The Eternal Debate: Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James

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.

The Top 10 NBA Teams of All Time: Honorable Mentions

This is the first part of a series I’ve posted about some of the greatest NBA teams of all time. The first criteria was that the teams listed had to have won a championship, so you won’t see the 2016 Warriors for example. I ranked every championship team by adding up their wins and losses in the regular season and playoffs and seeing which teams had the highest win percentage. I could’ve put more thought into this and made it much more complicated, but this was a simple and impartial way of coming up with a list. The other entries will be much more detailed than the brief paragraphs I wrote for these three teams.

Honorable Mention #3
The 2012-13 Miami Heat
Regular Season: 66-16 (80.5)
Playoffs: 16-7 (69.9)
Total: 82-23 (78.1)

Award Winners;
Chris Bosh: All Star
LeBron James: League MVP, Finals MVP, 1^st Team All-NBA, 1^st Team All-Defense, All Star
Dwyane Wade: 3^rd Team All-NBA, All Star
Erik Spoelstra: All Star head coach

This was definitely the best team of the Heatles era and was quite possibly LeBron James’ best individual season. Good thing they had Ray Allen to bail them out against the Spurs, though. The team came within shouting distance of setting a new NBA record by going on a 27 game winning streak.

Honorable mention #2
The 1991-92 Chicago Bulls
Regular Season: 67-15 (81.7)
Playoffs: 15-7 (68.2)
Total: 82-22 (78.8)

Award Winners;
Michael Jordan: League MVP, Finals MVP, 1^st Team All-NBA, 1^st Team All-Defense, All Star
Scottie Pippen: 2^nd Team All-NBA, 1^st Team All-Defense, All Star
Phil Jackson: All Star Head Coach

This team steamrolled the league in the regular season and is generally considered the best of the Bulls’ first three-peat teams. It was also probably Horace Grant’s best year in the NBA, although he wasn’t an All Star. Chicago scuffled a bit in the playoffs, needing seven games to get past the Knicks, but got it done in the end. That was also the year of MJ’s classic “Shrug Game” in the Finals. They decided to take it a bit easier in the next regular season, winning ten fewer games in ’92-93, but they fared better in the playoffs and won their third straight title.

Honorable mention #1
The 1988-89 Detroit Pistons
Regular Season: 63-19 (76.8)
Playoffs: 15-2 (88.2)
Total: 78-21 (78.8)

Award Winners;
Joe Dumars: Finals MVP, 1^st Team All-Defense
Dennis Rodman: 1^st Team All-Defense
Isiah Thomas: All Star

This team was definitely the best of Detroit’s “Bad Boys” era. Trading top scorer Adrian Dantley for the less stat heavy but more team oriented Mark Aguirre helped put them over the top. At 15-2, they put up one of the best playoff runs in NBA history. They swept the two time defending champion Lakers in the Finals, getting revenge on the team that beat them in the Finals the year before, partly due to a dubious foul called on Bill Laimbeer in the closing moments of game six. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

The Top 10 NBA Teams of All Time: #9, The 2015 Golden State Warriors

#9
The 2014-15 Golden State Warriors
Regular season: 67-15 (81.7)
Playoffs: 16-5 (76.2)
Total: 83-20 (80.6)

Award winners;
Andrew Bogut: 2^nd Team All-Defense
Stephen Curry: League MVP, 1^st Team All-NBA, All Star
Draymond Green: 1^st Team All-Defense
Andre Iguodala: Finals MVP
Klay Thompson: 3^rd Team All-NBA, All Star
Steve Kerr: All Star head coach

It’s weird how recently the Golden State Warriors were one of the least relevant teams in the NBA. From 1995 to 2012, they made the playoffs just once. Once. In 18 seasons. That was in 2007, when they made the playoffs and actually won a series for the first time since 1991 when they massively upset the 67 win Dallas Mavericks in the first round in six, before losing to the Utah Jazz in five games in round two. They were one of those teams that as a kid in the ‘90s, living on the east coast, I’d kind of forget they existed, the other being the LA Clippers. In the past ten years we saw them go from obscurity to the team we all loved to hate due to their monotonous success, especially after their acquisition of yet another superstar in Kevin Durant, which everyone assumed would kill anything close to parity in the NBA for the foreseeable future.

Things turned around after they drafted Stephen Curry, AKA the greatest shooter ever, back in 2009, followed by fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson in 2011, and the controversial utility man, Draymond Green, in 2012. This exciting young Warriors team was back in the playoffs by the mid 2010s, and in 2014, the five time NBA champion and another great shooter, Steve Kerr, became their head coach. Soon they were burying teams in three pointers on a nightly basis. Golden State’s success led to big changes in the way the game is played. The average number of three point attempts per NBA game was 21.5 in 2014, the year before they won their first title. Last season it was up to 32. The Warriors’ habit of sometimes playing 6’7 Draymond Green at center influenced other teams to try small-ball lineups.

2014-15 was the year the Warriors really hit their stride and began the dynasty that we recently saw come to its apparent end. They improved from 51 wins the year before to 67. They started out with a bang, going 21 and 2 in their first 23 games, including a 16 game streak in November and December. 26 year old point guard Stephen Curry led the team with 23.8 points, 7.7 assists and 2 steals on 48.7/44.3/91.4 shooting. 24 year old two guard Klay Thompson contributed 21.7 points and 1.1 steals on 46.3/43.9/87.9 shooting. 24 year old forward Draymond Green chipped in 11.7 points to go with 8.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks and played strong defense. Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala also played important roles.

The Warriors faced a young Anthony Davis and the 47-35 New Orleans Pelicans in the first round and swept them in four games. There were no huge blowouts though, with the Warriors winning by between 4 and 11 points.

The next series got more interesting. The Warriors met the 55 win Memphis Grizzlies, featuring Marc Gasol and Mike Conley. Golden State won the first game easily, 101-86, and Steph had 22 points, 7 assists and 4 steals. The Grizzlies came back to take the next two games, even winning game two in Oakland, 97-90. The Warriors came roaring back in the next three games though by a combined 50 points, including a 98-78 beat down in game five. Steph filled up the stat sheet, with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals and 5 assists. Klay led the scoring with 21 points plus 5 rebounds.

They went on to face the 56 win Houston Rockets, led by James Harden, in the Conference Finals. The Warriors took a 3-0 lead, winning the first two by five points total before blowing out the Rockets 115-80 in Houston. Steph put on a show with an efficient 40 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. Draymond was Draymond with 17 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a block and had a game high +36 rating. The Rockets won game four 128-115, but it was too little too late as Golden State won game five by fourteen. Harden was incredible in game four though, with a very efficient 45 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

The 53 win Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James, met the Warriors in the Finals. Luck was on Golden State’s side, as Kevin Love missed the series due to injury, and Cleveland’s All-NBA point guard Kyrie Irving went down hurt in the first game, which the Warriors won 108-100. LeBron James played like a one man army though, and the Cavs ground out two close wins, taking a 2-1 series lead. LeBron did just about everything in game three, scoring 40 points to go with 12 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks and playing 46 minutes. The Warriors shut it down after that though, winning the next three games by a total of 42 points, including a 21 point win in Cleveland in game 4, and clinched their first championship since 1975. Andre Iguodala won Finals MVP, in large part for how well he defended LeBron James, and put up 22 points, 8 rebounds and a steal in the game four blowout. Iggy averaged 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.3 steals on 52.1% shooting, including 40% from three, in the series.

As one my favorite youtube personalities, Dom2K, once said, it seems like the Warriors and Cavs won each other’s championships in 2015 and ’16. The fact that LeBron and Matthew Dellavedova were able to push the series to six makes me think a fully healthy Cleveland team had a good shot to win it all that year. By the same token, the 2016 Warriors didn’t have a fully healthy Steph Curry and lost Draymond Green to suspension in game five while up 3-1. They also might’ve just worn themselves out going for that regular season wins record. There’ll be more about what happened next to Golden State in my entry on the 2017 Warriors.

The Top 10 NBA Teams of All Time: #2, The 2017 Golden State Warriors

#2
The 2016-17 Golden State Warriors
Regular Season: 67-15 (81.7)
Playoffs: 16-1 (94.1)
Total: 83-16 (83.8)

Award Winners;
Stephen Curry: 2^nd Team All-NBA, All Star
Kevin Durant: Finals MVP, 2^nd Team All-NBA, All Star
Draymond Green: Defensive Player of the Year, 1^st Team All-Defense, All Star
Klay Thompson: 3^rd Team All-NBA, All Star
Steve Kerr All Star head coach

As you know if you read the entry on the 2015 Warriors (and probably if you didn’t read it), Golden State in the 2010s changed the way basketball was played in the NBA, won a championship in 2015, and had the best regular season ever in 2016 only to blow a 3-1 lead in the Finals. The round before that though, the Warriors were the ones down 3-1 in the Western Finals to Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant was one the best players in the league and played great in the series, averaging 30 points, 8 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.7 steals, but Golden State was able to beat the odds and win the series. Durant then shocked and disgusted pretty much everyone by signing with the Warriors that July.

It was and still is often characterized as non-competitive and even the “weakest move in NBA history.” Personally I don’t feel as strongly about it, but it is hard to imagine a superstar in the ‘90s losing to the Bulls in the playoffs and then joining them the next year, or doing the same with the Lakers or Celtics in the ‘80s. To paraphrase Michael Jordan, when he came into the league, he didn’t want to play with Larry Bird or Magic Johnson, but instead wanted to beat them. As angry and offended as many fans were by LeBron James and Chris Bosh joining Dwyane Wade in Miami in 2010, I think most would agree that Durant going to the Warriors was a pretty different situation. The ‘09-10 Heat were a 47 win team that was bounced in five games by the Celtics in the first round. The 2016 Warriors were a 73 win juggernaut that came within a game of winning their second straight title, and boasted a back to back MVP in Steph Curry. The last guy to win the MVP before Curry was Durant in 2014. Fans feared that anything resembling parity was dead in the NBA, and for the next two seasons they weren’t exactly wrong.

Kevin Durant was 28 in ‘16-17 and the small forward put up 25.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 steals on 53.7/37.5/87.5 shooting. It’s hard to say who was their best player though, as 28 year old point guard Stephen Curry averaged 25.3 points, 6.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals while shooting 46.8/41.1/89.8. 26 year old two guard Klay Thompson had 22.3 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting just about as well as Curry at 46.8/41.4/85.3. 26 year old power forward Draymond Green contributed some of everything, with 10.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 1.4 blocks. Zaza Pachulia rounded out the starting five and Andre Iguodala continued to serve as sixth man. The Warriors weren’t quite as dominant in the regular season as the year before but were pretty close, going 67-15. The team still won 50 of its first 59 games and posted a 14 game winning streak through March and April.

In the first round, the Warriors met the 41-41 Portland Trail Blazers, led by Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. Draymond was everywhere in game one with an efficient 19 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 blocks and 3 steals, and Golden State won 121-109. They won 110-81 in game two, and despite a poor shooting night, Curry had 19 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and a block. Green had a classic game, with 12 rebounds and 10 assists to go with 6 points and 3 blocks. They did it all despite Durant missing games two and three. The closest the series got was a 119-113 win in Portland game three. In game four, Curry had 37 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and a steal, making 12 of 20 from the field and 7 of 11 from three to help the Warriors complete the sweep, 128-103.

Golden State’s next opponents were the 51 win Utah Jazz, led by Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert and George Hill. They weren’t much more of a challenge though, and the series was another sweep. Game four in Utah was their biggest win at 121-95. Curry led the scoring again with 30 points plus 7 assists, 5 rebounds and a block. Draymond also put up a 17 point triple double with 11 assists, 10 rebounds and a steal.

The next team to be annihilated was the San Antonio Spurs, featuring Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, who won an impressive 61 games in their first year after the retirement of longtime leader Tim Duncan. The first game was close though, with the Warriors scraping out a two point win at the Oracle. The next three games were not close, and Golden State blew the Spurs away by between 12 and 36 points. The biggest win was 136-100 in game two, and Steph put up 29 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals while shooting 8 of 13 from the floor and 6 of 9 from three. Bench man Patrick McCaw shined as well with 18 points, 5 assists and 3 steals on 6 of 8 shooting.

In the Finals, the Warriors saw the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third straight year, once again led by LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. The first three games followed the pattern set by the first three rounds. Golden State smashed Cleveland in games one and two and won by five points in game three. The biggest win was 113-91 in game one. Kevin Durant had a big night with 38 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists while shooting 14 of 26. Curry was the only other Warrior in double digits with 28 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals and went 6 for 11 on threes. Klay had a great game three, with 30 points and 5 rebounds on 11 of 18 shooting, including 6 of 11 from three. When it was already too late, the Cavs thrashed Golden State 137-116 in game four in Cleveland. Kyrie Irving had a hell of a game, exploding for 40 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal while shooting 15 for 27, including 7 of 12 on threes. LeBron was LeBron as well, with 31 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds and a steal for a triple double. The duo that terrorized the Dubs the year before turned it on too late though, and Golden State closed them out in game five, 129-120. Their 16-1 playoff record was the best ever, eclipsing the 15-1 mark set by the Lakers in 2001.

The next season wasn’t that different. They went 58-24 and won another NBA Championship, playing the Cavaliers in the Finals for the fourth straight year. They didn’t seem quite as invincible though. If it wasn’t for Houston Rockets point guard Chris Paul’s injury during the Western Finals, the Warriors might’ve been eliminated before the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014, as Houston had led them three games to two. Their only playoff sweep that year was of the Cavs in the Finals, which were honestly not that exciting. Cleveland was lacking Kyrie Irving’s firepower, as he’d been traded to Boston in the Summer of ‘17.

This past season, they again posted a strong record of 57-25, and could’ve easily won another championship had they stayed healthy. Instead, Kevin Durant suffered a calf injury in game five of the second round against the Rockets. The Dubs were up 3-2 after game five and were able to clinch the series in game 6, then swept the Trail Blazers to make it back to the Finals against the Toronto Raptors. Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors won three of the first four games.

In game five, Durant made what turned out to be a premature return. He played great, with 11 points, 2 rebounds and a block in less than twelve minutes before rupturing his Achilles tendon, and is expected to miss all of next season. Shamefully, many in the Toronto crowd cheered when they saw one of the best players in the world go down with an injury. It goes to show how deep and honestly sick the hatred for Durant is among a lot of NBA fans. If Curry or Klay had gone down like that, I don’t think opposing fans would’ve responded the same way.

KD’s contributions were enough to help the Warriors eek out a one point win and extend the series. The Raptors took game six by just four points to win the title, and to make matters worse, Klay Thompson went down with a torn ACL in the 4^th quarter, and won’t be back until late in the regular season in 2020 if not later. Despite the loss, the banged up Warriors played like champions. As expected, Durant left the Warriors in free agency and when he comes back in the ‘20-21 season, he’ll be playing for the Brooklyn Nets. On the upside, the Warriors signed another talented guard, D’Angelo Russell, formerly of the Nets, in the 2019 off-season. I guess we don’t know for sure if the Warriors dynasty is really dead, but it sure looks that way. The Warriors still made five straight Finals, something not done since the Celtics played in ten straight in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Love them or hate them, the Warriors of the Durant era truly were one of the greatest teams ever assembled.

The Celtics Retired Numbers Series pt. 21: Paul Pierce

#34 Paul Pierce, “The Truth,” Small Forward, 1998-2013

Born in Oakland, California in 1977, Paul Pierce grew up in Inglewood, California, in Los Angeles County. Naturally, Pierce grew up rooting for the Los Angeles Lakers and hating the Boston Celtics. As a junior in high school, Pierce first showed signs of becoming a great player. As a senior in 1995, Pierce won the California Mr. Basketball award and played in the McDonald’s All-American game with the likes of Vince Carter and future teammate Kevin Garnett. Pierce went on to attend the University of Kansas from 1995 to 1998, and in 1997 he helped Kansas win the Big 12 Conference Tournament. He was First Team All-American in 1998, and his number “34” has been retired by the school.

Pierce was picked tenth overall by the Boston Celtics in the 1998 draft, joining the team in one of the worst stretches in its history. They hadn’t made the playoffs since 1995 and hadn’t won a playoff series since 1992. Their last championship came in 1986 and the glory days years were now long gone; Larry Bird had retired in ‘92 and Kevin McHale in ‘93. The Celtics star shooting guard, Reggie Lewis, passed away at 27 during the ‘93 off-season from a heart condition, and Robert Parish moved on to the Charlotte Hornets in 1994.

There were seeds of promise though, as power forward Antoine Walker had joined the team in ‘96, and was an All-Star the year before Pierce’s arrival. Shooting guard Ron Mercer joined the league the year before Pierce and was was averaging 17 points a game during Pierce’s rookie season. For his part, Paul averaged 16.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals in his first year, and made All-Rookie First Team in ‘99. Mercer left following that season, and although Pierce steadily improved, the team didn’t make the playoffs until 2002.

In what could’ve easily been a fatal off the court incident, Pierce was stabbed eleven times in a Boston night club on September 25^th, 2000. His life was saved at Tufts-New England Medical Center and he went on to play all 82 games of the 2000-01 season. He later donated 2.5 million dollars to the hospital.

In 2001, he was nicknamed “The Truth” by Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal after Pierce dropped 42 points on one of the best ever Lakers teams in a losing effort, hitting 13 of 19 from the field. The Celtics were finally back in the playoffs in 2002, and faced the New Jersey Nets in the Conference Finals. With the series tied 1-1, the Celtics were getting blown out at home in game three with the score at 74 to 53 after three quarters. It was all Boston in the fourth though, with the Celtics outscoring the Nets 41 to 16 and winning the game 94 to 90 in one of the greatest playoff comebacks of all time. Pierce alone scored 19 in the fourth. Unfortunately, Jason Kidd and the Nets went on win the next three games and the series.

Antoine Walker left the team after the ‘03 season, and in ‘06 and ‘07, the team would miss the playoffs again. The low point was the 2007 season, in which Pierce was only able to play 47 games due to injuries and the team went 24 and 58, their worst mark since the train wreck that was ‘96-97. Things turned around in a hurry though as the team traded for two star players. The first was Ray Allen, one of the league’s best shooters, who came from the Seattle SuperSonics. The second was power forward Kevin Garnett, traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves, where Kevin McHale was serving as GM. Garnett was generally considered the best active player without a championship at the time. He went on to win Defensive Player of the Year in his first season with the team, and so far is the only Celtic to do so. The ‘07-08 team also featured young point guard Rajon Rondo, who joined the team the year before, and point guard Eddie House coming off the bench. The team proved to be one of the greatest in Celtics history, winning 66 games, just one shy of the legendary ‘86 team.

The playoffs were no cakewalk though, with the first two rounds going to seven games, first against the underdog Atlanta Hawks, then vs. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. They went on to beat the Detroit Pistons in six before arriving in the NBA Finals against their classic rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics won the first two games at home, before dropping game three in LA. In game four, the Celtics staged an amazing comeback akin to the one they’d gutted out against New Jersey in 2002. The Lakers led by 24 points early in the third quarter, but the Celtics wound up out-scoring them 31 to 15 in the third and 26 to 18 in the fourth, winning the game 97 to 91, stunning the LA crowd and giving them a 3-1 series lead. However, the Lakers won game five and the series shifted back to Boston. The Celtics ended the series decisively in game six, destroying the Lakers by nearly forty points, 131 to 92. It was their first Championship in 22 years; previously, the longest gap between titles had been just five. Pierce was named MVP of the Finals, having racked up 21.8 points, 6.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game in the series.

The Celtics seemed likely to repeat in 2009, but lost one of their best players when Kevin Garnett was injured in February and he did not return for the playoffs. The Celtics won 62 games despite the loss of Garnett, but would lose to the Orlando Magic in seven in the second round. In 2010 the Celtics won 50 games and then surprised many by making it back to the NBA Finals. They beat the Miami Heat in five in the first round, and again bounced LeBron James and the number one seeded Cavaliers in the semifinals in six games. It’s speculated that the Cavs’ second loss to Boston led to James’ decision to sign with Miami. The Celtics beat the Magic in six in the Conference Finals before facing the Lakers in the Finals for the second time in three years. The Lakers were the favorites going in, but the Celtics took it all the way to a seventh game in Los Angeles. The Celtics led 23 to 14 after the first quarter but wound up losing 83 to 79. The Lakers were aided by getting 37 free throw attempts to the Celtics’ 17. The Celtics’ starting center Kendrick Perkins getting injured in game six may have been the deciding factor, as the Celtics were out-rebounded 53 to 40 in the final game.

In 2011, the Celtics lost to the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs in five games, as Miami had recently added LeBron James and Chris Bosh to a lineup that already included Dwayne Wade. In 2012, the Celtics made it back to the Conference Finals but again lost to the Heat, this time in seven, and Miami would go on to win the NBA Championship. 2013 would be Pierce’s last year with the Celtics. Ray Allen had left the team after the 2012 season, and Pierce and Garnett were now in their mid 30s. Still, they made it to the playoffs one more time in green, but lost to the New York Knicks in the first round.

That off-season, Pierce and Garnett were traded to the Brooklyn Nets along with Jason Terry and D.J. White in a trade that turned out to be very lopsided in Boston’s favor. The Celtics received five players along with four first round picks, two of which were used to draft Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum with a third being traded to Cleveland as part of the deal that brought star point guard Kyrie Irving to the Celtics for two seasons.

In Pierce’s one season with the Nets, they reached the second round of the playoffs but couldn’t make it past the star-studded Heat. The next year Pierce played for the Washington Wizards, but lost in the second round again, this time to the Atlanta Hawks. In 2015, Pierce began playing for the Los Angeles Clippers, and for the first time in his career was coming off the bench. The Clippers made it to the playoffs in ‘16 and ‘17, but never past the first round.

Pierce retired in 2017 and his number “34” was retired by the Boston Celtics in 2018. He currently sits at number one all time among Celtics in three pointers made with 1,823, almost twice as many as Antoine Walker, who’s in second place with over 900. He’s also number one in steals, just ahead of Larry Bird, number two in points, behind only John Havlicek, and third in minutes played and games played. He’s also fourth in blocked shots, fifth in assists and seventh in rebounds. He served as team captain from 2000 until his departure in 2013. His career highs include 26.8 points per game in ‘05-06 and shooting over 41% from three point range in both his rookie year and again in ‘09-10. He scored a career high of fifty points in a February 2006 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Pierce also made All-NBA Second Team in 2009 and Third Team in ‘02, ‘03 and ‘08. He was an All-Star an impressive ten times; every year from 2002 to 2012 with the exception of 2007, when he missed out due to injuries.

Since his retirement, he’s worked on television as a basketball analyst. Paul Pierce has undoubtedly been the greatest Celtic to emerge since the end of the original big three era and should be a lock for the Hall of Fame.