One of the biggest debates in all of sports culture is the argument of who is better between Michael Jordan and LeBron James, the two undisputed greatest basketball players of all time.
In the case of Michael Jordan, many people bring up the many accolades that he won throughout his career, more than James in a lot of categories.
“When you look at just accolades it tells you everything you need to know. Jordan has 6 championships and LeBron only has 4. Jordan also is 6-0 in the finals, while LeBron has lost six different times in the finals. Jordan also has 10 scoring titles and LeBron only has one. Jordan has five MVPs to LeBron’s four. Jordan also did all of this in 15 seasons, while LeBron has played 20 seasons and is still going and is still barely even close to catching Jordan in some of these categories,” freshman Ben Hommell said.
Many people also argue about Jordan’s abilities on defense as well as offense.
“Jordan and LeBron are both great scorers and their abilities on offense are both top tier, but Jordan’s abilities on defense completely outweigh LeBron’s. It’s not even close. Jordan was one of, if not the best defender of all time, and LeBron is an above average defender at best. Jordan won a defensive player of the year award at only 6’6” which commonly goes to players that are bigger, and LeBron hasn’t won one at all,” junior Chris Lukins said.
Another argument many basketball fans use is the amount of help they each had on their teams.
“LeBron has had so many more hall of fame teammates to help him accomplish what he has. Jordan three-peated in the finals twice, which is something that 99% of NBA players can’t even do once, including LeBron James. He also did this with only the help of Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, who were also both great players, but nothing compared to who LeBron has played with. LeBron has played with Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Ray Allen, and more. If you look up the career stats of Jordan’s teammates vs the career stats of LeBron’s teammates, the difference is insane,” sophomore Eli Miller said.
One of James’ biggest criticisms among sports fans is his whining and flopping in games that Jordan was never known for.
“I think Jordan just has more integrity as a player than LeBron does. LeBron has been known to flop around to try and get fouls called and in games when he gets hit or a little physical with someone, he’ll always end up on the ground for too long. Jordan would always embrace this physicality and often thrived through it. LeBron also just argues with the refs a lot until he gets his way. Jordan would just let his game do the talking and if he didn’t like the way a call went in a game, he would make up for it himself instead of whining to a ref,” Lukins said.
