Malone had 43 double-doubles while leading Utah to 55 victories, with no one else on the roster averaging more than 14.1 points. LeBron has much competition with all the new all these new talents with so much potential. Numerous endorsements, an acting career, and widespread humanitarianism are only a few of the features that comprise the man we know as Lebron James. Your default site has been set for 7 days, Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James: The key stats you need to know in the GOAT debate, The Sporting News' Bill Benderhas a helpful guide. The author explains that actually, Stephen Curry has no intrigued about the new face of NBA between him and Lebron James. Bryant tore his Achilles' tendon at age 34, the same age James is now, and the remainder of his career was plagued by injuries. With these and plenty other factors taken into consideration, LeBron James is the better overall player. 1 overall in 2003. A few even argued that James has been the GOAT for a while now. Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins are split on Isiah Thomas' comment that LeBron James will surpass Michael Jordan as the game's greatest if he wins a fourth championship. However, it looks like LeBron James is set to smash every single scoring record in relation to longevity. ESPN.com once had an analytical piece headlined: Is LeBron breaking the aging curve? It was posted in December 2017. As stated by ESPN.com (2016) Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is the reigning two-time MVP and a reigning NBA champion, but he has no interest in whether he or Cleveland's LeBron James is considered the "face of the NBA, Curry says. He did average 34.0 points for the Oaks at 24. James would have to play in nearly 60 games at his current scoring pace to pass Kobe Bryant, at 33,543 points. LeBron has much competition with all the new all these new talents with so much potential. Over 14 games, James is averaging 34.7 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.3 It was destined to be that way ever since James was crowned The Chosen One in high school, and his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers drafted him No. Im thinking, What the hell? Warning: This graphic requires JavaScript. Armand Emamdjomeh makes data visualizations, maps and graphics. Find out more. This was the only by-age slot for James until this season. Jordan has another amazing record when he scored 63 points against the Boston Celtics in 1986. Three of those four belong to Chamberlain anyway. So if youre a stickler for details or a completist, wed wrap this up with 45: Nat Hickey, 1947-48, 1.0 ppg. LeBron does not have the dominance of Michael Jordan. Kobe plays the shooting guard position but can move anywhere around the perimeter, such as point guard, shooting guard, and small forward, coming in at 66 205 pounds. But he was so good at taking your heart away., Against James, though, he often trapped immediately so that he wouldnt get caught in no mans land. For his efforts there, Jordan received the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Jordan took over in his playoff runs scoring over 33 points a game compared to Lebron's 28 points. That was too young for LeBron James, for Dwight Howard, for Amare Stoudemire. If he got a half-step of separation, he could slice into the paint for acrobatic layups. Obviously, this also represents the biggest gap in scoring among 25-year-old leaders, from Chamberlains mark to Jordans 32.5 in 1988-89. LeBron was shut down by Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala. M.J. That's not a smart way to argue against him. this season Of those, only LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki the sixth-highest scorer all time are still playing. Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. When asked to weigh Jordan against James as scorers, opponents who guarded both kept returning to the mind-set issue: Jordan was the superior scorer, they argued, because he was more consumed by the act. LeBron James and Michael Jordan are always the two players that headline "LeBron James does have this going for him. He's a better all-around player than Michael and them. He has more skills than Michael. He's a point guard, he's a better passer The moves they made were the exact same from the fade away jump shot, to the way they dunked the ball. Here we are 12 years later, after his Achilles tear, and hes scoring at the same clip, only missing a few too many appearances to qualify among the official league leaguers. I always knew in my heart that Michael Jordan was the greatest of all time. Through Michael Jordans athletic success on the court, he was able to make himself and his brand into a cultural icon, which had a great impact on the game of basketball, fashion, marketing, and the economy in America. As previously mentioned, James is currently averaging 30.2PPG in his 20th season. Jordan has 38 career 40-point games in the playoffs and eight 50-point games (including his NBA playoff-record 63). Makes it hard to guard someone that big and athletic, while on the other hand Kobe scores so smoothly off the pull up of post up game and so more, Lebron James won 2 rings for winning the championship. Michael Jordan averaged 30.1 points per game over his career the highest in NBA history. In addition to his more imposing physique, James has surpassed Jordan in other ways. 1 on the NBA's greatest players list? LA Lakers star forward LeBron James has been on fire since turning 38 on December 30. Over 14 games, James is averaging 34.7 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game on 51. But what he did in his 15th set the standard for 35-year-olds. While some differences between Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan are evident, the similarities are striking which caused the entire dilemma on whos the better version. Check out the best moments from Luka Doncic during the 2019-20 season. But it doesn't matter what we say. A statistical comparison reveals that peak Jordan dominated the ball more, shot more and scored far more than peak James. J Irving are just a few of those with the careers to back this title. Jordans Bulls were favored to win all six times they reached the Finals, but James teams were the betting underdog seven of 10 times. Also read: LeBron James will be GOAT over Michael Jordan once he gets NBA's scoring record, says Chandler Parsons, Be the first one to comment on this story. They've dominated the NBA discourse for the better part of four decades, ranking first and second in playoff points scored (LeBron over MJ) and Finals MVPs (MJ over LeBron). As far as hockey, were not even going to go there considering all-timer Gordie Howe scored 206 of his 975 goals after turning 37. For those who witnessed Jordan's excellence over the course of two three-peats with the Bulls, itreinforced the belief that he is the greatest player to ever touch the court. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Here's a closer look at where the GOAT debate stands On a per-game basis, Jordan is superior in the scoring department, but James grabsrebounds and dishesout assists at a higher rate. The Jordan vs. LeBron debate even rages among former NBA players -- and the answer isn't divided as cleanly along generational lines as you might think. That was Michael Jordan every night.. The answer to that is very tough to come upon and will likely be unknown for a long time. There was a battle of old warriors going on 20-plus spots down the scoring leaderboard, with Malone edging out Jordan (20.0) for the 39-year-old crown. The key difference is three-point shooting. Data runs from 1946-47 to present Stay up to date on the race for Kia NBA MVP with a look at the latest performances from the top candidates. And he shot better now from distance (38.9% vs. 36.7%). The NBA has instituted numerous rules changes in the post-Jordan era aimed at increasing scoring, curbing physical play and encouraging freedom of movement. The top three point scorers of all time are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant, respectively. He has been known to flop and complain to referees. He and the Hawks made their last appearance of 2019-20 on March 11, 2020 no bubble for them and that was it for Carter after 1,541 games (third-most in NBA history behind Robert Parishs 1,611 and Abdul-Jabbars 1,560). VORP and Win Shares favor James, but PER and Box Plus/Minus go to Jordan. James is the NBA's all-time scoring leader, but Jordan hit major scoring milestones well ahead of James throughout his career. Barry averaged 30.6 in 1974-75 and led an ensemble Golden State team to the NBA championship, but finished a dubious fourth in MVP voting behind Bob McAdoo, Dave Cowens and Elvin Hayes back when players voted for the award. Nothing stood in his way once he had gotten to the. If you are having difficulty accessing any content on this website, please visit our Accessibility page. James is in his 16th season and, at 34, likely has several years left. The gap in total numbers will widen as long as James stays healthy, and he doesn't appear to be slowing down at age 38. LeBron does not have the dominance of Michael Jordan. Baylor scored 34.0 at 28 in 1962-63 and Bernard King put up 32.9 per game for the Knicks in 1984-85. As a point forward, he initiates the offense more often, requiring defenders to pick him up farther away from the basket. No other non-center ever stonewalled the aging process like Carter. At this tier, Chamberlain averaged 33.5 in 1965-66 and Jordan 32.6 in 1992-93. He passes Michael Jordan, who did it at age 34 in 1997. The better player of the two is, Jordan. Sorting only sorts the values in the table shown. Whenever he touched the ball, I tried to get it out of his hands, Smith said. Miami Heats and Chicago Bulls have had many MVP players, these two players contribute the most to their team's success is LeBron with the Miami Heats and Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls. The Lebron versus Kobe really got heated when Michael Jordan said he thinks Bryant is the better player due to his five championship, Although the stats do not lie, people still believe there is an argument to be made over who the greatest basketball player of all time is because of the number of championships won. This still doesn't change the fact that Michael Michael Jordan has retired, then made his return to the NBA. Six rings. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Kobe Bryant wanted to show out Jordan himself by dropping a total of fifty-five points in the game. A current star has complicated that GOAT (greatest of all time) conversation, of course. One of the reasons why Lebron can not be said to be better than Jordan is because of how many championships Michael has won compared to Lebron. Next, is the MVP award, Kobe was the MVP one year, while Jordan was the MVP five years (Kobe Bryant vs. Michael Jordan Comparison). Not only dont players lead the league in scoring (or nearly so) at 37, they dont get close to averaging 30. Do you have a sports website? There are many reasons why Lebron can not be the better than Michael Jordan was. Christie estimated 40 points per game. LeBron James passes Michael Jordan in career field goals James now trails Wilt (12,681) for No. James recently missed 18 games due to a strained groin muscle the longest break of his career. Against that backdrop, maybe what LeBron James has done this season shouldnt seem so astonishing. A key example of LeBrons failure to lead a team is during the 2015 NBA finals. Design and development by Virginia Singarayar. Over James first five seasons in the league, he averaged 27.3 points on 46.7% shooting (32.4% on threes) while putting up 21.1 shots nightly. Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. Their names are all over the NBA record books in just about every category. LeBron James is currently the fourth-leading scorer in NBA history, 19 points ahead of Michael Jordan, who holds the No. Hes great at baiting the defense and making plays for his teammates. Curiously, his 10th scoring crown came with his lowest average of the bunch, but it was enough to edge Shaquille ONeals 28.3 that season. The author explains that actually, Stephen Curry has no intrigued about the new face of NBA between him and Lebron James. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. James is set to pass Abdul-Jabbars all-time scoring record (38,387 career points) over the next week in what will be a major accomplishment. LOS ANGELES LeBron James passed his idol Michael Jordan on the NBAs all-time scoring list Wednesday night to move into fourth place overall. @NBATV pic.twitter.com/bhOOosMjpe, Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 9, 2022. Jordan left college after his junior year to join the NBA. Remember when LeBron scored 25 straight points? Cassell asked, referring to a 2007 playoff game between Jamess Cavaliers and the Pistons. Once LeBron faces up to see the defense, youre doomed, Smith said. Kobe has 5 championships, and out of those 5 he was the MVP of two of them (2007-08). There's a very good chance that James blows by 40,000 career points. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting. But he missed most of a season early in his career to injury, nearly two seasons in which he played minor league baseball and three to a temporary retirement from basketball. Rule changes have led to a different game, three-pointers, two-pointers and free throws. And what qualities make one player the GOAT? Jordans success in the finals and post-season was an amazing feat thatll probably never come close to being accomplished ever again (Zachmo Marsupalami.). There some people who think LeBron James is the greatest, there are some that think Michael Jordan is the greatest. 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