The other day, I went to McDonalds with my two year-old girl to get some breakfast. While placing our order, the cashier saw my 2016 NBA Champs Cleveland Cavaliers hat and decided he needed to comment on it. "Jordan will always be the best, LeBron didn't win six finals though," he argued. "LeBron ain't gonna win it this year though with KD goin to Golden State," he added. I just reassured him that Golden State does have a really good team this year and that we'll see what happens.
I have some friends and family members who have felt that LeBron is better than Michael Jordan. The debate will rage on and unfortunately (or fortunately) will never be able to proven, but it's fun to talk about. Jordan has always been the best player for me, with LeBron in second, Magic third, and then a slew of great players that I'd have to really sit down and think about. So I've never agreed with my friends/family that LeBron is a better player than MJ, and a part of me hurt since LeBron is from my neck of the woods.
After what James did this year, I think you can now make the argument.
The picture above is one I found on Facebook. It was most likely created by a Cavalier fan who strongly feels that LeBron has surpassed Jordan. I'm not going to say if I think LeBron is better now than MJ, but I will attempt to make a good argument for it.
Let's start with that picture. By age 31, it looks as if LeBron has done a lot more than MJ. This picture doesn't show that LeBron is better; it's skewed. LeBron went straight to the NBA out of high school while MJ played three years in college. He was a big part of why UNC won a national championship in his freshman year, so MJ really won four titles by the time he was 31, not just three.
Then we come to league MVP. I think this award has become absurd. Stephen Curry won UNANIMOUS MVP last season. He's not even the MVP on his own team. He folded in the finals. The award this year proved to be a joke. MJ was never unanimous MVP, neither was Magic, Bird, or LeBron. Steph Curry isn't on the same planet as those guys.
The 13 seasons compare to 9 for MJ is the difference between Jordans' three years in college and one year or retirement in which he was starting to master another sport. Yes, he was horrible his first season, but you try switching sports at age 30 after not having played for 12+ years. It was incredible that he had the success that he did. He was also starting to get the hang of it and do well. So if you add on an extra four seasons for MJ to equal LeBrons, that gives MJ three more titles. Edge MJ.
Jordan was known as the most clutch player and changed the way we view our NBA superstars today. If you're the superstar and you don't take the last shot, you're heavily criticized. Jordan was the first guy to start doing this. Then it spread to everyone else: Iverson, Kobe, LeBron. Superstars are now judged by that aspect of being clutch...do you take the last shot, and make it? LeBron is actually more clutch than MJ if you look at certain stats, but Jordan wasn't in the era of twitter where every passed-up opportunity and missed shot is instantaneously under a microscope all over the world. I don't know who I'd rather have the ball at the end of the game...but whoever you choose, there shouldn't be a ton of disparity.
So since most of these things still lean Jordan, why does LeBron now have an argument for the GOAT status?
LeBron has now done some things that the other greats never could. That calls into question their greatness...how come LeBron could do it and MJ, Magic, and Bird couldn't?
First off, the finals appearances...LeBron has seven now (4 in Miami, 3 in Cleveland) but out of those seven, should've only made it to 5 or 6. The fact that he took his team to the finals during some of those years should be a positive, not a negative. That first Cavaliers run in 2007 really showed how good LeBron was. His #2 guy was Larry Hughes. Are you kidding me? I remember at the time hating the sports writers who would comment that this was one of the worst NBA Finals teams. Turns out it was. The Cavs shouldn't have beaten the teams that they did to make it there. I would argue that last season, when Love got hurt in the first series and Kyrie was banged up for the entire playoffs and out in the finals, was also a year that LeBron shouldn't have made it and shouldn't have won. He was up 2-1 in the finals last year!
So MJ winning all six of his finals may not be as impressive as LeBron winning 3 of 7 considering the teams he took to the finals.
Then there's the "down 3-1 comeback" that James just did. That was also against the team who is statistically the greatest regular season team ever. Nobody has ever done that. Ever.
James has also won NBA championships on two different teams, also something that Magic, Bird, and Michael never did. Different coaches, different players, different systems. Not an easy thing to do.
LeBron has always been the guy to rebound and pass as well as score. Jordan didn't have to rebound...he had Dennis Rodman and Horace Grant. He never had to take on an opposing team's best player, especially one bigger than him...he had Scottie Pippen for that. He never had to be the guy to create the offense and set up other guys,,,he had Ron Harper, John Paxson, and Scottie Pippen for that. LeBron does it all, and he's never injured. James makes players around him better. He's also never had a player as great as Scottie Pippen or Dennis Rodman. Rodman will go down as the best rebounding forward in NBA history. Pippen is a top 50 player of all time, a member of the Dream Team. LeBron has had Dwayne Wade out of his prime, Chris Bosh out of his prime, Kyrie Irving before his prime, and Kevin Love in his prime. Don't get me wrong, they're great players. But who would you take on your all-time team? Scottie Pippen or Kevin Love? Jordan also had arguably the greatest coach in NBA history in Phil Jackson. LeBron has had rookies or flame-outs.
So has LeBron just surpassed MJ? Not everyone was in agreement when I thought it was clear that LeBron had taken the torch from Kobe. Maybe in some people's eyes, Jordan will always be the best, no matter what a future NBA player does in his career. One thing is clear...MJ hasn't ever been challenged as the GOAT until now. Let the discussion begin!
