Jordan vs. LeBron

I'm old enough to have watched plenty of prime Jordan years and all of Lebron's career.

My answer is --- I don't know.

Jordan played in an era where you played almost the entire game. He took more shots per game he shot fewer threes during the game. Jordan played in a more physical era while LeBron played in an era where the shot physicality was less but the actual players were far more physically dominant.

Jordan has more rings but Jordan also played on consistently better teams.

LeBron willed his teams to finals multiple times on his pure talent alone. Jordan spent the first 6 years of his career not making the finals.

Lebron also was a better facilitator. Lebron is the better physical player. Basketball in the 80s and 90s was more contactful but physicality I don't agree. These dudes are even greater freaks now.

There's no question they are the GOATs of their eras. They both led their teams to the finals on their backs for a decade each.

There's almost no part of Jordan's game that I don't think Bron could do at Jordan's level. But I still can't put Bron above Jordan because Jordan is a God.

But so is LeBron.

TheLegendOfBoom said:

If LeBron played in the late 80s and early 90s, because of the physicality of that time, even a guy the size and athletic ability of LeBron probably wouldn’t have lasted as long as he is now. The game became a lot “softer” since the 2000s.

It probably actually benefitted LeBron and his legacy greatly playing in 2002 until now. He didn’t have to deal with the power forwards and centers of those 80s and 90s decade.

If LeBron played in the era of an early Kevin McHale, Ric Smits, Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, early Shaq era, LeBron’s game would be entirely different than it came to be.

LeBron greatly benefitted from playing in the 2000s and 2010s era cause he didn’t have to go against those big guys.

Jordan, will always be the GOAT and only Kobe should be mentioned in the same class.

Kobe, was the only thing closest mentally with that killer instinct in basketball since Jordan.

Click to expand...

Dennis Rodman and LeBron James are the same height and LeBron has 30 pounds on him (prime Rodman).

Players from Rodman's era love to shit on the current game (and for the past few decades) but that's what old heads do.

The game from the 90s was slower. They bodied eachother in the paint. Slowly teams figured out that if they find pure shooters they could better spread the floor. They used to crowd the lane with like 4 defenders because they gave so much room to the 3 point line.

Now since 3-4/5 players on the court have 30%+ accuracy from 3, you can sit on the perimeter and clear the lane.

In 1995 there were 4 players that eclipsed 200 3 pointers in a season. That number is 23 last year. 14 above 150 and more than 50 last year.

Defense didn't become softer it became harder.

I grew up Idolizing Jordan. Lebron is better and I'm not sure its as close as many people my age think it is. Lebron as a dude drives me nuts, as a talent its the best ever.

Kobe ran Shaq out of LA and was a huge ball hog.

Jordan was better all around and got man handled. Now you can't even touch a guy without getting a foul called.

TheLegendOfBoom said:

If LeBron played in the late 80s and early 90s, because of the physicality of that time, even a guy the size and athletic ability of LeBron probably wouldn’t have lasted as long as he is now. The game became a lot “softer” since the 2000s.

It probably actually benefitted LeBron and his legacy greatly playing in 2002 until now. He didn’t have to deal with the power forwards and centers of those 80s and 90s decade.

If LeBron played in the era of an early Kevin McHale, Ric Smits, Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, early Shaq era, LeBron’s game would be entirely different than it came to be.

LeBron greatly benefitted from playing in the 2000s and 2010s era cause he didn’t have to go against those big guys.

Jordan, will always be the GOAT and only Kobe should be mentioned in the same class.

Kobe, was the only thing closest mentally with that killer instinct in basketball since Jordan.

Click to expand...

Bill Laimbeer alone would have had Bron weeping. If Bron were to pull a flop - like he does all the damn time - back then........absolutely no doubt in my mind someone would have kicked him while was down. There were some flat nasty groups back in the day.

Ostatehawk said:

Honestly the closest to Jordan outside of basketball is Tiger Woods.

Stone Cold Killers - both of them.

Click to expand...

Both loved them some Las Vegas too!

Of course it's Jordan. I can't believe this is even the discussion it's become these days. It's mostly because of recency bias and LeBron's longevity stats. My Lord, in todays NBA Jordan would be more unstoppable than he already was in his day with these spread offenses and the lack of physicality allowed on the defensive side of the ball. He played against teams like the Pistons, Celtics, and Knicks who just about mugged the guy when he made a move toward the hoop. And he well might have won eight or nine titles if he hadn't left to play baseball and the team hadn't been broken up that last season of his with the Bulls.

LeBron's an all-time great player, but even if you put him in the number two slot, I think there are a few players that are closer to him in second spot than he is to Jordan in the first.

I would still take Bird, just my opinion

RolandDeschain said:

You have to be willing to USE your size, not just HAVE it. LeBron would not have been the "physical, dominant ass-kicker" type back in the 90s. His mentality does not support that. It's like WRs in the NFL that are huge but can't manage to box out DBs that are eight inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter.

Click to expand...

It is like the difference between DK Metcalf and whomever you want to compare him too with the body type. He has the body, doesn't have the IT factor to dominate. Jordan belongs at the top, he earned it. I don't see Lebron getting the foul calls he does now, the whining would go on forever.

MJ, not a discussion. I'd take Kobe over Lebron too. When I think of Lebron I think of failure and crying.

Ozzy said:

I grew up Idolizing Jordan. Lebron is better and I'm not sure its as close as many people my age think it is. Lebron as a dude drives me nuts, as a talent its the best ever.

Click to expand...

Your about 30 yrs old right?

IndyHawk said:

Your about 30 yrs old right?

Click to expand...

I’m old as hell. Mid 40’s.

I was trolling a little. It’s close. I just think LeBron is the greatest all around player of all time and I hate saying it because he annoys the s$&! out of me. But I don’t have a problem with people thinking Jordan was better. I think you can make a reasonable argument for him too.

NoGain said:

Of course it's Jordan. I can't believe this is even the discussion it's become these days. It's mostly because of recency bias and LeBron's longevity stats. My Lord, in todays NBA Jordan would be more unstoppable than he already was in his day with these spread offenses and the lack of physicality allowed on the defensive side of the ball. He played against teams like the Pistons, Celtics, and Knicks who just about mugged the guy when he made a move toward the hoop. And he well might have won eight or nine titles if he hadn't left to play baseball and the team hadn't been broken up that last season of his with the Bulls.

LeBron's an all-time great player, but even if you put him in the number two slot, I think there are a few players that are closer to him in second spot than he is to Jordan in the first.

Click to expand...

Go back and watch 80/90’s basketball. The idea that today’s guys couldn’t play in that era is hilarious. They played terrible defense then too, the athletes were much worse and outside of the center everyone was smaller. Jordan would still be an all time great today no doubt but guys like LeBron, Kobe, Durant, Giannis would dominate in that era

There is a dude on YouTube who shows old tape of this physical tough era basketball that’s a parody account but regardless I was shocked at how wrong I had it in regards to that era because I used to use the same argument defending Jordan over LeBron until I went ant watched it.

Ozzy said:

Go back and watch 80/90’s basketball. The idea that today’s guys couldn’t play in that era is hilarious. They played terrible defense then too, the athletes were much worse and outside of the center everyone was smaller. Jordan would still be an all time great today no doubt but guys like LeBron, Kobe, Durant, Giannis would dominate in that era

Click to expand...

Go back and watch 80'-90's basketball? Shyt, I grew up watching 60's-70's basketball. I'm well aware of what different eras were about. I split season tickets for the Bulls from the mid-80's till I moved out here in the early 90's. I watched plenty of 80's-90's basketball. I watched the majority of games live that Jordan ever played. Everyone smaller back then? The Celtics starting lineup in the 80's was Parish 7'1", McHale 6'10", Bird 6'9", DJ 6'5", and Ainge 6'5", just to give you an idea of how off you are. Hell, the 80's Lakers were led by a 6'9" point guard.

Basketball was a more physical game in the 80's and 90's, in terms of the physical contact you could exert on the defensive side of the ball. Aggregate scoring averages fluctuated throughout the years for a variety of reasons. But today's NBA is definitely more geared toward higher scoring with rules that favor the offenses, the proliferation of the 3 point shot, these spread offenses that result in more open lanes to the hoop, etc... There's little doubt in my mind that Jordan would have been an even more prolific scorer in today's NBA than when he played. Basketball back then was a more inside out game with more congestion as you got closer to the basket.

And I never said that today's guys couldn't play in the 80's and 90's. That's a ridiculous notion. There are certain advantages, however, that today's players have over players of past eras, as all later eras had over previous ones. Today, diets are better, training methods better, facilities better, medical treatments better, players are richer, train year round, can afford to spend lots of money on their physical health than in previous era, etc... You put Jordan in this era with all those advantages from the start and there's no good reason to think he wouldn't dominate it like he did in his era.

I've watched both Jordan and LeBron play countless times. The bottom line is this. Mind game. You're in game 7 of an NBA final. Both teams of equal talent. You've got to decide do you want LeBron or Jordan to be the last puzzle piece to your team for this winner take all game.

I know who I'm picking. The killer himself in shorts. The GOAT. Jordan.

We can all debate players from different era’s and until we can invent a Time Machine we will never know but IMO Lebron has played in a watered down version of the NBA. I enjoyed the NBA of the mid 80s - 2000 especially the late 80s when the Knicks and the bad boy Pistons made you pay the price of driving the lane

It would have been comical if Lebron was a rookie during the mid 80s and how he would have been treated by Larry Bird who is legendary with his trash talking and his treatment of rookies

I think one of the guys I listen to on fox sports radio said it the best. LeBron has the best career from a standpoint of longevity and his stats not dipping too much. But Jordan had that mentality to absolutely dominate you, and he would every single game.

So basically, greatest statistical career is LeBron, but Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever.

LeBron definitely has the career longevity stats on his side. For one, he went straight to the NBA from high school, whereas Jordan played three years in college. And LeBron, to his credit, conditioning, and a little bit of luck has extended his career beyond what Jordan did, still playing at a high level at the age of 40.

But Jordan has other stats/records that compare favorably to LeBron.

--Jordan has the highest scoring average in NBA history at 30.12 PPG; LeBron just a hair over 27 PPG
--Jordan 33.4 PPG playoff scoring average; LeBron 28.4 PPG playoff scoring average
--Jordan 6 time NBA champion; LeBron 4 time NBA champion
--Jordan 6 time NBA finals MVP; LeBron 4 time NBA finals MVP
--Jordan 9 time NBA all-defensive first team; LeBron 5 time NBA all-defensive first team
--Jordan 1 time NBA defensive player of the year; LeBron 0 time defensive player of the year
--Jordan 5 time NBA MVP; LeBron 4 time NBA MVP

There are other favorable stats/records/awards for Jordan in addition to these in comparison to LeBron.

But the thing about Jordan, beyond his incredible talent, was that he had a stone cold killer competitive instinct and drive in him. This was a guy who didn't even make his varsity basketball team in high school as a sophomore, whereas LeBron was touted as a basketball prodigy before he even became a teenager. This was a guy who James Worthy, his college teammate, said of him that he knew he was a great player in college, but had no idea that he would become "The Man" in the NBA. It's been remarked several times about Jordan that he had a near bottomless ability to fabricate a hatred of his opponent that continually replenished a life or death competitive ferocity in him, one that hard to find comparisons with in any major sport.

I'm sure that if Jordan's NBA career had taken place at the same time as LeBron's, and they had roughly the same talent level on their respective teams, he would have found a way to bury such discussions with sadistic delight.

NoGain said:

LeBron definitely has the career longevity stats on his side. For one, he went straight to the NBA from high school, whereas Jordan played three years in college. And LeBron, to his credit, conditioning, and a little bit of luck has extended his career beyond what Jordan did, still playing at a high level at the age of 40.

But Jordan has other stats/records that compare favorably to LeBron.

--Jordan has the highest scoring average in NBA history at 30.12 PPG; LeBron just a hair over 27 PPG
--Jordan 33.4 PPG playoff scoring average; LeBron 28.4 PPG playoff scoring average
--Jordan 6 time NBA champion; LeBron 4 time NBA champion
--Jordan 6 time NBA finals MVP; LeBron 4 time NBA finals MVP
--Jordan 9 time NBA all-defensive first team; LeBron 5 time NBA all-defensive first team
--Jordan 1 time NBA defensive player of the year; LeBron 0 time defensive player of the year
--Jordan 5 time NBA MVP; LeBron 4 time NBA MVP

There are other favorable stats/records/awards for Jordan in addition to these in comparison to LeBron.

But the thing about Jordan, beyond his incredible talent, was that he had a stone cold killer competitive instinct and drive in him. This was a guy who didn't even make his varsity basketball team in high school as a sophomore, whereas LeBron was touted as a basketball prodigy before he even became a teenager. This was a guy who James Worthy, his college teammate, said of him that he knew he was a great player in college, but had no idea that he would become "The Man" in the NBA. It's been remarked several times about Jordan that he had a near bottomless ability to fabricate a hatred of his opponent that continually replenished a life or death competitive ferocity in him, one that hard to find comparisons with in any major sport.

I'm sure that if Jordan's NBA career had taken place at the same time as LeBron's, and they had roughly the same talent level on their respective teams, he would have found a way to bury such discussions with sadistic delight.

Click to expand...

I look at all the lack of defense, double dribbling, traveling, rest days, ton of
3 pointers and I'm supposed to be impressed? I think the game is so feminized
that it's too easy and boring as hell.
The fact Lebron has lasted so long speaks for all I said above and oops I missed
the flopping with a bunch of cheap foul calls.
There is absolutely nothing today that is better to me.. Zero!