The Biggest Argument In All of Basketball

Going back to my sports roots there is one argument that will never be settled, the GOAT. The GOAT means Greatest Of All Time, which means who is the greatest basketball player of all time? The argument is quite simple. The argument is Michael Jordan vs. Lebron James. Now I don’t have a side that I take because I know a lot about both and I’ve seen both play. So let’s look at the factors.

Stats: Lebron is the better all-around player, Jordan is the better scorer. Lebron can destroy a team just by his play whereas Jordan can destroy just by being Mike. Meaning Jordan just has to take over and it’s game over. In their careers, Jordan averaged 30 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Lebron is currently averaging 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. This can prove that Mike was the better scorer and Lebron is the better all-around player.

Playoffs: Jordan’s Bulls made the playoffs 12 times when he played, Lebron has made the playoffs 12 times as well. However here’s the difference Lebron has never lost in the first round. Now I’m not saying he’s better this is just true fact. Jordan is always considered the GOAT because of his finals record which I’ll get to soon, but Championships are not everything. Here’s the argument on championships.

Finals record: Lebron has been to the Finals 7 times, 6 consecutive and has a 3-4 record. Jordan has reached the Finals 6 and won all 6 making him a perfect 6 for 6 in the Finals. Here’s where I will become a little bias. Lebron has been to 6 in a row, that’s something Jordan has never done. Yet Lebron is considered not greater than Jordan. Why? Because of his record. The argument for Jordan is that he never lost in the finals and has never gone to a game 7. Both of which Lebron has done.

Rings: Like I said Jordan is considered the greatest of all time because he has six rings to Lebron’s 3. The thing is, if greatness was based on rings than there would be other players who would be the GOAT. Some of whom are Bill Russell with 11 rings, and basically the Celtics teams in the 60s. So this argument isn’t very valid because of that fact that Jordan would not be in the top 5.

Last but not least,

Teammates: For me, I think Jordan had better teammates because he had three Hall of Famers in Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. Not to mention he also had, coming off the bench, Steve Kerr, Toni Kukoc, Bill Wennington, and John Salley in the 95-96 season or the season where they had the best record in all of the NBA until last year. Lebron did not have the talent that Jordan had in his early years with the Cavs. When he went to the Heat, he had Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Mario Chalmers and then with the Cavs, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, J. R. Smth, and Tristan Thompson. The Heat bench was alright. Now with Cleveland, he has a much better team and there literally isn’t anyone from the 2010 season that’s on this year’s roster. So I think Jordan had the better teammates.

Other than these, this is a great argument for any sports fan. At the end of the day, however, you have to respect both players and their styles. Both are very influential and are great to look up to. even though they hear this all the time, they have a lot of respect for each other.