LeBron James and Michael Jordan Compared: Who’s Better and the GOAT in Basketball?

Comparisons between players are always idle, but it is only human that they are made. Isn’t that what sport is about? In the end there is always a winner, someone else has to lose. That’s the case in tennis, the same applies to a team sport like basketball. Nevertheless, there are always five players in a team who fill different roles and occupy positions.

This makes it difficult to make comparisons. “There’s no I in team” is a well-known quote, which Michael Jordan countered as follows. “But in ‘Win’ there is one”. And Jordan did. “His Airness” made it to the finals six times, and his Chicago Bulls won six times. It’s the manslaughter argument that fans of Jordan keep throwing when the GOAT debate picks up steam again.

LeBron James, on the other hand, has “only” four titles, but the forward reached the finals ten times, between 2011 and 2018 a whopping eight times in a row. Jordan might also have succeeded if he hadn’t surprisingly announced his retirement in 1993 after three championships in a row at the height of his career. Jordan did not return to baseball until 18 months later, after which the Bulls won three more straight titles.

What speaks for James, on the other hand, is his longevity and the stats he has accumulated over 20 years in the NBA. In addition, Jordan never met a team like the Golden State Warriors in his prime, which are considered by quite a few to be the best team of all time. James lost three times with his Cleveland Cavaliers, once he was able to beat Stephen Curry and Co. In 2016, the Warriors won 73 games (NBA record), led 3-1 in the Finals, only to lose to LeBron’s Cavs at home in Game 7.

This should only be an excerpt of how this debate can be conducted. Ultimately, it’s hardly possible. Jordan was a guard, a scorer, while James defined himself by his all-around game. Jordan played in the ’90s, an era of the Big Men, where one-on-one basketball was popular. James, on the other hand, experienced a changing NBA, to more skill ball, more three-pointers, more pace.

In addition, the level in the NBA is significantly higher today than it was 30 years ago. Jordan played at a time when the NBA’s expansion was diluting talent levels. Only gradually did this increase as more and more foreign players came to the NBA. It’s no coincidence that there hasn’t been a US MVP since 2018 (James Harden).

But what do the numbers actually say? Let’s take a look.

LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan: Stats Comparison

On average, Jordan scored significantly more points than James, who is now the best point collector of all time thanks to significantly more games played. LeBron also has advantages in rebounds and assists, while Jordan has more steals on the credit side.

The former Bulls star led the NBA in steals three times, James not once. James played the most assists in the 2019/20 season. In terms of shooting, he has a slight advantage as he played closer to the ring due to his height. LeBron is also in the lead when it comes to the three-pointer quota, although the distance throw played a much smaller role in the Jordan era. Jordan was the better shooter, which is particularly evident in the free throw rate. This was always a small flaw with LeBron, who liked to give up trying.

LeBron James vs. Michael: Stats Comparison Playoffs

The situation is similar in the postseason, with Jordan’s point average being significantly higher than in the regular season. In the raw numbers, on the other hand, James has an advantage again, precisely because he played so many more games than Jordan. Nobody has played more games in the playoffs than James, who has only missed the postseason four times in 20 years.

LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan: Team Success

On the other hand, what further speaks for Jordan are the rings, i.e. the number of championships. With the Chicago Bulls, MJ won the Larry O’Brien Trophy from 1991 to 1993 and from 1996 to 1998, twice achieving the so-called “Three Peat”. Between 1991 and 1998, Jordan lost only one playoff series with the Bulls – in 1995 against the Orlando Magic for the then up-and-coming young stars Penny Hardaway and Shaquille O’Neal.

James, on the other hand, reached the finals ten times, but also left the field as a loser six times. In 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2020 LeBron’s teams won against it, each time James also became Finals MVP. He is the only player in history to be named Finals MVP with three different teams (Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers).

In addition, LeBron also won two Olympic golds. 2008 with the “Redeem Team” in Beijing and 2012 in London. In 2004 in Athens, however, the then 19-year-old only got bronze. Jordan’s record, on the other hand, is impeccable. In 1984 he won with Team USA as a college player in Los Angeles, eight years later he was part of the famous “Dream Team”, which played their opponents to the ground in Barcelona.

LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan: Individual Awards

Jordan was MVP five times, while LeBron was only four times, but James was voted to an All-NBA team a whopping 19 times in his 20 years, which is a lone record. Jordan was also only absent from the All-NBA team once, during his time with the Chicago Bulls (1986). After his second comeback, this time with the Washington Wizards, he was no longer granted that honor. Jordan missed the playoffs twice in a row with Washington before finally hanging up the sneakers in 2003.