Michael Jordan vs. Lebron James Essay Example

LeBron James or Michael Jordan? Who is the better player? This is widely considered to be one of the biggest debates in NBA basketball history. This controversy values the greatness of both players who are the faces of NBA basketball. However, Jordan wins this argument because he played in the most vigorous era the NBA has ever seen. Despite this, he accomplished more than James with more MVPs, finals MVPs, championships and more. This favors Jordan’s case more because he has been with less talented players than James had throughout both of their careers. While LeBron James is arguably one of the best basketball players in the history of the NBA, Michael Jordan has proven to be better. 

The 1990s era was the most strenuous age of basketball the NBA has ever seen and Jordan competed in this era. There were many talented players that flourished at this time. Players such as “Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Hakeem Olajuwon and Karl Malone” were “all in their prime” and competed with Jordan. During this time, “there were 21 players who played at least 150 games who are already in the HOF. There are several more, such as Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Duncan, who are inevitably going to get in.” All these players became legends. LeBron’s competition is also solid, but he is nearing the end of his career and the players that he has faced are inferior to Jordan's list of opponents according to Jesse Unk’s article; Michael Jordan Versus LeBron James: Who Is the GOAT? This generation of the NBA was dominated by pure strength. The physicality of this time was unmatched which made it the most dominant era in NBA history. It was run by the strongest and biggest players, the centers, “with four of the greatest to ever play the position—Robinson, Olajuwon, Ewing and O’Neal—making it to the Finals during the decade.” This proves that the 90’s era was run by physicality and brute force rather than drawing fouls. This tactic is used by many players in LeBron’s era, which LeBron himself uses too. This tactic is to get the opponent to foul so the team receives possession or free throws. This makes it boring to watch and competition becomes easier for the offense. Not only was Jordan’s era more fun to watch, it was also competitive and even in this intense competition, Jordan still managed to accomplish more than James. 

In spite of playing four fewer seasons than LeBron (and still counting), Michael Jordan is a more accomplished player than LeBron James. Jordan’s finals record is far better than LeBron's. According to Eddi Bitar’s article; LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan, he “went 6-0 without ever playing in a Game 7. Compared to LeBron, 4 wins in 10 appearances means a losing record of 4-6 in the Finals.” What makes this record better is that in all of his six championships, Jordan won the Finals MVP award in each one of them. To put it this way, Having a 6-0 record in the finals with six trophies beats having a 4-6 record with four. MJ also seems to be better in the playoffs because he has such a low turnover rate and has an effective scoring ability. In total, his accolades are far better than LeBron’s. “He added 10 scoring titles, five league MVP awards, six Finals MVP awards, 10 All-NBA First Team appearances and nine All-Defensive First Team appearances.” Even though a case can be made that LeBron also has a decorated career, he has definitely fallen short of Jordan. There is no doubt that Jordan has accomplished more than LeBron. LeBron is still adding on to his career, but at the age of 37, it is impossible to get nine more scoring titles, a defensive player of the year award, two championships, and more in three to five years, especially since he is out of his prime. To add on to Jordan’s case even more, he teamed up with players that had lesser accomplishments and skill than LeBron’s teammates. 

Throughout Jordan’s career, he has played with incredible teammates, but LeBron has played with more talent than Jordan. He has played with more All-Stars and Hall of Fame players. “Despite some of the help being far past their primes, such as O'Neil, Parish, and Gilmore, LeBron still had more seasons with Hall of Fame help than Jordan did. Jordan absolutely holds the advantage of playing with less talent around him than LeBron did.” This was explained in Jesse Unk’s article. In this article, there are also mini surveys taken by people about Jordan and James and almost all of them favor Jordan. For example, one of the survey questions are; did Jordan play in a weak league? And 61% of people disagree. Andrew Lynch, a worker at Fox Sports, also favors Jordan. He explains that the Bulls had to turn to Jordan when the game was on the line. “Even when he passed to guys like John Paxson and Steve Kerr for game-winning shots, he was the defense's lone concern.” So Jordan’s presence concerned his opponents, making them gravitate towards him, which then resulted in open looks for his other teammates. LeBron had help from teammates on both ends of the court, offensive and defensive. He had Kyrie Irving, a member of the 50-40-90 club (he shot 50% from the field, 40% from the three point and 90% from the free throw line in a season, basically meaning that he is one of the most efficient scorers of all time), Ray Allen, one of the best three point shooters of all time, Dwyane Wade, a three time all defensive team member, and more. He had help on both ends of the floor because he could rely on those players so he did not have to worry about critical situations at any time of the game. 

Ultimately, Jordan is the better basketball player. He was able to dominate the most dynamic age of the NBA with players such as Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and Isaiah Thomas as his opponents. His accomplishments are far better than LeBron’s regardless of this disadvantage and nearing the end of his career, it does not look like LeBron is going to catch up. On top of this, Jordan did not have the same talent around him as LeBron during his legendary career. Michael Jordan is truly the best basketball player to ever live, but one day there will be another player that will rival or maybe surpass these two greats.