Over time, there have been great players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan, Steph Curry, and Kobe Bryant.  However, the debate for who the GOAT is has come down to Michael Jordan and LeBron James.  And to me, there is one player who I think is significantly greater than the other.

Michael Jordan Stats & Accolades

Accolades

• 6x NBA Champion (6-0 in Finals Appearances)

• 6x Finals MVP

• 5x NBA MVP

• 14x NBA All-Star

• 9x NBA All-Defensive First Team

• 10x All-NBA First Team

• 1x All-NBA Second Team

• 1x Defensive Player of the Year

• NBA Rookie of the Year

• NBA All-Rookie First Team

• 10x NBA Scoring Champion

• 3x NBA Steals Leader

• 3x AP Athlete of the Year

• 2x Slam Dunk Contest Champion

• 16 Player of the Month Awards

• 25 Player of the Week Awards

All Time Stats

Average Points: 30.1

Average Rebounds: 6.2

Average Assists: 5.3

Average Steals: 2.3

Average Blocks: 0.8

Average Turnovers: 2.7

Average Personal Fouls: 2.6

Field Goal Percentage: 49.7%

Three Point Percentage: 32.7%

Free Throw Percentage: 83.5%

All Time Points: 32,292

All Time Rebounds: 6,672

All Time Assists: 5,633

All Time Steals: 2,514

All Time Blocks: 893

All Time Turnovers: 2,924

All-Time Personal Fouls: 2,783

Lebron James Stats & Accolades

Accolades

4x NBA Champion (4-6 in Finals Appearances)

4x Finals MVP

4x MVP

20x NBA All-Star

5x All-Defensive First Team

1x All-Defensive Second Team

13x All-NBA First Team

3x All-NBA Second Team

4x All-NBA Third Team

NBA Rookie of the Year

NBA All-Rookie First Team

1x NBA Scoring Champion

1x NBA Assists Leader

1x AP Male Athlete of the Decade

4x AP Male Athlete of the Year

39 Player of the Month Awards

67 Player of the Week Awards

All Time Stats

Average Points: 27.1

Average Rebounds: 7.5

Average Assists: 7.4

Average Steals: 1.5

Average Blocks: 0.7

Average Turnovers: 3.5

Average Personal Fouls: 1.8

Field Goal Percentage: 50.6%

Three Point Percentage: 34.8%

Free Throw Percentage: 73.6%

All Time Points: 40,474

All Time Rebounds: 11,185

All Time Assists: 11,009

All Time Steals: 2,275

All Time Blocks: 1,111

All Time Turnovers: 5,211

All Time Personal Fouls: 2,682

Michael Jordan’s GOAT Case

There is a reason that so many people think Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.  He never lost in the finals and never even went to a Game 7.  Not to mention he was also a better overall scorer than LeBron.  He also has more MVPs and was slightly better defensively.  Having 6 Championships and 5 MVPs in the modern era is unheard of, not to mention he only played 15 seasons.  Pretty much every player in the NBA also feared Jordan.  Shaquille O’Neil even said "I've heard players say, including myself, 'I feared Michael Jordan.'..…I've never really heard any player say they feared LeBron."  This shows the level of greatness that Jordan really had.  He won 6 of the 10 championships in the 90s, while missing two seasons.  That means that he won the championship 75% of the time he played for a decade.  His dominance in the decade is unlike any other player ever.  He had such a winning mindset, and didn’t allow anybody to get in the way of changing it.  He made sure his teammates were there to help him win.  He wanted to make sure that as long as he was playing, the Bulls were always the hardest team to play against in the NBA.  That is a big reason for his greatness.

LeBron James’s GOAT Case

There is one big thing that everyone should think about when discussing LeBron’s legacy.  He has played 21 seasons, 6 more than Jordan.  Not only that, but Jordan was only a superstar for his first 13 years.  He didn’t make the playoffs or the All-NBA team in his last two seasons.  LeBron after his first 13 years has had 3 finals appearances and won once.  He broke the scoring record and hasn’t averaged under 25 any of those seasons.  He made one of the greatest playoff runs ever, making it to the Finals with Kevin Love as his second best player.  From 2017-2020, he was also arguably a top 3 player in the NBA.  While LeBron’s Finals record isn’t as good as Michael Jordan, it is important to know that Jordan lost a lot in the earlier rounds of the playoffs in the beginning of his career.  While Jordan had tougher playoff matchups, there is no doubting that LeBron had tougher Finals matchups.  LeBron had to play the Spurs three times, who had one of the greatest dynasties of all time during the time LeBron played them.  LeBron also had to play the Warriors four times, including a 73-9 team that lost to LeBron, then signed Kevin Durant.  This shows how feared LeBron was by other players.  The Warriors had the greatest record of ALL TIME, and still had to get a top 5 player just to beat LeBron.  While I know a lot of people like to make the argument that LeBron wasn’t feared, it’s safe to say he was.  Superteams became more popularized and normal as the Nets and Warriors signed superstar veterans just to beat LeBron.  LeBron ran the Eastern Conference for the whole 2010’s, making the Finals 8 years straight.  Paul George even said that he was sick of constantly losing to LeBron every year after he was swept by the Cavs in the first round in 2017.  Kendrick Perkins said on “The Old Man and The Three” podcast that the night before playing LeBron, he got so scared that he hoped there was some way LeBron wouldn’t be able to play.  This shows how great of a legacy LeBron really had.

Summary

Michael Jordan has more rings and MVPs and is better defensively.  However, LeBron’s longevity separates him from Jordan.  Jordan is commonly known as the best scorer ever.  LeBron was always a pass-first player which explains him being 4th in all-time assists.  Yet it is shocking how the pass-first player is also the number one scorer in NBA history and the only player with 40,000 points.  This makes a big difference in the GOAT debate.  This debate started around 8 years ago when LeBron had the greatest comeback in Finals history in my opinion.  In the past 8 years, LeBron’s won a championship, had over 10,000 points and broke the all-time scoring record.  A lot of people just can’t accept that such a loved and respected player like Michael Jordan isn’t the GOAT.  However, because of how dominant Michael Jordan was in the 1990’s, he will always have a case to be the GOAT.

Final Verdict

LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of all time.