It’s official. LeBron James has officially passed 50,000 points. Though we all saw it coming, it still is a surprise. He is now 6000 points above anyone else in the world. Now of course, this is to be celebrated by everyone in the basketball community. But, it does bring up an interesting topic. The GOAT debate. A debate that never goes away. There are 2 real sides to the debate. The Michael Jordan side and the LeBron James side. Until now, many would agree that although there is an argument for LeBron, Michael Jordan has taken the title. Now, with LeBron being 40 years old and still breaking records, there’s some reconsidering to be done. The main argument for Jordan is that he has more rings, is 6-0 in the finals, is a better defender, and so on and so forth. For LeBron, he has scored way more (Jordan scored ~32,000 in his career), is a way better playmaker and teammate, played many more seasons, and so on and so forth. With LeBron now at 50,000, there is definitely a point to be made about his scoring ability. Although many give the all-time scoring title to Jordan, 50,000 is a hard number to argue with. By the end of his career, LeBron will definitely have more than 20,000 more career points than Jordan. If LeBron continues playing for a lot of seasons, he might even get 25,000 points more than Jordan. If we do the Math, Michael Jordan scored ~2000 points a season, whereas LeBron is averaging ~2250. Also, Jordan (as of now) played 7 less seasons than LeBron. Overall, the King is only getting farther and farther away from Mj in the points category.
To be honest, the GOAT debate has gotten harder and harder to decide as time goes on. At this point, I believe that the real X factor is how you weigh each stat. If you believe that championships are everything, then maybe Bill Russel is your GOAT. If you just look at the numbers, then Wilt is easily at the top of the NBA globe. If you look at impact, then maybe your GOAT is Steph Curry. Maybe you’re just a defensive kind of guy. Maybe you think offense is way more exciting than defense and so the GOAT should be the best offensive player. The issue is, no matter which way you weigh the stats, there’s always another debate to be had.
For example, let’s say you think the GOAT should be the best offensive player in NBA history. That raises an obvious question. Who is the best offensive player in NBA history? Is it LeBron, because he’s scored the most points? Is it Wilt, because he averaged the most points per season? Is it MJ, because he had the most scoring titles? Is it Steph Curry, because he’s (in my opinion) the most clutch player of all time. No matter where you look, there’s always another debate to be had.
Back to the MJ VS LeBron debate, let’s break it down into pieces. The sections of basketball that were gonna look at are overall offense, overall defense, mid-range shooting, 3 point shooting, shot blocking, clutch ability, passing/playmaking, and foul-drawing/ability to score off the drive. I feel that these are the most important categories to look at when we are viewing these players’ basketball ability.
Overall Offense
Overall offensive ability. A pretty broad category if you ask me. Because of how broad this category is, it is easiest to just compare statistics. LeBron is averaging 27 points per game during the regular season across his whole career. Michael Jordan averaged 30.1 points per game during the regular season across his career. That means he is averaging just over 3 points per game more than LeBron. In my eyes, 3 points is a pretty big difference. 3 points is the difference between a good-ish role player in Lauri Markkanen (19.3 ppg) and a great veteran player in DeMar DeRozan (22.2 ppg). I would take DeMar over Markkanen in a heartbeat. Because of that, I have to give this category to Michael Jordan.
Overall Defense
To be honest, this category took almost no thought. I could say Jordan is a better defender than LeBron faster than you could blink (not quite but close). Many consider Jordan to be one of the best defenders of all time. Though LeBron isn’t a bad defender by any means, Jordan definitely wins this category.
Mid-range Shooting
The Mid-range. Also known as a middy, jumper, J, or whatever else you may call it (there are a lot of names out there). This shot is a staple of both of these players’ games. I would even go so far to say that mid-ranges are the main go-to move for both of these guys. Both shot these shots at very similar percentages. Although LeBron shot at a slightly higher percentage (50.7% vs 49.5%), I am going to give this category to Michael Jordan. Why you may be wondering, well it’s hard to explain. Though they shoot the shot at almost the same percentage, my heart feels like Jordan shot this shot better. Not only was he the “OG” of this shot, but it was a move he used so often. Though this is a really tough category, I’m going to give it to MJ, giving him a 3-0 lead in categories so far.
3-point Shooting
This was another easy category for me. Michael Jordan never really shot all that many threes himself. He much preferred the midrange. Though LeBron isn’t an amazing 3-point shooter, he certainly isn’t bad. Therefore, LeBron wins the 3 point shooting category.
Shot Blocking
Unlike a few of the previous categories, this one was actually difficult for me. When thinking about LeBron, my mind really couldn’t get past the chase down block on Andre Igoudala back in game 7 of the NBA finals in 2016 to win the finals. For MJ, I couldn’t stop thinking about how good of a defender he was in general. In the end, it depends on whether you’re looking at overall shot blocking or highlight shot blocking. For overall shot blocking, I have to give it to Jordan. For shot blocking highlights, I have to give it to LeBron. Therefore, I’m going to have to call this one even, making the score 3.5-1.5 with MJ in the lead.
Clutch Ability
Yah… Jordan wins this one 😆. Jordan has the most game winners in NBA history. LeBron has played 7 more seasons and counting and has less game winners. 4.5-1.5 with Jordan in the lead.
Passing/Playmaking
The ability to create for others was never really Michael Jordans forte. He much preferred taking a contested jumper than passing the ball. LeBron wasn’t like that. Infact, I would argue that LeBron has one of the highest basketball IQs in NBA history. LeBron destroys MJ in this one, making the score 4.5-02.5.
Foul-Drawing/Ability to score off the drive
Wow my head is spinning thinking about this one. Because of how freakishly athletic both of these players are, they both are experts at both foul-drawing and the ability to score off the drive. Both players could blow past anyone. They could also post people up like centers. I am going to have to give this category a draw. The final score of my analysis is 5-3, Jordan wins.\
Conclusion
In conclusion, when looking at unweighted categories, Michael Jordan is the best player of all time. He is the rightful owner of the GOAT status.
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