On October 26, 1984, a new level of competition was set by Michael Jordan in his first NBA game. He scored 16 points  and had 6 rebounds and 7 assists. With this the world knew that he was going to be a legend in the making.

He had passion for the sport and that passion was a very enjoyable thing to watch. He was the definition of a perfect team player and highly skilled athlete.

His rebound count showed that he would make hustle plays for his team. His assists and points showed that he is not only super good individually but also could get better opportunities for his teammates. He was not a selfish player by any means. As his NBA career progressed even further, people were getting more and more fascinated by him. He won 6 total championships during his NBA career.

His last game was on April 16, 2003, and it was a very heartbreaking day for basketball fans all over the world. Throughout his career he was known to be the greatest basketball player of all time, until LeBron came into the picture at the start of his career.

LeBron James started his career off on october 29, 2003 and he caught the eyes of many people. Tensions sparked instantly when LeBron was compared directly to the greatest player ever. Michael Jordan is the better overall player over LeBron James.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“I was a Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan fan growing up. said LeBron James himself.[/perfectpullquote]

Photo by Cliff

Titles Won

Just so everything is clear, Michael Jordan went through all of things LeBron James had to go through. He had to go through the fans, the pressure, and all that dedication in practices and games. He pretty much had the same basketball career as LeBron because of how alike they were and how they were viewed by the people off the court.

Getting to a NBA finals game was hard enough, but winning a NBA basketball title was very hard and required a lot of dedication from all the players on the team. Being able to go through all the pressure of fans and people who did not support your team must have been terrifying.

LeBron did end up going to the finals 8 times, but had only won 3 of those 8 titles.

He first won an NBA title in 2012 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He won his second title in 2013 against the San Antonio Spurs. “The King”  delivers a championship to his home state of Ohio in 2016. Those 3 finals wins are the only things keeping “The King” apart of the feud between who is the greatest overall player.

LeBron and his team later lose twice to Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors and then 3 more times. To the San Antonio Spurs twice and the Dallas Mavericks once.

That being said, LeBron had only won 3 NBA Championships.

Michael Jordan had gotten all the way to the NBA championship finals 6 times and of those 6 times, he won every single one! Even though LeBron beat Michael Jordan by getting to the finals 8 times, he did not win every single time he got there. 

LeBron gets there 8 times and MJ gets there 6 times, but 100% is always going to be better than 37.5%.

LeBron had been in the NBA for 15 years and Michael Jordan’s career had only lasted 14 years. This just showed that Michael Jordan had been good from the start and it did not take other things to influence his greatness like LeBron. Within that career MJ had managed to win 6 championships with the best stats per each game.

In 1993, through all 7 games of the NBA finals, Michael Jordan scored 246 points total, averaged about 9 rebounds per game, had a 70 free throw percentage and averaged about 6 assists per game. Each title he competed for, lead him to awards/victories that must have been way beyond what he expected for him and his team.

Back then, MJ was compared to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar A.K.A. The Big Fella. Kareem was nicknamed this because of his height of 7 feet 2 inches. Abdul-Jabbar was a majorly famous and professional athlete at the time, but Michael Jordan had ended up beating him out in many categories. MJ had won 10 scoring titles when Kareem had only won 2. MJ also had an average of about 30 points per game when Kareem only had about 25. Lastly, MJ beats Kareem out by getting 3 All-star game MVPs and Kareem had not gotten any. MJ had taken out the bigman.

Showing that he was good then and no one has lived up to the level he has set.

All-Defense Selected

LeBron and his was selected to be NBA all-defense team award only 6 times.

(The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual NBA honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. This is all based off the stats recorded during that season.)

This must have been a very hard thing to earn and LeBron put in all that work just to be awarded in this type of way and he totally deserved it. Earning 6 all-defense team awards is not a major accomplishment.

What else is cool is that LeBron won 6 all defense awards. NO that is not as cool as Michael Jordan and his team  winning 9 all-defense team awards. That is 3 more times than LeBron.

There was also an individual all-defense award and Michael Jordan just happened to win that too from 1987-1988. He only won it once, but that is one more than The King.

You know what they say.

Defense wins championships.

Team Composition

LeBron had been apart of many big teams that have won many NBA championships.

Those including the Miami Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and just currently the Los Angeles Lakers.

During his time on the Miami Heat, he won 2 championships and the overall team was a great example of a well connected team and of good team composition. Once LeBron joins Kyrie Irving and the Cavs, they go on to become one of the best two players on their team and basically led the Cavs to championships. Half of the times Lebron went to the finals was on the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Make no mistake – LeBron James was carrying the Cavs” said Rowan Ricardo Phillips.[/perfectpullquote]

Photo By Keith Allison

When Kyrie leaves, LeBron led the Cavs and they had one of the worst few seasons in their career. He moves to the Los Angeles Lakers because he cannot stand losing anymore. Shows what good team composition LeBron has.

Basically, LeBron was put on some of the best teams and eventually had to have led his team to the victories he could not win. Michael Jordan was on a very good team composed group. The Chicago Bulls.

Not only was he on the best team with the best players, he led them.

He was their star player and his play reflected on the other players. This made for very good team composition for the Bulls. 

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“I´m not sure I´ve ever been around anybody that wanted to win more or worked harder than Michael Jordan” said Bobby Knight.[/perfectpullquote]

Photo by mccarmona23

MJ. Had the best percentage wins in the finals, won his own individual defensive award and the most all-defense team awards, and was just the best player which made his team very composed of amazing athletes that reflected his play.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan.

The one and only legend and best overall player.

Featured Photo By Kip-koech