Two exceptional talents. One endless debate.
From the day LeBron James first picked up a basketball, he wanted to be like Mike. James and his closest friends idolized Michael Jordan while they grew up together in Akron, Ohio. As James grew into a tantalizing basketball prospect capable of jumping from high school to the NBA as the No. 1 draft pick, he studied, imitated and drew profound inspiration from Jordan’s tongue-wagging dunks, that fadeaway jumper, his competitive fire – even the little details of the way Jordan wore his sneakers and shorts.
“M.J. was an inspiration,” James told reporters on March 7, 2019, the night he passed Jordan for fourth place on the NBA’s career scoring list. “M.J. was the lightning in a bottle for me, because I wanted to be like him.”
Now 38 and just a game or two from passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the top spot on that same list, James is one of the few players who can legitimately be discussed alongside Jordan when it comes to laying claim to the title of G.O.A.T. (“Greatest of All Time”).
No one here is picking sides (and James’ career legacy is still being written), but here is a closer look at how the two superstars stack up today when it comes to the regular season, the postseason and their respective achievements and honors (all stats are through Feb. 5, 2023):
REGULAR-SEASON STATS
Jordan was the flashier scorer – 10 scoring titles and the highest career scoring average in NBA history – and the better defender (leading the league in steals three times), while James has been the better playmaker with 106 career regular-season triple-doubles to Jordan’s 28.
James wins the longevity argument (with anyone), still playing at an All-NBA level and averaging 30 points per game in his 20th season with clear plans to play at least a few more. We’ll never know where Jordan’s totals would have ended up if not for a pair of early retirements (missing nearly two full seasons when he walked away the first…
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