referring to 2006-2020. And these stats are also only in seasons were they played over 60 games. So for MJ's Prime he had a PER of 29.1 and led the NBA in PER 7 times. And in the playoffs had a PER of 28.6. And in LeBron's prime he had a PER of 28.3 and led the NBA in PER 6 times and in the playoffs had a PER of 28.4 and led the NBA in Playoff PER 5 times (remember MJ played less years). So what this stat shows us is that MJ is more impactful although it's really close. Now let's move on to one of my favourite stats: Player impact plus minus. In LeBron's 17 year career he led the NBA in PIPM 4 times. MJ did it 7 times. In MJ's prime he had a BPM of 10.3. In LeBron's prime he has a BPM of 9.5. LeBron has led the NBA in BPM 7 times and MJ did it 9 times. When it comes to WS/48 in Jordan in his prime he has a WS/48 average of 27.5 and led the NBA in that stat 8 times. But LeBron in his prime has a WS/48 average of 25 and led the NBA in that 5 times. And last but not least we have VORP. On average LeBron put a VORP of 8.4 per season and MJ on average put up a VORP number of 9.8. MJ led the NBA in this stat 9 times and LeBron also led the NBA in this stat 9 times. But MJ played less seasons. So i talked about the 5 most common impact metrics: VORP,PIPM,BPM,PER, and WS/48...and MJ led LeBron in EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM! The rebuttal for this would "Well look at what happened when LeBron left Cleveland..the only won 19 games and when MJ left the bulls they still won 55 games!" Ive talked about this argument on my social medias so i wont spend to much time on it. But when LeBron left the Cavs they lost 3 other player and Mo Williams who averaged 15.8 PPG in 2010 and was an all star in 2009 was traded after 36 games and the Cavs replaced him with Baron Davis who would only go on to play 15 games. The 2011 Cavs leading scorer would only play 56 games and Anderson Varejao the starting Center would only play 31 games. And they lost their Head Coach. And when the bulls lost MJ they only lost 1 other player in Rodney McCray who only started in 5 games in 1993 anyway. And they ADDED 5 players and BJ Armstrong and Horace grant became NBA All Stars. Now there are 2 main reasons why the bulls only won 57 games in 1993 number 1: in the summer of 92' MJ and Pippen played for the Dream Team so they were not as rested. And number 2: they were pacing themselves (which means the don't try as hard in the regular season and and save most of their energy for the playoffs) And here is proof of this.

Will Perdue on the 1993 Chicago Bulls:

"When we saw that were in a bind and needed to excel or bring our game back to the level we just finished playing at for the last 2 years then we would be able to do that"

Michael Jordan on the 93' Chicago Bulls:

"We were just kinda going through the season and we weren't doing as well but it didn't really concern us. One thing we never had was doubt."

But in 1994 they had to try harder because they just lost their best player. So the 1993 Bulls were not a image of an MJ led Bulls team when they are playing at their full extent. But here is the thing people always forget...in the 94' season the Bulls lost in the 2nd round and in the 93' season they won the championship! It's like people just bring up how they did in the regular season and never bring up the playoffs. Also before MJ came back to the bulls in 95' they had a record of 34-31. And when he came back they went 13-4.

Now let's talk about peak. Some fans define this differently. Some people define peak as a 1 or 2 year stretch and some fans define it as a 7 or 8 year stretch. So i'll be safe here and define peak as a stretch of a players 6 most elite years. So for MJ's peak ill be using his stretch from 1988-93. And for LeBron i will be using 2008-13. First let's look at these players stats in their peak.

LeBron regular season (2008-2013):

28.2 PPG | 7.7 REB | 7.3 AST | 1.7 STLS | 0.9 BLKs | 51.1% FG

MJ regular season (88-93)

32.5 PPG | 6.2 AST | 6.6 REB | 2.8 STLs | 1.0 BLKs | 52.5% FG

So LeBron averages 1 more rebound and 1 more AST but MJ averages 4 more points 1 more steal and shoots slightly better. So statistically it's close but i'll give the advantage to MJ despite me also seeing an argument for LeBron.

LeBron playoffs (2008-13):

28.3 PPG | 8.8 REB | 6.6 AST | 1.8 STLs | 1 BLK | 48.2% FG

MJ playoffs (88-93):

34.6 PPG | 6.7 REB | 6.6 AST | 2.3 STLs | 0.9 BLKs | 50.5% FG

Once again the averages are close but MJ averages about 6 more points on better shooting and more steals so i'll once again give that statistical advantage to Jordan.

When trying to find out which player had a better peak it's also important to look at that players accomplishments/accolades that the players had. So lets also look at that...

LeBron 2008-2013:

Michael Jordan (88-93):

there is not room for discussion on this one. As when it comes to peak accomplishments/accolades LeBron leads MJ in nothing but MJ leads LeBron in FMVPs, Championships, better finals record, all defensive teams, DPOYs, Scoring titles, STLs titles. So when it come to peak it's fair to declare MJ the winner.

Now let's talk about longevity. Most of you guys have probably heard me say that LeBron has the best longevity of all time and i still stand by that. So far he has had a 15 year prime. Here are some LeBron's longevity stats:

16 ALL NBA teams (1st of all time)

16 season of 25+ PPG (1st of all time)

14 seasons being top 5 in MVP voting (more than MJ)

So LeBron's longevity is breathtaking and it's undoubtably better than the longevity that MJ had throughout his career. So LeBron James is the winner in this category.

Last but not least we have playoff performing! This is another close one as i can go either way. These 2 players are in my opinion the 2 best playoff performers that the NBA has ever seen as their dominance in the postseason is eye opening.

Here are there basic career playoff numbers:

MJ: 33.4 PPG | 6.4 REB | 5.7 AST | 2.1 STLs | 0.9 BLKs| 48.7% FG | 82.8% FT | 33.2% 3PT | led NBA in playoff scoring 10 times

LeBron: 28.8 PPG | 9 REB | 7.5 AST | 1.7 STLs | 1 BLK | 49.6% FG | 74.1% FT | 33.5% 3PT | led NBA in playoff scoring 3 times

Like i said i can go either way. MJ leads LeBron in 4 categories and LeBron leads MJ In 5. But it would be ridiculous to make a big deal about LeBron averaging .1 more blocks and shooting .3% better from the behind the arc.

We also need to take in the negatives so we need to bring up 2011. LeBron has done things to make up for it but it still needs to be talked about. LeBron in the 2011 finals had one of the most embarrassing moments by a superstar in the history of this sport.

LeBron 2011 first 3 rounds of the playoffs: 26.0 PPG | 8.9 REB | 5.5 AST | 1.7 STLs | 1.5 BLKs | 46.3% FG | 36.8% 3PT | 78.7% FT

LeBron 2011 finals: 17.8 PPG | 7.2 REB | 6.8 AST | 1.7 STLs | 0.5 BLKS | 47.8% FG | 32.1% 3PT | 60% FT

But what makes it really bad is how he would go on to perform in the clutch. Here are LeBron's clutch totals in the 2011 NBA finals:

0 Points

0% FG (0/7)

0% 3PT (0/5)

0 REB

2 AST

-16 +/-

And in the closeout game he had 21 points | 4 REB | 6 AST | 60% FG | 25% FT | 6 TOV | -24 +/-

And he only took 2 shots in the last 6 mins of the 4th quarter...

You can go through Michael Jordan's playoff career start to finish and you can not find 1 moment were he played as bad as LeBron did i the 2011 NBA finals. It was unlike him...it's just not GOAT behaviour. In Michael Jordans WORST finals series in 96' vs Payton's Supersonics he still averaged:

27.3 PPG | 5.3 REB | 4.2 AST | 53.8% TS | FMVP

This was his WORST finals series...And MJ in this series was facing statistically the 2nd best defence in the league and was being guarded by the DPOY for about half of the series. MJ played 37 playoff series for his whole career and in those 37 series he has never averaged under 26 PPG in a playoff series. In his worst scoring playoff series for his career came against the Hawks in the 1997 2nd round were he averaged:

26.2 PPG | 10.2 REB | 5.2 AST | 45.4% FG

He was facing a 56 win team with statistically the 3rd best defence in the league and had the DPOTY in Dikembe Mutombo. That is ridiculous! And MJ has only scored 15 or less points 1 time in the playoffs...LeBron has done that 13 times..also MJ is the only player to ever have back to back 50 point playoff games! He also has the most 50 point playoff games ever and the highest scoring playoff game in the history of the NBA (63). MJ also led his team to victory 6 times and LeBron did it 4 times.

55+ point playoff games

MJ: 5

everyone else in NBA history: 6

FG% in last game shots with 24 seconds left

MJ: 50%

LeBron: 37%

with 10 seconds left

MJ: 47%

LeBron: 41%

With 5 seconds left

MJ: 45%

LeBron: 41%

So i'm personally taking MJ as the better playoff performer here.

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Why Michael Jordan is the greatest player in NBA history..

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