Lebron vs Jordan - Who will be the best of all time? (playoffs, MVP)
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It's been debated for some time now but this question has been resurfacing again now that Lebron has led the Cavs over the seemingly unstoppable GSWs for his 3rd Championship. Lebron still has a few prime years left and assuming he remains healthy, hungry and surrounded by a top tier supporting cast, he will have plenty of opportunity to win more championships and add to his list of achievements. Jordan's historic career is just that - 5 MVPs, 10 Scoring titles, 6 Championships, 6 Championship MVPs, etc. He is the greatest as it stands today...but when it's all said and done in terms of Lebron finishing his career, who will go down as the best basketball player ever in your opinion?
Too early to say if Lebron can catch MJ for that title. I will say, MJ won't be passed by anyone, ever. But someone could come around that can equal is greatness. And that still could be Lebron especially if he can manage three more Finals wins.
Lebron is great but he will NEVER be jordan,jordan 6 rings,NEVER lost finals.And holds the second best record 72-10 plus his records of points havent been match.I sense lebron wont ever get a ring again,too many talent coming up.Plus remeber the warriors beat themselves not cavs necessary winning.
We had this same silly discussion a while back about Kobe.
It dissolves into fans wanting to project achievments out into the future when we don't know and it's premature to ask.
The 3 main criteria for the very top guys are:
-Championships (and competition)
-annual awards with all-nba teams being most important since MVP's are fickle team awards and all-star voting is garbage
-all-time totals like points, rebs, assists and so forth (longevity)
Lebron is great but he will NEVER be jordan,jordan 6 rings,NEVER lost finals.And holds the second best record 72-10 plus his records of points havent been match.I sense lebron wont ever get a ring again,too many talent coming up.Plus remeber the warriors beat themselves not cavs necessary winning.
*I can't resist making a silly argument because that's the nature of these threads*
I could see Lebron getting a few more rings, but they may be as a second fiddle. He'll be 32.5 years old entering the playoffs next season. At 32-34 Jordan was coming off 2 years away from basketball and he didn't turn pro until 21 - that's a lot less mileage.
I can see Lebron joining up with a few more stars or maybe Kyrie officicially becomes a legit top 5 player and/or they trade Love for a player that better fits the team. As long as he stays in the east (and healthy) he can continue getting to the finals - the only question is if the Thunder/Spurs/Warriors continue inproving. Despite the Cavs winning, I would still see a healthy (with no suspensions) Spurs/Warriors/Thunder team as being the favorite to win.
Lebron doesn't need three more Finals wins. As it stands right now, he stacks up well to Jordan...
After Year 13 (1998), Jordan retired at 35 years old. He had 6 rings with a 6-0 Finals record, 5x MVP, 11x All-NBA (10x 1st Team), won DPOY in '88, ROY in '85, 9x All-Defense, 10x scoring champion, 3x steals leader...
After Year 13, Lebron is 31 years old. He has 3 rings but has more Finals appearances (7) with a 3-4 record, 4x MVP, 12x All-NBA (10x 1st Team), 6x All-Defense, ROY in '04, Scoring Champion in '08....
The accolades go Jordan 6-2 over Lebron with a tie in 1st Team appearances. Both were robbed of at least one more MVP in their primes, Lebron has been robbed of at least one DPOY and at least two All-Defense placements, and in regards to scoring, this is where the stats don't tell the story....
He has always been a better overall player than Jordan. Jordan after Year 13 had a career averages around ~30.7 ppg to Lebron's 27.2 ppg. Clearly, though, if Lebron wanted to be a scorer, he'd have 5+ scoring titles. Jordan's FG % was about .502 to Lebron's .498, and Lebron statically dominates him in all other stats...
The thing that goes in Lebron's favor is that he's younger after Year 13, and has already played in more Finals. He's already accomplished more with less, multiple times, and he'll likely play beyond 15 seasons. It's probably over for Lebron winning another MVP, but he'll probably play in at least two more Finals (I can see him, in his older years, playing for a contender as a role player 15 ppg, just to win another title). Say Lebron retires in 6 years at 38 years old, with a 5-5 Finals record. His longevity of 19 seasons outlasted Jordan, he had more Finals appearances and in his prime was just as elite a defender and a better playmaker overall, but played on lesser teams. Where would that leave him in this fight? True, Jordan will have always been a better scorer, better closer, but would we really short a 10x Finalist in Lebron, when his game was more broad and resounding than Jordan's overall?
Rookie Year ('85) Jordan was better than Rookie Year ('04) Lebron. Year 2 Jordan missed 64 regular season games but was OUTSTANDING in the postseason, while Year 2 Lebron had the better regular season team but missed the playoffs--it should be noted Jordan's team made the playoffs with only 30 wins). They were 1-1 after first two seasons...
Year 3: LeBron Year 4: Jordan (Lebron 0-1 Finals) Year 5: Jordan Year 6: Jordan Year 7: Jordan (1-0 Finals) Year 8: Jordan (2-0) (Lebron 0-2 Finals) Year 9: LeBron (1-2) (Jordan 3-0) Year 10: LeBron (2-2)...Jordan came out of retirement, but still went 13-4 regular season and led team to 2nd Rd Year 11: LeBron (2-3) (Jordan 4-0) Year 12: Jordan (5-0) (Lebron 2-4) Year 13: LeBron 3-4 Finals....Jordan was 6-0
Through 13 seasons, Michael is better and more accomplished. Lebron, though, will most likely have a better Year 14-15, which coupled with one more ring, will put this conversation to bed. Lebron's early teams were better than Jordan's early teams, but Jordan's championship teams were far better than Lebron's championship teams. To maintain perspective, if Lebron has better teams, he's probably 5-2 or 6-1 in Finals. He is already arguably the best teammate of all time, and his ability to take mediocre/bad teams and make them contenders is a hallmark he undoubtedly bests Jordan in...
This is all speculative, but to summarize, RIGHT NOW, I'd still rank him behind Jordan. But if he surpasses Jordan's longevity, and continues winning/appearing in Finals, he doesn't have to get 6. The proof would be in the pudding. At this moment, he's Top 4-5 all-time. He'll be in a dead heat with Jordan the longer he plays, and wins...
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