MJ or LBJ?

MJ or LBJ?

Cleveland Cavalier Center Kendrick Perkins has found himself at the center of a heated debate.

“All [Lebron] James needs is a couple of championships and he has passed [Michael Jordan],” he said

Should this even be a question? Really? It’s obviously Michael Jordan.

The LeBron James passing Michael “boat” sailed last year when James failed to show up in the 4th quarter in games against the Spurs last year in the Finals. The Spurs took the Heat out in five games..five games. Jordan never lost in a Finals and never even had to go to a game 7. Plus Jordan in reality had 11 years in his prime (Since he was injured for the year in his second season, retired in the prime of his career, and came back as a 39 year old on the Wizards) and had won 6 finals in that time. Now LeBron in 13 years is 2-3 in the Finals. Yes he did “backpack” his team to the first one and lost but, the second finals in his career he lost to the Dallas Mavericks (who were a much older team and LeBron had two top ten players along side of him in Chris Bosh and D-Wade) and lost to an older Spurs team in last years finals.

The level of competition Jordan played with was much harder than what James has now. His path to the Finals every year is easy. In all 5 of his appearances James has played the Pistons(who were at the end of their peak), next the Bulls (who were a pretty good team at best in 2011), the Celtics(who took them to 7 games with 3 players Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett all at the end of their prime), the Pacers (who actually were a pretty good team but, nothing great and took them to 7), and finally the Pacers again (who were not as good as they were the year before since Roy Hibbert seemed to not show up.)

On the other hand Jordan not only beat but swept the notorious Bad Boys Pistons in 91, the Cavs in 92(which was a very good team led by Price, Ehlo, Nance, and Daugherty), the Knicks in 93 (another historically good team), the Magic in 96 (another historic team led by Shaq and Penny in their primes), the Heat in 97(led by Alonzo Mouring in his prime, Tim Hardaway in his prime, and Jamaal Mashburn in his prime), and lastly the Pacers in 98 who are historically known for their deep team in 1998.

Also it took LeBron to go to a “super team” with two of the best players in the game to even get back to the Finals. James FINALLY won a title when he played the youngest team in NBA history to make the NBA finals ( the OKC Thunder)   in 2012 and won again in 2013 to the Spurs (thanks to a 3 pointer that Ray Allen hit over two people which Bill Simmons and many believed was a travel).

When you dig deeper into the analytic stats it is shown that Jordan is the better basketball player. People are just blinded to the fact that basketball is no where as competitive as it was in the “Golden Age” of basketball and are blinded by stats and all time lists. Lebron will score more points in his career but that doesn’t make him the better player.

I’m aware of LeBrons greatness and that we are witnessing a great athlete but, it really rubs me the wrong way when people say LeBron is the best ever. The only thing they have to say is look at his stats. Stats aren’t always everything in sports. You have to dig deeper into analytics, playoff stats, and leadership.

James made the Finals in 2007 and lost to the Spurs. after that he couldn’t get pass the Celtics or the Magic in the next 2 or 3 years to even get back to the Finals. So he left Cleveland to go with two top 10 superstar players to win championships. That is like Jordan not being able to get pass the Bad Boys Pistons in his early years and just hightailing out of Chicago to join them since he couldn’t beat them. You have to let them build around you and that is what Jordan did unlike James.

It took the Bulls six years to build a team around MJ that was a Championship team. LeBron was in his 7th year with the Cavs and already had a taste of the Finals. You have to be patient he was also only 25 at the time so he had a lot more time as to Jordan’s age being 27 the first time they won a championship.

Jordan is a much better scorer than LeBron is. He would of held the record for most points in a career if it weren’t for his two retirements in his career. MJ was only 34 the second time he retired and proved he could of played between the time he was retired and with the Wizards. Many also believe that Jordan might have won a few more if he didn’t retire the second time. As a 39 year old MJ was playing 39 minutes a game. That is insane.

Jordan was dominant right off the bat. By his 3rd year in the league he was averaging 37 points per game shooting 49%. No other shooting guard could put up that many points shooting that efficient. LeBron was dominating the league as well when he came in averaging 30 points per game good, but not as good.

If ou ask who the better all around player is it is LeBron but, people forget, MJ has done something LeBron has never done in his career in the all around aspect. Jordan has averaged 30 points, 8 assists, and 8 rebounds per game which is something LeBron has never done in a full season. That season he also put up 3 steals a game and 2 blocks.

Defensively and playoff performance Jordan has LeBron in that factor of their game as well. Jordan would lock people that weighed 25-50 pounds more and 4 inches taller. He made it look easy. His backside defense and help defense was unbelievable and would lock up the best perimeter players in the game. He would swipe a guard coming down the lane and would block a 7 foot center like it was nothing.

Jordan stopped putting up those massive all around numbers once Scottie Pippen came. It took a load of Jordan. And this is what helped them in the Playoffs. Yes Scotie was a good player but, Jordan made him that great player. Michael Jeffrey Jordan will forever be the best player in NBA history.