I already made the comparison. LeBron has performed better in the playoffs player versus player, and he has won a championship with a team far inferior to Jordan's Bulls teams. He is likely to win more championships. He is bigger, stronger, faster and plays a more complete game. Jordan scored an infinitesimal amount more, in an era when scoring in the NBA was at an all-time high. So when normalized to today's PPG, LeBron might even outscore Jordan as well.

Let's see if this is true:

LeBron has performed better in the playoffs player versus player

Nope. MJ still outranks him by stat and eye test.

he has won a championship with a team far inferior to Jordan's Bulls teams. H
Nope again. Kyrie, Love, Wade, and Bosh were all great. Let's also remember Kyrie and Ray Allen hit the most clutch game winning shots of any game in LeBron's career

He is likely to win more championships.
He will not, unless he jumps on already established team like GS or Houston.

He is bigger, stronger, faster and plays a more complete game.
Good for him. Jordan was better at basketball, which is what we are talking about.

Jordan scored an infinitesimal amount more
LeBron Points Per 100 possessions: 36.7
Jordan: 40.4

PLAYOFFS

LeBron Points Per 100 possessions: 36.9
Jordan: 43.3

in an era when scoring in the NBA was at an all-time high.
Might wanna double check that, amigo

So when normalized to today's PPG, LeBron might even outscore Jordan as well.
Based on what I just posted the opposite appears true



Your turn, LeBron fans

You just sound ridiculous when you say things like "nowhere near." You're basing it off completely cherry-picked stats like "scoring per 100 possessions." Well, no shit... Jordan took way more shots. Give us the stats on efficiency.

LeBron has dragged teams to the Finals with different casts of characters. It seems like you invent a different reason to not acknowledge this every year.

And I won't say he's better at this point. But I will continue to laugh at people who say there's no comparison or that Jordan was "clearly more dominant." All you have to do is watch LeBron play to see that no one in NBA history is "clearly better."

Lebron has closed the gap but what makes it difficult in terms of assessment is the level of competition that he is currently competing against. He isn't nor has ever had to dominate an all time great player and the closest that he came to it was last year during the finals and arguably he was outplayed by Durant.

The guy he happens to be "dominating" is a rookie drafted late first round. How hard is that?
When Jordan was good he had to matchup with guys like

1. Drexler
2. Dumars
3. Miller
4. Harper
5. Richmond

This was just at his position. It was easier to gauge his greatness because he had to outplay other great players. Lebron doesn't have to do that. Who was he matched up against in the first series? Can anyone remember?

The level of separation that he is establishing is relative to the guys he happens to be playing against. That has to be factored into the discussion.

You want to talk teammates? look at those shitty ass Bulls teams pre Pippen.

Guys like Sam Vincent, Gene Banks, Dave Corzine. All in the starting lineup.

Lebron is playing with an All Star in Love and also plays on a team with the highest payroll in the league. Before the season started a number of pundits lauded the Cavs for having a first and second unit that was capable of making the playoffs. Now the supporting cast isn't shit because they just have to protect and further enrich the legacy of Lebron.

Jordan is more accomplished. LBJ is more talented.

Lebron has closed the gap but what makes it difficult in terms of assessment is the level of competition that he is currently competing against. He isn't nor has ever had to dominate an all time great player and the closest that he came to it was last year during the finals and arguably he was outplayed by Durant.

The guy he happens to be "dominating" is a rookie drafted late first round. How hard is that?
When Jordan was good he had to matchup with guys like

1. Drexler
2. Dumars
3. Miller
4. Harper
5. Richmond

This was just at his position. It was easier to gauge his greatness because he had to outplay other great players. Lebron doesn't have to do that. Who was he matched up against in the first series? Can anyone remember?

The level of separation that he is establishing is relative to the guys he happens to be playing against. That has to be factored into the discussion.

You want to talk teammates? look at those shitty ass Bulls teams pre Pippen.

Guys like Sam Vincent, Gene Banks, Dave Corzine. All in the starting lineup.

Lebron is playing with an All Star in Love and also plays on a team with the highest payroll in the league. Before the season started a number of pundits lauded the Cavs for having a first and second unit that was capable of making the playoffs. Now the supporting cast isn't shit because they just have to protect and further enrich the legacy of Lebron.

Look at those rebounds!

Lebron has closed the gap but what makes it difficult in terms of assessment is the level of competition that he is currently competing against. He isn't nor has ever had to dominate an all time great player and the closest that he came to it was last year during the finals and arguably he was outplayed by Durant.

The guy he happens to be "dominating" is a rookie drafted late first round. How hard is that?
When Jordan was good he had to matchup with guys like

1. Drexler
2. Dumars
3. Miller
4. Harper
5. Richmond

This was just at his position. It was easier to gauge his greatness because he had to outplay other great players. Lebron doesn't have to do that. Who was he matched up against in the first series? Can anyone remember?

You want to talk teammates? look at those shitty ass Bulls teams pre Pippen.

Guys like Sam Vincent, Gene Banks, Dave Corzine. All in the starting lineup.

So it's fair to compare all of the top players Jordan faced in his career to who Lebron just happened to play in the first round? As a reminder, guys like Dana Barros and John Starks were also all-star players in the east during Jordan's reign.

What about the teammates Lebron took to the final in 2007? I think that was a bit further than Jordan ever made it pre-Pippen BTW.

I still favor Jordan overall, but I agree with leash that are some really bad arguments frequently made in his favor in these discussions.

Basketball is not about 1 on 1 matchups like yoh make it. They often don't guard each other, and even if they do it's a team effort - especially today.

That said, even if we went by your very flawed method, you're cherry-picking the matchups. He rarely played Richmond or Drexler, and Reggie Miller was a terrible defender. Joe Dumars was there on teams that beat Jordan with the exception of one.

A more approriate list in the playoffs would be Craig Ehlo, John Starks, Nick Anderson, and Bryon Russell. In perhaps his greatest Finals appearance, his matchup was a broken down Dan Majerle.

Look at those rebounds!

The Bulls went to the ECF without Jordan in his baseball retirement.

Where did this come from? I'd say that even if LBJ averaged four boards per game. Some of LBJ's superiority over Jordan as a NBA talent are due to his physical traits. Jordan has superior drive and confidence.

There is a lot of pretzel logic with LeBron too. He went 2/4 on titles with clearly the best team in the league in Miami. Then it's understandable that he is 1/3 and probably 1/4 in Cleveland because there was a better team that beat them twice. He chose both situations and has been the de facto GM in both places.

Then he takes a team that isn't that good and does well in a conference semifinal and the GOAT talk begins.

When judging their whole careers with LeBron having the major advantage of picking his own teams he just doesn't match up. Too many failures. Too many excuses.

Titles are not the only measure of success, even though people try to make it that way.

Jordan never faced a team nearly as good as the Warriors. He also had very good talent around him... Actually, great talent for the second three-peat.

That's fair. So what happened in Miami?

It's also fair to question how the GOAT wasn't on the best team of his generation. Even the team without Durant was slightly better.