The games in the NBA are evolving, and Michael Jordan was the man who changed the game. Most people know that Lebron James and Stephen Curry play in a dissimilar position, style of playing, careers and so on. On March 28th, 2003 the ultimate rivalry took place between Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. The question thats been roaming around the air for quite awhile now iswho was better at it? Michael Jordan is widely considered as the greatest basketball player of all time, however in LeBron James there is an individual who can claim to challenge him for Id let LeBron take it out of bounds and bring it up, Davis quipped. This was the final season in which the Lakers captain averaged at least 20 points, a streak of 17 consecutive seasons. Michael Jordan has had his downfalls like losing some of the championships. Keep scrolling to see how long it could take James to catch up to their records. NBA GOAT debate: Big questions on the greatest players ever. Curry posted the highest scoring season of his career the year after his hand injury limited him to five appearances in 2019-20. He averaged a career-best 5.3 3-point baskets while hoisting a career-high 12.7 attempts. At age 37, LeBron has scored 25 points in 10 consecutive games. The analytics dont really help because LeBrons so complete, he said. Second to the Dippers bar-setter, Michael Jordan averaged 35.0 points in 1987-88. James has gone 4-6 in his 10NBA Finals appearances, but he also controlled the Eastern Conference with the Cavaliers and Heat for almost an entire decade. Learn more and register. Jamess all-around playmaking polish led Christie to throw out prepared scouting reports, focusing instead on keeping a running checklist of Jamess shots. the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. Percentage of total points scored from three-pointers, two-pointers and free throws for the top five scorers, Percentage of total points scored from three-pointers, two-. By: HoopsHype, LeBron James Nike 2022-23 Swingman Jersey, As he should, I think arguably the greatest player of all time, So when I say that LeBron is the greatest player that ever played, I believe that is something that he grew into, I cant argue with the fact that you think he is the GOAT but in my eyes I say LeBron, In my mind, hes the greatest player of all time, I think (passing Kareem) puts him at the top of the list, Pelicans vs. Blazers: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Magic vs. Stymied in his quest for an NBA title, West in his 10th season wasnt about to go gentle into that good night. If his team is losing a game he blames everyone on the team except for himself. Kobe Bryant wanted to show out Jordan himself by dropping a total of fifty-five points in the game. Take a closer look at some of the impactful activations hosted by the Kings during Black History Month. By: HoopsHype, But when you want to say whos the greatest ever its still Michael Jordan, Im going with MJ because I played with him. A new poll commissioned by ESPN in 2020 found that 73% of NBA fans believe Jordan is the superior player overall, and the Chicago Bulls legend swept all 17 questions comparing him to James by metrics both on and off the court. OK, so Willis appeared in five games for Dallas after a full season away from the NBA. Michael Jordan career vs. LeBron James career. Jordan fanshave championships in their back pockets. Click on the red text to pre-fill the form with various values, Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Wednesday, March 1, 4:56AM. Scoring might not even be his best skill. James has 28 career 40-point games in the playoffs Only 139 NBA players have scored more than 15,000 points, and just seven have crossed the 30,000 mark. Lebron or Kobe? site for a tweet, an article, or for research for a Percentage of total points scored from three-pointers, two-pointers and free throws for each season in LeBrons career. In response to Jordan and James, frustrated opposing coaches resorted to unconventional tactics. Over 14 games, James is averaging 34.7 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game on 51.6% shooting. While Lebron is in his thirteenth year in the NBA, made it to the finals seven times, and won three out of those seven times. 5 spot with 32,292. Jordan took over in his playoff runs scoring over 33 points a game compared to Lebron's 28 points. However, it looks like LeBron James is set to smash every single scoring record in relation to longevity. I have no idea how Ive been able to do it.. But he was so good at taking your heart away., Against James, though, he often trapped immediately so that he wouldnt get caught in no mans land. Abdul-Jabbar had averaged 17.5 points at age 39 but that still was a 20-point rate pro-rated to 36 minutes. While Lebron has 2 championships (2011-13) , and was the MVP of both of those wins. A current Cleveland-Cavalier, Lebron James has helped shaped the game on and off the court. They revolutionized the game and brought a standard to be met- Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. There are so many more mountains to conquer. On your television. Michael Jordan and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf recount a funny conversation when discussing his recovery from a foot injury. Bryant is followed by Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki (12.0PPG) and fellow Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (10.1PPG). This tells us that Jordan played better, when the stage was the biggest. Of the others who entered the league straight from high school, Tracy McGrady (7.0) got closest to Bryants average one year later. WNBA all-time (since 1997) unless otherwise noted. -- William C. Rhoden, LeBron and MJ in their own words through the years. Please logout and login again. Note: Because some players birthdays fall during the NBA season, we are going with the age XX year as determined by Basketball-Reference.com. LeBron does not have the dominance of Michael Jordan. The better player of the two is, Jordan. Did you know that Michael Jordan averaged about thirty points a game, and retired with six NBA championships. Rockets: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Nets vs. Knicks: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, 76ers vs. Heat: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Cavaliers vs. Celtics: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Bulls vs. Pistons: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. help us continue to produce this material. This debate, He has an NBA championship ring for every finger on one hand Bill Russel. Here we are 12 years later, after his Achilles tear, and hes scoring at the same clip, only missing a few too many appearances to qualify among the official league leaguers. In 2001, Randy (Big Unit) Johnson at age 37 struck out a career-high 372 batters, went 21-6 for the Arizona Diamondbacks and earned the fourth of his five Cy Young Awards. The answer to that is very tough to come upon and will likely be unknown for a long time. Wilton Norman Chamberlain enters the fray, after spotting these great scorers five years due to rules and traditions of his day. As James grew into a tantalizing basketball prospect capable of jumping from high school to the NBA as the No. While Jordans brain zoomed in to calculate the precise moment and method to beat his defenders, Jamess zooms out to survey for weaknesses that someone on his team maybe him, maybe not could exploit. This still doesn't change the fact that Michael Jordan and LeBron James won 2 Olympic gold medals. LA Lakers star forward LeBron James has been on fire since turning 38 on December 30. There is also the fact that the NBA is different now compared to the NBA that Jordan played in. Please enable JavaScript for the best experience. James is the NBA's all-time scoring leader, but Jordan hit major scoring milestones well ahead of James throughout his career. Source: basketball-reference.com Credits: Illustrations by Tomasz Usyk. Christie estimated 40 points per game. Six championships. James highest scoring average to date came in his age-21 season, when he finished third behind Bryant (35.4) and Allen Iverson (33.0). Last, the most significant difference in these two athletes is their game attitude. The top three point scorers of all time are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant, respectively. He challenged himself to score eight points each quarter so that he could get to 32 for the night. Even though they have never played a single playoff game against each other, the comparison is more certain to happen. The two players call people out; they call out their own teammates too. Christie, Cassell and Smith all agreed with Bowen that Jordan, not James, should get the ball with the season on the line. LeBron James passes Michael Jordan in career field goals James now trails Wilt (12,681) for No. Their free throw output is very close; Jordan made 7,327 and LeBron has made 7,101. Six rings. Bill Russells nemesis in their famous rivalry dropped off by nearly six points per game from the season before and still posted the second-highest scoring average in NBA history. I have research and know from a personal view that Kobe Bryant is a better basketball player than Michael Jordan. Stephen Jackson gives his take on the best basketball player between Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. In terms of longevity, James holds a clear advantage. So with apologies to legendary boxer Muhammad Ali -- who claimed "greatest" status for himself and popularized the acronym -- here is everything you need to know about who might be the NBA's GOAT. While arguments can be (and have been) made for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell and other NBA greats, the modern debate over who is the greatest since the NBA began has been boiled down to MJ vs. LeBron. WebGet the latest news, stats, videos, highlights and more about guard Michael Jordan on ESPN. In LeBrons first game, they threw the ball to him in the post, Christie said. Heres why both legends can credibly claim to be the greatest. And he shot better now from distance (38.9% vs. 36.7%). That site uses Jan. 31 as the cutoff date to classify a players age. Makes it hard to guard someone that big and athletic, while on the other hand Kobe scores so smoothly off the pull up of post up game and so more, Lebron James won 2 rings for winning the championship. Im a playmaker.. was an inspiration, James told reporters on March 7, 2019, the night he passed Jordan for fourth place on the NBAs career scoring list. J Irving are just a few of those with the careers to back this title. Most of the players who criticize LeBron for passing instead of shooting, especially when its time to take the last shot, are speaking from their own abilities, not his. ESPN's NBA expert panel voted on thousands of head-to-head matchups, taking into consideration both total career value and peak performance. As previously mentioned, James is currently averaging 30.2PPG in his 20th season. At his current scoring pace, he should pass Bryant, another Lakers legend, during the 2019-20 season if he maintains good health. The moves they made were the exact same from the fade away jump shot, to the way they dunked the ball. Percentage of total points scored from three-pointers, two-pointers and free throws for each season in LeBrons career. Bill Russel, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Julius Dr. Popular writer and sports columnist, Bill Simmons, in his article, LeBron is Still Painting his Masterpiece, describes the current state of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and compares the careers of two of the greatest players in the leagues history: Michael Jordan and LeBron James. If I needed two points to win a title, Id take Jordan, said Bruce Bowen, an eight-time all-defensive team selection who played in the NBA from 1997 to 2009. He would get the bucket or get free throws. Fundamentally it is real, but at the same time, they also have some correspondence with goals and others. Michael Jordan played in the NBA for fifteen years, made it to the finals six out of those fifteen years and won every time. The top three point scorers Jordan has 38 career 40-point games in the playoffs and eight 50-point games (including his NBA playoff-record 63). 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