When comparing two basketball players, how do you determine who’s better? There’s many factors; per game stats, advanced stats, individual accolades, championships, finals appearances, etc. There are players who had very good, very long careers, and others who were in the NBA for shorter spans but were spectacular while they were there. These days, the debate over who’s the greatest ever mostly comes down to Michael Jordan and LeBron James, although there’s a few others, like Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, that I think should be in the conversation, but there’s too much recency bias for that it seems. Some people have Kobe Bryant at number one, which I think is a bit ridiculous and I’m guessing most of them are just deranged Laker fans.

For full disclosure, it’s my opinion that Michael Jordan is the greatest NBA player ever. I think there’s a case to be made for LeBron James, but I happen to think Michael’s case is stronger. Since LeBron’s career is ongoing, it’s more difficult to compare them than it is to compare MJ to Kareem for example, but I’ll try anyway.

So what is Michael Jordan’s case vs. LeBron?

He won twice as many championships.

Championships aren’t everything, but they are the ultimate goal NBA players strive for, and Michael Jordan has, so far, twice as many of them. Some say that championships don’t matter because they’re a team accomplishment. To me that makes no sense, because Jordan was the number one reason his team was able to accomplish winning six of them. People are often inconsistent with this and will use LeBron’s victory over Golden State in 2016 or his nine finals appearances to ague that he’s better than Jordan. If winning a championship is just a team accomplishment, shouldn’t you say the same thing about a Finals appearance?

He never lost in the Finals.

Jordan never failed once he reached basketball’s biggest stage, and his teams beat some of the best teams to ever lose the Finals in the ’93 Suns, ’96 SuperSonics, and ’97 and ’98 Jazz. He was the MVP in all six of those Finals, and he average over 30 points in five of them. He also never had a Finals where he played flat out poorly by his standards, like LeBron did in 2011. Unlike LeBron, he never needed to go seven games to win a Finals, and usually closed them out in six, and on one occasion, five.

He played in a tougher Eastern Conference.

In five of Jordan’s 15 seasons, the East had more 50+ win teams than the West (’85, ’86, ’87, ’89, ’97). There were five other years where there were equal numbers of 50 win teams in each conference (’88, ’92, ’95, ’96, 98). The Big Three Celtics, Bad Boy Pistons, Cavaliers of the late ’80s-early ’90s and Patrick Ewing’s Knicks all come to mind when thinking of the East in his era. In the 15 years LeBron spent in the Eastern Conference, there was only one season where there were more 50 win teams in the East, that being 2018 (for 2012 I extrapolated based on win%). There was an equal number of 50 win teams just once also, in 2006. In total, that’s eight more seasons in Jordan’s era that the East was as tough or tougher than the West.

He actually played good teams in the first round.

Much is made of the fact that in their first three trips to the playoffs, Jordan’s Bulls were eliminated in the first round and had a record of one win and nine losses in those three series. Those who harp on about that never say how good their opponents were or how weak the Bulls were outside of Jordan. In 1985, they faced the Milwaukee Bucks, a 59 win team and one of the best defensive teams in the league, who were coached by Don Nelson and led by Sidney Moncrief, Terry Cummings and Paul Pressey The Bulls lost to Milwaukee three games to one. In 1986, they faced one of the greatest teams of all time in the 67 win Boston Celtics, featuring Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and Dennis Johnson. Jordan had an incredible series, averaging almost 44 points a game, and set a new playoff record with 63 points in game two, but Boston was unstoppable. In ’87 he met another Celtics team, this one with 59 wins. Boston’s bench wasn’t what it was the year before, but their starting five was still there, and it was another sweep. Jordan’s Bulls later beat two 50+ win teams in the first round, those being the 57 win Cavaliers in 1989 and the 50 win Hornets in ’95. They played fewer weak teams in the first round compared to LeBron’s teams. Jordan’s Bulls played only two teams with a record of .500 or less, while LeBron’s teams have played seven .500 or less teams in the first round and even one in the second (the ’07 Nets). The best opponent that a LeBron team has faced in round one was the 48 win Pacers in 2018, who pushed his Cavs to seven games.

He had slightly tougher playoff competition but was still slightly more successful.

Collectively, Jordan’s playoff opponents had an average winning percentage of .653 (about equal to a 54-28 record). For LeBron’s teams, the average opponent’s win% is a bit lower at .632 (about equal to 51-31). Despite that, Jordan’s Bulls won 80.1% of their playoff series, as opposed to LeBron’s 77.8%. Not a huge difference, but it’s there.

He never left to form a super team.

It’s hard to define exactly what a super team is, but however you define it, Michael Jordan certainly never joined one. Some might argue that the Bulls of ’96 to ’98 were a super team. Personally I don’t think so, but even if they were, that team was created around Jordan; he didn’t create it himself. LeBron James left Cleveland in 2010 after losing to the big three Celtics for the second time in three seasons. I’m not sure what I think of LeBron’s ‘decision,’ other than it might’ve been better received if not for the terrible TV special he used to announce it. It’s true he didn’t have much help in Cleveland the first time around and Boston looked like it might dominate the East for years to come, but it’s hard to imagine Jordan, after losing to the Bad Boy Pistons for the third time, bailing on Chicago to join up with Charles Barkley or Patrick Ewing. What bugs me is LeBron saying that he doesn’t think he’s ever played on a super team, when Dwyane Wade was one of the best players in the league besides James himself in 2010, and Chris Bosh was an All Star every year from 2006 until he retired in 2016. I’d like to know what he considers a super team if that doesn’t qualify. Even LeBron’s team in Cleveland from ’15 through ’17 with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love could possibly be considered super team territory.

He played fewer seasons, games and minutes than LeBron has but accomplished more.

It’s true LeBron has only played one more season than Jordan did (16 vs. 15), but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Jordan only played 18 games in ’85-86 because of a broken foot, and only averaged 23 minutes a game due to minute restrictions when he returned. In ’94-95, he only played the last 17 games after coming back from minor league baseball, and wasn’t really in basketball shape until the next season. He played his last two seasons in ’02 and ’03 for the Wizards at ages 38-40 after being retired for three full years. Most of what he accomplished, including all six championships, took place in just eleven seasons he played in Chicago when he wasn’t either coming back from an injury or from playing a different sport. LeBron did miss 27 games due to injury this past year, but that was the first time he was sidelined for a significant chunk of a season. Some of this I got from Dom2k’s awesome Youtube video on the subject, so if you’re a basketball junkie like me and you haven’t looked at his stuff yet, I strongly recommend you check him out.

He won 25 out of 26 playoff series between 1991 and 1998.

MJ took all of ’93-94 off, but I still think it’s crazy that he only lost one playoff series in the seven seasons he played between 1991 and ’98. He and the Bulls took on 26 teams, and only one, the ’95 Magic, were able to bump them off, and that was when MJ was still in baseball shape and adjusting to the NBA. It also showed the importance that Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman had for the Bulls, as that was the year after Grant’s departure and before Rodman’s arrival. Grant was now playing for Orlando, and played a big role in beating his old team.

He didn’t miss the playoffs as many times.

Not a huge difference here, but Jordan only missed the playoffs twice, and that was when he was in his late 30s and early 40s playing for the Wizards. LeBron’s Cavs missed the post-season his first two years in the league and his Lakers missed out this year. Of course in the ’04 and ’05 seasons LeBron ranged in age from 18 to 20, and this past year, LBJ only played 55 games due to injury.

He didn’t have much help winning his first three rings besides Pippen.

From the ’91 to ’93 seasons, Jordan and Pippen weren’t exactly surrounded by talent. Horace Grant was a damn good rebounder and defensive player, but was only an All Star once, in 1994, when Jordan was playing baseball. Center Bill Cartwright did make an All Star game. While playing for the Knicks. In 1980. John Paxson was a solid PG, but only twice did he average over ten points per game. I don’t mean to disrespect anyone who played for those teams, but if you compare their rosters to the Celtics, Lakers, and Pistons of a few years earlier, they clearly don’t have the same kind of depth. And yet, for three straight years, they were winning between 57 and 67 games and bringing home a banner.

He had more points per game on a higher FG% excluding the Wizards years

Michael Jordan is the NBA’s all time leader in points per game with 30.1, just ahead of Wilt Chamberlain. If you exclude his Wizards years, his average rises to 31.5 ppg. LeBron James so far has averaged a still elite 27.2 ppg. Jordan’s fg% as a Bull was 50.5%, although including the Wizards years lowers it to 49.7%. LeBron James so far has averaged 50.4%. When comparing the two, I think it makes sense to exclude Jordan’s Washington stats, as LeBron is still only 34, much younger than Jordan was at that stage. Jordan also led the league in scoring a record ten times, something LeBron has done once.

He was a much better free throw shooter.

Jordan averaged 83.5% at the line for his career, while LeBron so far is at 73.6%. Jordan ranged from 85.7% in ’87 to 78.4% in ’98. LeBron’s best mark so far was 78% in ’09 and his worst was 66.5% this past season. Not to crap on LBJ, but it’s a bit surprising that Jordan’s worst ft% (including when he was a Wizard) is still better LeBron’s best.

He was likely a better defensive player.

Jordan is usually considered the better defensive player, although LeBron’s size allows him to guard more positions than Jordan usually did. Jordan was Defensive Player of the Year in 1988, which is an award LeBron’s yet to win. Jordan averaged 2.3 steals per game, 2.5 during the Bulls years, and led the league in steals three times (’88, ’90 and ’93), something LeBron has never done. LBJ has averaged 1.6 steals during his career. Despite the height difference in LeBron’s favor, Jordan averaged just as many blocks per game (0.8), and as a Bull averaged slightly more at 0.9. LeBron has been accused of slacking off on defense recently, something that, as far as I know, MJ was never criticized for.

He averaged more offensive rebounds.

As mentioned earlier, LeBron has the obvious size advantage, so this isn’t one you’d necessarily expect. In LBJ’s defense though, offensive rebounding was a bigger part of the game in Jordan’s day and he still has more rebounds overall.

He has a higher PER, BPM and WS/48.

He has the advantage in these three advanced stats and also has nearly as many win shares as LeBron despite playing 126 fewer games.

LeBron’s per game averages will almost certainly drop before he retires.

LeBron benefits in some ways in this debate from still being an active player. His statistics will likely decline the longer he plays, which could lower his career averages the way Jordan’s years in Washington did. Jordan also hurt his averages by retiring for nearly two full seasons in his prime to play baseball.

LeBron’s case

He’s had more finals appearances

Nine finals appearances really is insane, and eight in a row is even crazier. LeBron is tied at fourth all time in appearances with Magic Johnson, Jerry West and Tom Heinsohn. Only Bill Russell, Sam Jones and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have been there more. Although he’s won twice as many rings, Jordan is tied for 18th in appearances with thirteen other players. I didn’t have time to look this up, but I’m quite sure no one else has played in eight straight Finals since the Celtics dynasty of the ’50s and ’60s.

He’s faced slightly better finals opponents.

On average, LeBron’s Finals opponents have been slightly better regular season teams with an average winning percentage of .756, compared to .746 for Jordan’s opponents. Not a big difference (basically a 62 win team vs. a 61 win team), and it’s largely due to the outliers that were the 2016 Warriors, but it’s worth noting. The 2017 Warriors were also one of the best teams ever though, and they and the ’18 Warriors were very much stacked with talent.

He’s never lost in the first round.

Although he’s missed the playoffs three times, LeBron’s teams have never lost in the first round in their 13 trips there, which is what happened to Jordan in his first three NBA seasons. As noted before though, Jordan faced considerably tougher competition in the first round than LeBron has. Still, making to at least the second round 13 out of 13 times is a big accomplishment.

He’s already played more than MJ and has been extremely durable.

LeBron has already played in 126 more games and 5,224 more minutes than Jordan did, not even counting playoffs, and has been more durable than him or just about any player ever. Jordan was one of the greatest athletes of all time, but he did have a fondness for whiskey, cigars, staying up all night playing cards and spending a huge amount of time golfing rather than resting. LeBron, by contrast, has spent millions of dollars staying in the best condition possible, and his endurance brings to mind past greats like Wilt, Malone, Kareem, and Robert Parish. That’s not to say that Jordan wasn’t durable as well, and he really only had one major injury, but he was also aided by not playing pro basketball from June of ’93 until March of ’95. It’s possible MJ could’ve had an even greater career though if he’d taken better care of himself.

He led two very underwhelming teams to the NBA finals in 2007 and 2018.

The 2007 Cavs, who won 50 games, had no All Stars besides a 22 year old LeBron. Their second leading scorer was Larry Hughes who averaged less than 15 points a game. Personally I think this accomplishment is a bit overblown. In the first two rounds the Cavs faced two 41 win teams, the Wizards and Nets, before facing the Pistons in the Conference Finals. With 53 wins, Detroit was the only other team in the East with over 50. Detroit did win a championship in ’04 and made the Finals in ’05, but that was when they had Ben Wallace, one of the best defensive players of the decade, who by ’07 was playing for Chicago. Still, LeBron was unstoppable in game five with 48 points, giving his team a two point win. Cleveland was swept by the Spurs in the Finals. Still, he’d made it that far in his fourth year at age 22, while Jordan first didn’t make the Finals until his seventh year at age 28.

In 2018 the Cavs had another 50 win season and their second best player was All Star power forward Kevin Love, but they weren’t a deep team, and Kyrie Irving had split for Boston the year before. They were pushed to seven games by the 48 win Pacers in the first round before sweeping the 59 win Raptors in the second. My Celtics almost had them in the Eastern Finals even without two All Stars in Kyrie and Gordon Hayward, but the Cavs gutted out a game seven win in Boston, as the Celtics bricked three after three, before getting swept by Golden State. Although some of his competition wasn’t top notch, leading a team to the Finals without much help is an impressive feat that even the best players rarely achieve.

He’s averaged more assists.

LeBron’s put up almost two more assists a game than Jordan, with 7.2 to MJ’s 5.3. He’s considered a better passer and playmaker and a less selfish player. Of course one of the things that makes the two hard to compare is that Jordan was a two guard who’s main job was to score, while LeBron is a forward who often plays more like a point guard.

He’s a better rebounder, particularly defensively.

LBJ’s averaged 7.4 rebounds, while Jordan grabbed 6.2 per game. Although Jordan had the advantage in offensive rebounds, LeBron has had 6.2 defensive rebounds to Jordan’s 4.7, giving him the edge overall.

He leads Jordan in some advanced stats.

LeBron has the highest VORP (value over replacement player) ever, and slightly more win shares. Because VORP and win shares are cumulative stats, he’ll always have MJ beat in those categories.

He’s a better three point shooter.

LeBron’s 3P% is somewhat higher than Jordan’s at 34.3% compared to 32.7%. Thanks to this and his more frequent three point attempts, LeBron also has a higher effective field goal percentage (eFG%). LeBron benefits from this era in that the three point shot is a much bigger part of the game than it was in Jordan’s day. Jordan was a very bad three point shooter during his first four seasons but improved greatly after that.

He’s had considerably better stats in the playoffs compared to the regular season.

Although Jordan had better stats in many areas in the playoffs as well, that’s even more the case with LeBron. His numbers are better in the post-season when it comes to points, free throw percentage, rebounds (offensive, defensive and total), steals, blocks, defensive rating, net rating, PER, WS/48 and BPM.

Conclusions

Based on everything they’ve done so far, I think Michael Jordan is a better player, but it’s conceivable that could change depending on what happens in the remainder of LeBron James’ career. Whoever’s better, they’re both great players that basketball fans have been lucky to watch. Hardcore fans of both players try to tear the other down with misleading and often false arguments. I know I might be a bit biased in Jordan’s favor as someone who grew up the ’90s when MJ was the baddest man on the planet, but I don’t think I said anything about LeBron in this little article that was unfair or incorrect.